When Opportunity Only Knocks Once: Lessons From Gen Petraeus In Iraq And Afghanistan

Abstract

GEN David Petraeus counterinsurgency (COIN) efforts failed in Afghanistan because of the unfavorable contextual elements including the lack of both popular and political support at home and abroad, the tribal history of Afghanistan, the harsh terrain and the historically finite amount of time given to the general to accomplish his objectives. This work details the lessons learned from Petraeus bold leadership and use of COIN doctrine to bring prosperity in Iraq and failure to bring about peace to a decades-long, war ravaged land in Afghanistan. Different contextual environments and battlefield elements can stymie a war effort of an otherwise successful campaign and a capable combat commander.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Mar 01, 2016
Accession Number
AD1031386

Entities

People

  • Stephen A. Olivares

Organizations

  • Air Command and Staff College

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Human Systems
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Civil War
  • Congress
  • Governments
  • House Of Representatives
  • Instructors
  • International Organizations
  • Iraqi-War
  • Military Science
  • National Security
  • New York
  • Terrorism
  • United States
  • United States Central Command
  • United States Government
  • United States Military Academy
  • War Colleges
  • Warfare

Fields of Study

  • History

Readers

  • Military and Counterinsurgency Studies.
  • Strategic Security Studies