WASHINGTON — The Pentagon's top spokesperson said he was "pretty sure" the military could ditch the manual used for counterinsurgency, since it plans to fight all future wars against conventional armies that wear uniforms and use known tactics.

"Listen, COIN is over," spokesperson Col. Steve Warren said. "There's really no possibility that terrorists will some day take over large swaths of areas of the Middle East and quickly change their tactics against a conventional foe they are fighting."

"We need to pivot to the Pacific already," he added, echoing a catch-phrase among top generals that's been repeated since the end of the Korean War.

Warren said all references to the US military's counterinsurgency manual, Field Manual 3-24, would be purged from the Army's doctrine library and replaced with references to major combat operations.