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This is what happens when we decide to out-compete AQ and similar non-state actors as the "De Oppresso Liber" force. For some reason we find that role easier to step into when the government is one...

Some thoughts on Libya and the US role there:

http://www.c4ads.org/global-security-monitor/libya-and-catastrophic-success

History is a pretty long list of professional armies and their leadership who had great sport in their assessments of the unprofessional, populace rabbles they confronted.

Right up to the point...

I'm not questioning our strategy, or even AQ's strategy. Both are fuzzy and separate issues from this.

What I am intrigued by are the tactics of this unorganized revolution. The lack of...

One thing I find interesting is the largely conventional approach being employed by the populace. This will evolve over time as they become more organized (who helps to shape that organizing will...

AQ is a very small UW headquarters led by bin Laden. Certainly they have been active conducting UW in Libya these past several years, and in Mali and Chad and other surrounding places as well.
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In a slightly different take, I don't think we need to counter AQ in Libya. I think we need to out compete AQ in Libya for the trust of the populace (I almost wrote "support," but we don't need the...

http://articles.janes.com/articles/Janes-World-Insurgency-and-Terrorism/Libyan-Islamic-Fighting-Group-LIFG-Libya.html

This short summary from Jane's is as good as any.

BLUF is that the LIFG has...

Cannoneer,

Easy big guy, not calling you racist, rather just pointing out that your observation is one that is commonly made of certain groups based upon the perceptions those outside the...

Ken,

I am fully aware that many are concerned about who we support in Libya. Fair concerns, as you full know these type of upheavals tend to attract all manner of men with all manner of...

Probably not the first time someone from Georgia observerd that "those people don't know what liberty is....
..
They will define it in their terms, and they will do just fine.

Of course these guys have AQ links.

Libya was then #2 in total numbers and the #1 in per capita in terms of providing foreign fighters to AQ in Iraq.

AQ is conducting UW across this region,...

Ken,

I agree that the US approached the world much differently in the past. From our initial focus on just getting our own act together; shifting to expanding across North America to the...

To be clear, I think most such domestic disputes are none of our business to mess with at all, but this one is special for reasons that are sadly missed by most of our senior leadership.

I...

Isn't this what so many said about Saddam? Blowing out the old and creating a power vacuum for everyone to fight to fill is no high road to success.

Neither is latching onto some side, like the...

Where it worked? Or where the intervening party was able to constrain itself from pressing for its own agenda and carrying one side to victory that they thought would best serve their interests?
...

This is not peace keeping, peace making, or war.

How about "Violence Mitigation"? The whole idea should be to encourage both sides to shift to less violent tactics and to get them to a mediated...

Rapid Deceleration can be a bitch. I recall as a cadet some Blackhat sharing that some large percentage, like 95% of airborne injuries are caused by impact with the ground. "no Sh*$", I thought.
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Hopefully the US keeps (or puts?) its eye on the big picture. For the US, Libya is not about Libya. Once we lose that perspective and get sucked into operations in Libya for Libya's sake we are...

I suspect France appreciates more fully than the US does that this is a pure GWOT operation; far more so than Iraq ever was, and more so than Afghanistan has been since 2002.

France's problems, as...

For the US, and for every great power, the challenge in such situations always comes down to one of this: How does one justify harsh action on the dictators locked out in the cold, while enjoying...

We should be able to influence Qadaffi short of employing direct military power. Why hit him over the head, when we can kick him in the crotch...or wallet, or whatever else it is that he values and...

It looks a lot like Star Trek. Do not harm, remain neutral. Have the full power of the Enterprise on station to employ as necessary, and never be the guy sent on deployment with a listing such as...

There is a simple map that David Galula put in the back of his "Counterinsurgency Warfare" that is very telling. It essentially divides the world of the early 1960s into three parts. There is the...

It is not in the interest of any Arab leader to contribute to a no fly zone; after all, there but for the grace of Allah (and a robust internal security network) goes their own country. They will...