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Fresh off our discussion about how liberals aren't really "defeatist," we now have a report that the Army is looking beyond violence to other methods of dealing with insurgents and terrorists.

From today's New York Times:

The Army has drafted a new operations manual that elevates the mission of stabilizing war-torn nations, making it equal in importance to defeating adversaries on the battlefield.

The manual describes the United States as facing an era of “persistent conflict” in which the American military will often operate among civilians in countries where local institutions are fragile and efforts to win over a wary population are vital.

Damn hippies.

Again: I don't think the military is stocked with liberals: Far from it. I've spent some time at Fort Leavenworth, where the gruntwork of developing Army doctrines is done, and it's fair to say I was greeted with ... caution. But the Army guys aren't ideologues, they're professionals, concerned with getting the job done -- and, at Fort Leavenworth at least, remarkably willing to listen and incorporate critiques from across the ideological spectrum so long as they work in the field. It's amazing, really.

And what the Army has figured out is that it isn't going to win just by "killing the bad guys." It's viscerally satisfying, to be sure, but it doesn't solve the root problems that give rise to the violence. It's an outlook that's almost ... liberal.