I recommend a superb interview about Iraq with John Nagl, who helped write the COIN manual. It is on Fresh Air on NPR. This program sits on the soft left side of the radio spectrum, which is why this interview is so interesting. The host obviously is a light-weight compared with Nagl. You can hear in her voice and demeanor that she knows that too and is impressed with his knowledge. She really seems to have learned something. Her questions are sometimes leading and simplistic but his answers make it all work.
Getting accurate news out on a venue such as Fresh Air is useful. I suspect that many of the listeners are as badly in need of the education as the show’s host. The popular stereotype of the Iraq conflict and the people fighting it are out of whack with reality, but too often on shows like this you hear “experts” repeating them in a self-sustaining circle. A dose of reality will be a breath of fresh air.
Anyway, this is the link to the John Nagl Interview.