For Love of War

Eric Martin and Robert Farley comment on Ethiopia's troubled counterinsurgency campaign in Somalia as we approach the first anniversary of their US-backed invasion and conquest of that country. Here's Farley:

It's remarkable that so many conservative commentators identified deeply not just with the Ethiopian operation, but with the Ethiopian methods, while simultaneously embracing the counter-insurgency manual of General Petraeus. That the manual lays out a campaign plan directly antithetical to the Ethiopian methods seemed to escape them...

It is remarkable, but it's not surprising. They nominally embraced COIN doctrine because that's what one had to do to continue to be an enthusiastic armchair backer of the Iraq War. And they embrace contrary methods in Ethiopia because that's what one has to do to be a supporter of war there. They like war, especially war against Muslims, and are happy to embrace whatever sort of theories can maintain war fever in as many parts of the world as possible.