"COIN" is the US military acronym for CounterInsurgency Operations. It is also the subject of the Field Manual that Gen Petreaus spent the last year or so writing, and now is in charge of implementing in Iraq. The new COIN doctrine is the basis of the current Surge being implemented in Iraq, but the Surge is not a strategy. The Surge is an implementation of the new strategy.
Confused yet? You don't need to be. Professor Colin Kahl of the Political Science Department at the University of Minnesota wrote a short, concise description of COIN operations in Iraq in an e-mail to Juan Cole. Dr. Cole then got permission and published the email in his excellent blog "Informed Comment."
For the clearest guide I have seen yet to what is going on militarily in Iraq and what led to it, go read the post at "Informed Comment".
