IO: Marines Battle Rumor Mill in Iraq

[ilots]

ilots, the events themselves are not force multipliers in and of themselves....

As I stated, difficult to address (given the nature of short forum posts) and you should also note my use of quotations. BUT for the sake of argument, while not planned PSYACTS by the enemy, such actions do affect the behavior of a specific audience w/out exploitation by the enemy (although they are very well versed enhancing and creating such effects.) With out ANY action taken by the enemy, the use of what is perceived as disproportionate response against the civilian population will de-legitimize our actions and "enhance" our enemies capability to conduct an insurgency; hence my use of "force multiplier." This is especially true given the role of "legitimacy" in COIN (and CT/AT.)