1. "Sri Lanka is beating the Tigers through military force, not negotiation." A recent example to keep in mind the next time some clown says insurgencies can't be defeated.
Representative Sample: For all those who argue that there’s no military solution for terrorism, we have two words: Sri Lanka.
2. "But in Theory..." Did waterboarding and other borderline techniques produce good intelligence? Opponents say no. This post examines their theory.
Representative Sample: physical observation appears to indicate that waterboarding, the putative "torture," in fact yielded reliable and even vital intelligence; but appearances can be deceiving. Theory proves this cannot be, so logic dictates we must throw out the observations as obviously flawed.
3. "Clausewitz, On War, Book I: War is a Buffet. Eat Up."A look at Clausewitz that's a lot more interesting that just reading On War by itself.
4. "Soldier receives Aussie's first VC in 40 years" Only the 97th Australian to ever receive it, an elite group.
Representative Sample: awarded the top military honor in the British Commonwealth on Friday for risking his life to save a wounded interpreter and injured soldiers during an ambush in Afghanistan.
5. "Five Days Left, But the Hate Continues" Yes, you'd think Bush was getting ready for a third term.
Representative Sample: You've got to wonder when the left is going to give up its addiction to Bush hatred, and how they're going to cope with the fact that his presidency is over.To submit a blog post for HOT5 Daily, please e-mail me at unrright@NOSPAMgmail.com. Put HOT5 in the subject.
"For all those who argue that there’s no military solution for terrorism, we have two words: Sri Lanka."
ReplyDeleteYou don't even need Sri Lanka. The Malayan emergency proved the same thing in the 1950s. Then the US tried to implement the same ideas in Vietnam, and failed miserably, because it had no clue about subtle differences, like that in Malaya most people hated the communists and Vietnam most people didn't. It turns out that brutalizing the population doesn't win you support.
I'd say the takehome lesson is that when your government is divided between a bunch of militant hotheads and a bunch of know-it-all bureaucrats, you're not going to beat guerrillas.
"You don't even need Sri Lanka. The Malayan emergency proved the same thing in the 1950s"
ReplyDeleteThere are numerous other examples too. But most people are pretty ignorant of history, so it's nice to have a timely example.
"It turns out that brutalizing the population doesn't win you support."
True, although sheer brutality can also crush an insurgency. That was the way most were supressed throughout history.
That's not true in post-WW2 history. Britain defeated the communists in Malaya by politically marginalizing them and by having good intelligence: for example, at one point, one of its agents reached so high a position in the communist party that he could convene a general party meeting, at which the authorities could arrest all principals.
ReplyDeleteFor another example, in Peru, army brutality against villagers did nothing to fight Shining Path, which retreated to the mountains after every strike. However, after one General engaged in sophisticated detective work that gave the location of Shining Path's leader in a Lima suburb far away from the violence, the insurgency crumbled.
In both cases, as well as in the similar case of the Nazi failure to defeat Tito's partisans, the resistance was communist, and as such didn't give a damn about whether the government was brutal. However, that is also true for Islamists. Hamas doesn't care about the average Gazan's life any more than the Israeli government cares about Sderot.