Book buzz: Counterinsurgency from the Civil War to Iraq

Posted By Josh Rogin Wednesday, September 23, 2009 - 1:11 PM Share

Most lawmakers and officials take it as a given that rapidly increasing the size of the Afghan national-security forces is bound to increase the capability and effectiveness of the counterinsurgency effort there.

Not so, argues Marine Corps University scholar and military historian Mark Moyar, who is out with a new book entitled, "A Question of Command: Counterinsurgency from the Civil War to Iraq." (Donald and Fred Kagan tag-teamed the foreword.)

Moyar spelled out his reasoning in a Sept. 3 op-ed in the New York Times:

"Where the methodology fails is in its assumption that doubling Afghan troop strength, as many now advocate, will double counterinsurgency capacity. In reality, such an increase is likely to cause quality to fall. With Afghan security forces already two-and-a-half times as large as the American forces, and America lacking the political will to reduce that ratio, the counterinsurgency cannot afford such a drop."

Moyer's book is the basis for a conference being held today at the National Press Club and put on by the Marine Corps University Foundation. Moyer will speak on the morning panel.

The conference's keynote speaker will be none other than Gen. David Petraeus, head of U.S. Central Command. Other speakers include retired lieutenant colonel and president of the Center For a New American Security John Nagl, CNAS fellow and ForeignPolicy.com blogger Tom Ricks, and National Defense University's retired Lt. Gen. David Barno, who headed up U.S. military efforts in Afghanistan from 2003 to 2005.