We need less Chemo and Surgery and more "Voom."

[davidbfpo]

Like many SWC discussions this thread has meandered and taken some odd diversions, e.g. a character from the Simpsons appears.

Having read Bob's last post and the reading elsewhere about Algeria's 50th anniversary of independence this passage stood out:

much of what is captured in Western COIN studies, doctrine, etc is heavily biased. So is what is said by the other sides of these contests. The truth lies somewhere in the middle, and not much is written about that. One must find it for themselves.

Western COIN studies have until relatively recently been in the context of struggles for national independence, i.e. ending colonial rule and the demise of 'settler' regimes, notably in Southern Africa and in Algeria a mix of the two. I am not sure where the truth lies, somehow I doubt it is in the middle - itself a very Western sentiment, that compromise is all.

The article on Algeria had this:

What these populations aspire to and how they perceive the west is the major issue in international politics because this anger, emblematic of an arc of insecurity from Morocco to Indonesia, will not go away.

Link to a 6.5k word article:http://www.opendemocracy.net/martin-...in-six-objects

Elsewhere on SWC is a thread on films for COIN, in which 'The Battle of Algiers' features, so maybe readers will want to follow this:

This December ‘Algeria and the Arab Revolutions: Pasts, Presents and Futures’ will contain a series of articles exploring Gillo Pontecorvo’s 1966 film The Battle of Algiers; a film that inspired ant-imperialist struggles across Africa, Asia and Latin America and which, through its honest depiction of terrorism and counter-terrorism, continues to speak to the contemporary world.

Link:http://www.opendemocracy.net/freefor...ts-and-futures

[davidbfpo]

With recent developments in West and East Africa, there are reasons to suspect that the al-Qaida vision, so widely believed to be in retreat, may actually be undergoing a transition to a different entity as part of a larger-scale renaissance. If this is the case, the implications could be considerable....as a potent idea it may be undergoing a transition to a different entity.

Link:http://www.oxfordresearchgroup.org.u...3_potency_idea

The author is Professor Paul Rogers.