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The US founders were not deprived either, but they burned at the disrespect levied against them their fellow British citizens who officially and in practice deemed Colonists inferior due merely for...

We need to appreciate the powerful effect of the identity-based populations that every person has. If a person identifies with some issue or cause, they become a member of a distributed population...

The ideology has been there for 15 years, but now suddenly 20,000 pack up and go.

Is it so hard to accept that it is the mission that is the draw, and not the message?

I think Western egos can...

The greasegun is a super cheap .45 cal submachine gun developed by the US to arm revolutionary and resistance fighters with who's actions we thought would advance our interests. We did not...

So, just curious, what percentage of American colonists in support of revolution were "radicalized" by the words of Sam Adams and Thomas Paine; versus those who were radicalized by the actions of...

The demands of the vocal few rarely reflect the reasonable concerns of the groups the claim to represent. One must look past the noise to hear the sounds that really matter. One also must attempt...

David, the type of self determination we are talking about among disaffected European Muslims is not that of a nation of people seeking governance determined by themselves rather than some foreign,...

Why any individual is motivated to join the USMC is not why the USMC exists.

Why the USMC is employed to address any particular problem is not why the USMC exists.

To understand why the USMC...

David,

I would offer that "de-radicalization" is not a successful solution to terrorism simply because "radicalization" is not the cause of terrorism.

Terrorism is a political weapon...

Ok, fair enough, let's explore this niche of "ethnic terrorism."

Is this just pure racist violence for the sake of hate, or for some political purpose?

I'm no expert on what the KKK is today,...

#1 radicalizer of insurgents or terrorists? Government.

Everything else is just lubrication and nudges to move those radicals in the direction of one organization or another.

It is well to consider that behind the ideologies of "communisim" that U.S. foreign policy shifted to containing upon the fall of Nationalist China were always vast popular movements in the pursuit...

The best COIN is "prevent" and is performed by civil government in stable countries and communities around the world everyday. Those who neglect true prevent inevitably find themselves soon mired in...

Radicalization is a grossly overblown concept. It's part of the victim mentality that is so common among officials faced with insurgency, or even terrorist attacks.

Are some out there actually...

The entire concept of "radicalization" is premised in the flawed construct that good citizens go bad due solely to outside influence. Prevention seems to have been focused at these bad outside...

You call something a war, and you will treat it like war.

You call someone a terrorist and you will conduct counterterrorism against them.

You go to a foreign country and claim that your own...

Give me a day or two and I'll put something up.

Which, of course, is why I take tactical pauses to post. So here goes:

As I have stated fairly often, when it comes to insurgency it's all about the perception of the insurgent populace. ...

CNAS would be number 3...but they are protected by the Constitution so I leave them on.:D

Not a company I will join, but that is both of our perogatives.

Most see ideology as a COG for insurgency; I, like Chairman Deng Xiaoping, see it much more as a Critical Requireiment. A good cat...

You wouldn't want to have us radical Christians feeling left out simply because our movement to throw off the poor governance of the Holy Roman Empire is already over.

But if you are looking for...

Violent, no doubt.

But given the inherent internal nature of insurgency and COIN, I am currently of the mind that calling it "war" is extremely counterproductive to effective COIN. Better to look...

"I have yet to see any evidence that either foreign fighters or AQ terrorists act as "members of insurgencies", unless we are to embrace the "global insurgency" notion, which I personally find...

Equally fair though is to point out that "containment" was very simple in concept, yet very complex and evolving in execution. Same applies to thories that I offer up as being more relevant to...

I'll save my constructive comments on what SOCOM does well or poorly for when I have those conversations with the leadership there. They know they can count on me for a candid, thoughtful...