Understanding the Enemy

[Ron Humphrey]

We're trained that if we are stuck in restricted terrain and misoriented, then we stop, take a knee, pull out the map and compass, and reorient ourselves...

I don't see why that simple tactic should not be applied to many other issues.

v/r

Mike

The problem is that 24/7 media cycles, international agendas, and internal bickering never take a break so a lot of times you won't see changes until after they have actually already started.

Kinda brings back why doing whats right is a better direction than doing things the "right" way. The former generally remains the same for everyone while the latter tends to be a reflection of prisms.

[Ken White]

Generals (among others... ) do not like to admit error for obvious reasons in most cases -- to the extent of not making course corrections because that implies an earlier failing -- and you have a recipe for a screw up. Complicate that by putting in another relatively clueless person high up the food chain and it only gets worse. Until someone comes along and unsticks it..

Plenty of historical examples. Some hysterical ones also -- unfortunately, when the occur in conjunction with geopolitics and this trade, they're rarely funny.

[jcustis]

Some of this goes back to the classic thread most of us posted on concerning the issuance of a single narrative. When you are trying to state the facts only and do so in a manner that outcycles the bad guys, the single narrative is critical.

I absolutely agree that the azimuth check is important beyond words. Simply blundering forward without any deliberation on what is working (and why) dooms not only you to failure down the road, but also others who cover down on your TTPs.

Sometimes we are faced with the single narrative, as addressed in the initial part of this thread, that is so strong that we cannot hope to ever outcycle or overcome its power, emotional draw, and mobilization effect. We can make the cost of acting on beliefs very high, but as the COIN fight drags out, I think history bears out that the phases of the campaign shift and become more convoluted. The masses might not be mobilized to action, but their implicit support for the insurgent remains...almost like the mother who cannot turn her thug son away from the door when he comes knocking, bleeding from a gang war gunfight.