Wednesday, October 04, 2006

Think for Yourself

Commenter Shahar alerted me to this article on Fourth Generation Warfare (4GW). It looks at how the jihadis have evolved their strategy and organizational methods.

Among the primary elements of 4GW that al-Suri has developed, none have evolved to the extent that commander's intent has. In Lind's description of 4GW, the notion of commander's intent is an integral feature in the dispersal of the battlefield. As Lind succinctly states, the dispersion of the battlefield "will require even the lowest level [of strategic leadership] to operate flexibly on the basis of the commander's intent." In Lind's model, individuals operate with only a semblance of a command-and-control apparatus.

Comparatively, in al-Suri's system of individualized jihad, the onus of command and control falls upon each operative or cell leader. There is, in essence, no organizational hierarchy from which to derive any discernable operational instruction. Therefore, as an inherent element of a dispersed or non-existent organizational structure, individuals function autonomously under the notion of commander's intent.

In a further evolved aspect, because there is no organizational hierarchy, the traditional notion of a commander is slightly altered. Unlike in a military or conventional terrorist group where there exists at least a modicum of organizational tier structure, in al-Suri's system this will ideally be eradicated altogether. Instead, what will replace it is an ideological leadership, not directly linked to individual operatives.
The flaw in this for the jihadis is that it requires not only soldiers dedicated to the mission, but also soldiers who can think for themselves and maintain their own equipment. It requires individualism.

In fact such individualism is the very trait we would most wish to teach the jihadis. It requires intellegence (brains) and education. Knowledge of how the world works. Adaptability.

The very traits that we would like the tribalists to learn. It contains within in it the seeds of destruction for for the Islamic Fascist cause because it opens the cause to individual thought. When Moslems begin thinking for themselves it leads to phenmenon like Walid Shoebat.
When I finally realized the lies and myths I was taught, it is my duty as a righteous person to speak out.

The Israeli Arab Conflict is not about geography but about Jew hatred; Throughout the Islamic as well as Christendom's history Jews have been persecuted, the persecution of Israel is just the same as the old antisemitism.

The Arab refugees are being used as pawns' to create a terror breeding ground, as a form of aggression against Israel.

The Arab refugee problem was caused by Arab aggression and not Israel. Why should Israel be responsible for their fate?
Once people begin thinking for themselves Submission (Islam) as defined by the jihadis is not so attractive.

The more they have to fragment their organization to practice IVth generation warfare the more they open their operatives to new ways of thinking. They will be destroyed by their own internal contradictions.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

This post is very interesting, from a different point of view. I don't know if u are familiar with early IDF years. In the 50's the IDF was no better than a ragged militia. At this point Arial Sharon formed the 101 unit. Basically he was practising this IVth generation warfare. This way he was able to do things the IDF could not. Sharon was always a "Think for Yourself" guy.
Later the IDF became the bloated , military it is now.
Sadly, when he became the defence minister, he did not transform the IDF.

One example of "commander's intent" idea is the fact that when Sharon was the head of this unit-
(from wiki):
"Sharon - while formally no more than a middle-ranking officer at the rank of Rav Seren (Major) - had direct access to the Prime Minister as well as to then Army Chief-of-Staff Moshe Dayan, bypassing the normal chain of command."

If u watch "24" u see this "Think for Yourself" attitude all the time. The people in the IDF also watch this series and copy a lot of the toys and tactics they see, but not the attitude.

M. Simon said...

teapot,

Thanks.

Very informative.

Do you think the IDF will be ready for the next round? How about OPH? (Olmert, Peretz, Halutz)

Anonymous said...

I'm going to summarize and translate parts of an article by Dr. Uri Milstien:
The most influential change in the history of the IDF was the "101 revolution" in the 1950's. This led to adopt a more professional attitude to military and investigate problems and learning lessons. This ended in 67 with the six day war, when the bogus success let the military go back to its old attitude of not learning lessons and hiding faults.

One of the structural problems of Zionism is the lack of understanding and lack of interest in military issues. The security issue was (and still is) thought of as a temporary problem, not a fundamental one. The few people who were military thinkers were sidelined and prevented from creating a system (Jabotinsky, Aharonson). This culture comes from 2000 years of exile and christian influence, thru the socialist paradigm of the political view. This culture endangers today the very existence of the state of Israel.

To fix this Milstien suggests:
1. Start a process on intellectualization in the defence department, as Jewish ideas say "By tricks you shall wage war" (Proverbs 24:6 my own literal translation - Teapot) and "The end of a deed shall come with a premeditated thought" (again my translation - Teapot).

2. Turn the military from a militia to a professional military that would use force in its optimal way, without canceling the military duty militia (he refers to the reserve). A militia has high moral, a professional military functions better, there is a need to combine the two.

3. we need to transform the culture of security of Israel from a culture of myth to a critical-intellectual culture.

4. We have to free failed commanders from the IDF.

He also says that the among the immediate steps we should take are:
- Creating an operational counter terrorism arm that includes think tanks and operational units ("24" ? - Teapot).
- Creating an independent department in the defence department for finding faults and learning lessons from failures.

For Hebrew speakers the full article is here http://www.nfc.co.il/archive/003-D-17040-00.html?tag=12-43-18
I cant translate it all. He goes into more detail.

I would also raise the retirement age for military personal from 45 to 60. I would take the money saved from this move and put it into the national health care system. but that's a different issue.

Considering all this, I don't see much change happening.
Halutz was the commander of the IAF a year ago, and the IAF operated without any problems. The only problem of the IAF is that they were acting like they were doing police work, or targeted killing, in the territories. The pilots were not acting like they were fighting a real war. So every time they saw a few kids near a target they cancelled the hit.

I don't see Olmert and Peretz wining another election. But since I did not vote for either one, maybe I'm biased.

M. Simon said...

teapot,

Have you read "Strategy" by B.H.L. Hart? Yigal Yalon has a short chapter in the book. It is standard reading for all US Military personel from Private to Top General.

When running Hamas out of their homes the more left alive the better. Homeless people must be cared for. The dead can be buried. So I can understand the orders.

So much of what you do in war depends on what you are trying to accomplish. Live people are better for straining logistics. Assuming that was the intent.

Anonymous said...

I'm not advocating more killing. I'm referring to the increased sensitivity the IAF displayed.
One example, that was shown on TV (video from a drone) showed a car that was targeted with senior Hizb inside. A fighter jet was in position to destroy it. The drone showed 3 kids 50 meters away from the car, and the hit was aborted.

Another example was the Israeli naval commandos raid on tyre. The commandos landed near an orange grove, cut through a barbed wire fence and attacked the second floor of an apartment building.
Eight commandos were wounded, two of them seriously.
This raid was supposed to kill a senior member of Hizb. There were 2 other options considered:
1. To bomb the whole building. This would kill 50 more innocents.
2. To bomb the only the second floor with a helicopter. 10 innocents would be killed.
So they decided it would be a commando raid. The senior person they were looking for was not in the apt they broke into, he was in another apt. Not only he shot at the soldiers but he got away.

True, homeless are better than dead. After olmert gave 48 hours for people to run away from the south, he should have erased Bint Jbeil. Instead he sent soldiers inside "because there still might be civilians there" said general Adam.

Another, more recent, example was the Nasralla public appearance rally, for almost 2 hours. This guy is as, or more of a threat to me (here in north Israel) than Bin Ladin.
He should have been targeted even if it meant 1,000 dead. Wouldn't the US kill Bin Ladin if he appeared in a rally? The US would use a "Daisy cutter".
Lets assume that doing this would be politically problematic, then maybe just a show of a drone above the rally to follow him?

Israel is only about reacting not initiating. To Israelis initiating a war, or, at least harassing your enemy, is wrong.

Anonymous said...

I wasn't gonna go that far, but I agree.

Another note about OPH,
In the beginning of the war they were talking about a 20 km "no mans land". After 2 weeks they were talking about 2 km "no mans land" between Lebanon and Israel. Now, Hizb is touching the fence.

Olmert once said "We are tired of war". I guess Nasralla heard him.

"if you want peace prepare for war"

The Rambam was once asked by jews in the eleventh century why was the first temple destroyed. He said that the generation of that time did not know how to fight wars.

Anonymous said...

Here is the article where Peretz promises a 2 k"m demilitarized zone with Lebanon:

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3293394,00.html

Nassralla responds: http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3303719,00.html

Before that Peretz promised a 20 k"m zone.

I guess we will be dragged into a war again.

M. Simon said...

teapot,

One small objection.

Not dragged. Propelled.

As far as I can tell from the Israeli Press the Israelis are desirous of a rematch.

Unfinished business and all that.

You will of course correct me if I'm in error.

M. Simon said...

Peretz 2km

Nasserallah replies