Project White Horse Forum

Essential Elements of Information for a Culture of Preparedness

We continue to discuss the idea of “team of leaders.”  This video well worth your time. Thanks to John Robb at Global Guerrilllas.  See his site for comments.

But let’s take this one step further into the context of  “What kind of war”  determination as impacting how we approach “the war” once we have determined “what kind.”  Consider the comments from  the Blog – Challenge COIN; Perspectives on the evolving U.S. Counterinsurgency and Counterterrorism doctrine. What works, what does not, and what we think we know: “COIN/CT Lessons from drug induced dancing.”

… The main lesson to walk away with is how crucial it was to easily mimic the dance. Were this a difficult dance, the originator would have been nothing more than an observed solo performer. Also the role of the first follower made it acceptable for a few more people to join. Once the first follower’s friends join in, the tipping point is then reached at 1:15. From then on, people join in groups and the originator or “leader” is irrelevant as the movement has a life of his own. Only the music ending stops everyone from dancing, not the “leader.”

Now take that template and apply it to al Qaeda in Iraq. What sort of impact would killing or capturing the leadership have today? This is precisely why the classic insurgency texts emphasized the need to destroy an insurgency at its onset. Otherwise it becomes an integrated part of a society for at least a generation if not longer. So how do we end the al Qaeda-styled movements? Find the music and turn it off…

Tags: 4GW, Culture of Preparedness, Essential Elements of Information, Team of Leaders (TOL)