Gangs and Insurgencies
Awhile back I read a paper someone did from the War College I think that equated gangs to insurgencies and the similarities in the way they could be combated. If anyone knows of this paper or has any knowledge of other resoures please drop me a line. Any help or ideas would be appreciated. Thanks.
I've been banging on that drum for three years now but haven't produced much of note apart from keeping it as a recurring them in some of my work...Dean Baratta presented on this topic from an intel perspective at the COIN Center Virtual Brown Bag in October or November last year and his presentation should be available online there; also check out www.twshiloh.com as this is a common theme there as well...
Like Dean, I've mainly looked at this topic from an intel POV as there are definitely stronger connections between law enforcement CRIMINT that is more responsive in nature and COIN/Countering irregular activity than there are with traditional predictive-centric military intel i.e. where every intel op wants to the THE who predicts where 3rd Shock Army will make its move.
There are also similarities in granularity and resolution between CRIMINT and C-IA in that both deal more with the less predictable actions of individuals than the more structured and templated actions in traditional conventional platform-based war. I got the platform-based versus individual-based concept from Marine LTC Mike Scheiern who I think may have gone back to RAND - if you Goggle he may have done some work expanding on this concept as well.
Hope this helps and love to see any conclusions you may reach...
PS
Memory kicking in now after a coffeeless day...there was also quite a good thread on this topic on www.cominganarchy.com early last year or late in 09 - I remember because I made some comments about it in my blog and ended up having a bit of a falling out over it with one of the writers over there...that was more about using COIN techniques in law enforcement which also has some merits (IMHO) due to the similarities I mentioned before...
I've been making that suggestion for a number of years.Originally Posted by Nobody Special
Gangs & Insurgencies
This it?
http://www.strategicstudiesinstitute...les/pub597.pdf
Read anything you can find by John P. Sullivan, a lot of his stuff is here at the SWJ librabry, Blog, etc.
Max Manwaring has also noted the similarities.
Follow along here
http://council.smallwarsjournal.com/...ead.php?t=5370
A scrimmage in a Border Station
A canter down some dark defile
Two thousand pounds of education
Drops to a ten-rupee jezail
http://i.imgur.com/IPT1uLH.jpg
All great stuff guys. Alot to digest. I'm doing a proposal for work and hoping since none of the bosses are prior service that I can translate some of this stuff into a workable plan for us. I'll let you know how it goes.
Nick
Insurgency Paradigm
You are correct in stating that insurgencies act a lot like gangs and criminal elements. In fact insurgents do not have a goal of winning in war, just as gangs dont want to over-through the government. The insurgents "win" if the war is protracted. They simply want chaos because chaos provides utility--it allows them to operate unabated and substantiates that, in reality or in appearance, the government cannot provide governance--rule of law, security, public safety, economic opportunity, essential services...
Several years ago, I wrote a paper that addresses the Insurgency Paradigm. I have attached it for your use. On page three the paper addresses the similarities of insurgencies and gangs/criminal elements. It also addresses the concept of "resource scarcity" and violence. I hope this helps.
Last edited by GPaulus; 01-26-2011 at 06:06 AM.
The UK's view of the IRA and PIRA was basically that they were a well armed criminal gang, and to be treated as such.
I think the idea of drawing parallels between the LA Cryps and say the RUF in Sierra Leone is a bit of a dead end that may be intellectually entertaining, but will deliver no actual insight.
Is any US "Street Gang" in armed rebellion against the US Govt? Yes, No?
Infinity Journal "I don't care if this works in practice. I want to see it work in theory!"
- The job of the British Army out here is to kill or capture Communist Terrorists in Malaya.
- If we can double the ratio of kills per contact, we will soon put an end to the shooting in Malaya.
Sir Gerald Templer, foreword to the "Conduct of Anti-Terrorist Operations in Malaya," 1958 Edition
Armed rebellion yes, Armed revolt no. Kinda like the Whiskey Rebellion and even that is a poor analogy, but close enough. They are against US Government laws but not specifically against the US Government in general.They really don't care who or what government is doing except as it impacts their gang business/lifestyle. They simply carve out a certain area where they can do their business and they use violence to essentially keep the government from coming into that area and enforcing certain laws. However I think gangs would certainly cooperate with a political insurgency if they were given the drug franchise for certain areas.
It would probably be even simpler than a franchising option: the actions of both groups would be symbiotic as they both divide and distract the security forces from each other...the real challenge to that relationship might come when the insurgents were established in an are as the 'government' and might find that the presence of criminals in 'their patch' now works against them...
SWC's "Dunbar Numbers"
One might well question whether there is "The Dunbar Number", but here is a set of numbers from SWC.
Members who have posted at least once after 31 Dec 2009 and have posted in total:
50 or more - 145
250 or more - 65
500 or more - 42
1000 or more - 31
From "company-sized" to "platoon-sized".
Regards
Mike
Now ya see? This is why I feel uneducated and why I came here for info! Thank you all for the food for thought. My boss and I have been talking about all of this and have decided to put a plan together for the coming year. We're gonna be working business as usual for now but hopefully we'll get something hashed out that's workable. When I get a rough draft together, I'll pitch it to you guys and let you tear it apart. My belief is that it's always good to get out of the pool and go check how things are done elsewhere. Keep up the good fight guys.
Nick
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