“American troops are needlessly exposed to increased enemy attack, suffer unnecessary casualties, cannot secure or control the indigenous population and are not allowed to deny freedom of movement or maneuver to the Taliban.” (1) This is a portion of an 8 page letter which a Tactical Commander in Afghanistan, Colonel Harry Tunnell, wrote to Secretary of the Army John McHugh in August of 2010. Throughout, Tunnell associates what he believes to be unnecessary dangers faced by American troops with the Army’s adoption of its “Counterinsurgency” operational doctrine known as COIN. Introduced into the Afghan theater of operations by General David...