COIN-ING THE TERM

More on Petraeus's coin toss at the weekend's Superbowl.

In his piece "A coin toss in Afghanistan", published in the Global Post, CM Sennott discusses the success that Petraeus achieved in Iraq and his role in the weekend's elections actually taking place, and wonders about his next task in Iraq.

One snippet worth drawing out is this:

"There is no more knowledgeable military officer on counter-insurgency than Petraeus. And as I watched him, I chuckled about the fact that the military jargon for "counter-intersurgency" happens to be "COIN."

The coin landed at midfield at the start of the game and I couldn't help but think General Petraeus is about to toss a much more costly coin — or "COIN" — in Afghanistan.