Insurgencies Are Winnable

And not just by insurgents says Kevin Ferris in this refreshing article on the Iraq Conflict:

Lt. Col. John Nagl, author of Learning to Eat Soup with a Knife: Counterinsurgency Lessons from Malaya and Vietnam, wants Americans to understand three things about the war in Iraq.
One, there is a "very real chance of victory," he says. Two, "the costs of failure are immense."
"An informed discussion of Iraq has to start with those facts," Nagl says. "This is hard, but we can succeed. However, if we fail, Americans will be substantially less secure, and there will be an extraordinary humanitarian disaster. This really matters."
At least inside the Pentagon, Nagl, a military assistant to the deputy secretary of defense, is being heard. His book impressed Gen. George Casey, the U.S. military commander in Iraq, who is using the book's lessons to avoid the mistakes of Vietnam.

He says at first, we learned nothing from Vietnam:

The Vietnam experience inclined U.S. military leaders to stay as far away from thinking about counterinsurgencies as possible. "We became devoted to conventional superiority, and we succeeded," Nagl says. "So nations, subnational groups, or terrorists opposed to our interests turn to insurgency, irregular warfare and terrorism.

But we are learning the right lessons:

Some of those successful strategies were learned from the British, who beat the communist insurgency in Malaya during the 1950s, a contrast to U.S. efforts in Vietnam. Where the British were flexible in their tactics, the U.S. military was rigid, Nagl writes. The British adapted with a lighter footprint, the training of local forces, and attempts to win over Malayans. The Americans went into Vietnam with an overwhelming-force approach, seemingly unconcerned about collateral damage or creating an indigenous army. When the United States finally tried to adapt, it was too late. Many Americans had turned against the war.
Though some loss of public support is evident with Iraq, Nagl argues that, in this case, the U.S. military has been more flexible than it was in Vietnam.

Very good and encouraging. Read the whole thing.