Quote Originally Posted by Bob's World View Post
Slap, I'll take your word for it. I'm happy to make strong postions on things I have spent a lot of time doing or thinking about, but Warden's rings are something I am merely aquainted with.

Any tool that help visualize and break down a complex problem is good. I just caution that the best tool applied incorrectly or to any problem that happens to come up, is likely to fall short. So, "proceed with caution," but by all means proceed!
Bob, much of what you say is in direct alignment with Warden.....you just use different terminology. The problem goes to his original article "The Enemy As A System" people naturally just jump to thinking that if they just analyze the Enemy that everything will work out. It want.

To expand a little the largest system to be analyzed is he what he calls the Market system as opposed to calling it the environmental system. If you think of it that way you will begin to see just how big and complex the support structure can be for an insurgency. Most war theories never dreamed of having to contend with the fact that somebody could get a wire transfer over the internet and order supples and have them shipped to them by UPS and then go blow somebody up and report back to a higher authority over a cell phone.

Which is why I say the moment you begin to think of A'stan as a country as opposed to part of a larger Market System and develop a strategy based upon that thinking you have already lost.