Reader Michael Zaharis sent Tom the link to Counterinsurgency by the Book:The lessons of a new Army Field Manual, by Fred Kaplan (not the patron saint of Coming Anarchy, by the way ;-).

Tom's comment:

Kaplan is smart, but a bit too obvious in his agenda. Something like this FM is written with an eye to history and audiences I don't think Kaplan is understanding too well, given his short-term fixation on Rummy.

So, in my mind, not a particularly sophisticated analysis. By writing the FM (and I interacted with both Crane and Petraeus on this when I researched the "Monks" piece--even getting Crane's mega brief on the FM), Leavenworth is both stating the new case to the military audience while simultaneously writing directly to a political audience of current, but mostly future civilian leaders. So it's naturally cautionary in a way I don't think Kaplan's getting.

Seriously, I'd listen to Jaffe on the subject (so many great articles) than Kaplan, who I really think is--not atypically--in over his head on this one.

Then again, so are most journalists who cover the military, which is why Jaffe and a few others stand out so.