I guess my concern with comparisons like this is that since the National Socialists were a political party tied mainly to the government of Germany, they operated with a hierarchical top-down structure that crumbled as soon as the leaders were removed. Islamic terrorism operates through an extremely loose web with an emergent bottom-up "design," and is therefore not as easy to strike at with traditional military force.
Well staring evil in its face is a little different then wasting tons of tax dollars while destroying a country in the process. Hi Mr. Miller! How's your summer been?
Tony, the reason Al Queda operates as a loose web is precisely because they know they can't win militarily against the U.S. It's not a strategy of power it's a strategy of weakness.
It's also a strategy that's not a winner. Guerrilla warfare hardly ever results in a military victory. Generally it's been a way of marking time in the hope that something, eventually, will happen to tip the balance.
All that means to us is that instead of using a sledge hammer to smash Al Queda we use a tack hammer.
However, my dad, a war veteran, has said repeatedly that our troops are not trained for guerilla warfare. So, if if guerilla warfare emerges from a strategy of weakness, they continue to woop our butts without fail over there. The daily casaualites show that.
Amen.
ReplyDeleteI guess my concern with comparisons like this is that since the National Socialists were a political party tied mainly to the government of Germany, they operated with a hierarchical top-down structure that crumbled as soon as the leaders were removed. Islamic terrorism operates through an extremely loose web with an emergent bottom-up "design," and is therefore not as easy to strike at with traditional military force.
ReplyDeleteWhich is precisely why the SWIFT program, the wireless surveillance, special operations forces, intelligence, etc., are so important.
ReplyDeleteWell staring evil in its face is a little different then wasting tons of tax dollars while destroying a country in the process. Hi Mr. Miller! How's your summer been?
ReplyDeleteTony, the reason Al Queda operates as a loose web is precisely because they know they can't win militarily against the U.S. It's not a strategy of power it's a strategy of weakness.
ReplyDeleteIt's also a strategy that's not a winner. Guerrilla warfare hardly ever results in a military victory. Generally it's been a way of marking time in the hope that something, eventually, will happen to tip the balance.
All that means to us is that instead of using a sledge hammer to smash Al Queda we use a tack hammer.
However, my dad, a war veteran, has said repeatedly that our troops are not trained for guerilla warfare. So, if if guerilla warfare emerges from a strategy of weakness, they continue to woop our butts without fail over there. The daily casaualites show that.
ReplyDelete