The war against Al-Qaeda is asymmetrical and its methods must become the methods of the United States Army in the fight against global terrorists. It has become the tactics and strategy of necessity in Iraq and Afghanistan. While elite forces are most familiar with it, it must again become the natural instinct of every soldier from general to private. They must learn to plug into networks of potential fighters as force multipliers that will enhance the numbers and performance of American forces and then allow them to hand the fight over to the locals. The trick comes in institutionalizing the ability to work with local forces in the training and doctrine of the U.S. military the way it was before the end of the wars at the beginning of the twentieth century.

Unlike then, we must not forget the lessons of irregular warfare on our way home once the job...
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