Given that "open source" is usually used to referred to everything that isn't classified, I imagine that you primarily or exclusively rely on open sources in your academic research.
RTK's concern, I think, is not simply your research question, but much more your research methodology—specifically that you asked for "personal experiences, or even anecdotal evidence." Those personal experiences ("My convoy was attacked in Ramadi twice by javelin-throwers with chariots, which seemed odd until we captured an AQI cell leader with a well-thumbed copy of Julius Caesar's Gallic Wars...") could potentially reveal information not in the public domain, and compromise ongoing military operations (for example, the methods of the DoD's much-vaunted Joint Horse-Drawn Device Defeat Organization).
I'm being facetious, of course, but I believe that was the point being made. As long as you limit yourself to OS published materials, however, you'll be fine.
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