Wow, that passages describes exactly what's been happening with Gaza the last few years
> Events in Lebanon had added to the growing sense of unease that I had first experienced in Baghdad. When a powerful military is faced by apparent military "weakness", it can respond by an overuse of kinetic force - the "hard power" of attacking with guns, bombs and artillery.
> I worried that in Afghanistan, as in Lebanon and before it, Iraq, hard power was not being properly balanced by the application of "soft power" - stabilisation, reconstruction, investment and negotiation.
> We were also being out-fought in the propaganda war by an enemy that was more adept and agile in the use of the internet.
> Events in Lebanon had added to the growing sense of unease that I had first experienced in Baghdad. When a powerful military is faced by apparent military "weakness", it can respond by an overuse of kinetic force - the "hard power" of attacking with guns, bombs and artillery.
> I worried that in Afghanistan, as in Lebanon and before it, Iraq, hard power was not being properly balanced by the application of "soft power" - stabilisation, reconstruction, investment and negotiation.
> We were also being out-fought in the propaganda war by an enemy that was more adept and agile in the use of the internet.