Comments for Irregular Warfare - JOC at http://www.michaelyon-online.com , comment 1 to 19 out of 19 comments http://www.michaelyon-online.com Fri, 20 Nov 2009 23:51:57 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.3 http://www.michaelyon-online.com/irregular-warfare-joc.htm#comment-16526 Thank you for the details, Michael, and your willingness to go into harm's way to flesh them out for us. From the header to 4E: Executing IW -- ƒ??I donƒ??t think it is an exaggeration to say that the internet and global communications have changed this form of conflict [IW] as much as the machine gun and quick-firing artillery changed land warfare in 1914- 1918. I think we are in an analogous position to those WWI commanders, knowing that our traditional approach is not working but still struggling to find a new tactical and technical formula that works.ƒ? Lt. Col. (Dr.) David J. Kilcullen, 14 September 2006 All of us here and on your mail-list are well aware that the battle-space has vastly changed, as evidenced by the loss of support our troops get from the Maggot Media. The sheeple are willing to accept at face value the lies and propaganda regurgitated by their idols like Murtha and Al Jazeera, expanded and inflamed by the screaming faces of supposed intelligent expert commentators. Sadly I believe we are finding out what the Russians found out; that Tribal Culture and its inter-relationships are not controlled except by brute force that the US is unwilling to use. Education is the real key to winning anything on the ground, but it's tough to educate those shooting at you. I pray for you, our troops, and our nation, as well as the Afghans - that we will continue to lead the world to Freedom. - brityank Mon, 08 Dec 2008 22:27:00 +0100 http://www.michaelyon-online.com/irregular-warfare-joc.htm#comment-16515 As you detail in "Moment of Truth in Iraq" Gen Petreaus understands that the defining fulcrum in IW is winning the hearts and minds of the locals. That means early and often, not later and with regrets. I see nothing in this plan about "the war of ideas," before onset of "kinetic actions" or during, much less after. - Scotch7 Sun, 07 Dec 2008 20:23:00 +0100 http://www.michaelyon-online.com/irregular-warfare-joc.htm#comment-16517 This is just a part of the plan to defeat militants, islamic or other that involves subversion, disinformation, and direct action. The time has passed for fair play, we are in it to WIN. A country like Iran has a populace that likes the West, but they have a government that is hellbent on some kind of apocalyptic battle against Israel and the West. This is where this concept can be useful. A second Iranaian revolution is wats needed, its just that time is NOT on our side. Thank you M. Yon, for wat you do. - Rhyno Sun, 07 Dec 2008 15:58:00 +0100 http://www.michaelyon-online.com/irregular-warfare-joc.htm#comment-16513 The military has always had a rough time defining this concept. Military Ops Other Than War (MOOTW) was very popular for many years. Defined as, roughly, anything less than full-conflict with a state (including humanitarian assistance, etc). It is important not to forget that - however, it is important to define that moment when the military can hand certain missions over to the proper people. The definition put forth in the IW-JOC came from the IW Roadmap, it is similar to the USSOCOM and USMC.(not my words - check http://merln.ndu.edu/archive/digitalcollections/irregwarfarespecialstudy.pdf). Problem is, we forget too soon the things that work and don't work. However, there is hope.... this is our generation's successful 'Vietnam' if you will and there are many CGOs that learned a great many lessons in Iraq. Hopefully, many of them will be headed over to Afghanistan. - Kevlaur Sun, 07 Dec 2008 11:47:00 +0100 http://www.michaelyon-online.com/irregular-warfare-joc.htm#comment-16512 I agree with "Bring it on home" that the US has been to willing to take up fights and causes that other parts of the world should handle themselves. I don't agree about Iraq however since the middle east, protecting Israel, planting democracies in Lebanon, Iraq, Afghanistan, the former Soviet colonies is strategic to our interests. The US has an interest in protecting it's strategic resources there and we are, at the same time, protecting those same resources for the rest of the petroleum based world economies. Now that we have an indication of Russia's plans, we and our partners had better be ready to counter their moves, if not discourage them completely. - Ray Esquivel Sun, 07 Dec 2008 06:54:00 +0100 http://www.michaelyon-online.com/irregular-warfare-joc.htm#comment-16511 I agree with "Bring it on home" that the US has been to willing to take up fights and causes that other parts of the world should handle themselves. I don't agree about Iraq however since the middle east, protecting Israel, planting democracies in Lebanon, Iraq, Afghanistan, the former Soviet colonies is strategic to our interests. The US has an interest in protecting it's strategic resources there and we are, at the same time, protecting those same resources for the rest of the petroleum based world economies. Now that we have an indication of Russia's plans, we and our partners had better be ready to counter their moves, if not discourage them completely. - Ray Esquivel Sun, 07 Dec 2008 06:51:00 +0100 http://www.michaelyon-online.com/irregular-warfare-joc.htm#comment-16510 Just watching the author's of "Spycraft" show a WW II training film and the O.S.S. tactics were called irregular activities... - Clinger Sat, 06 Dec 2008 17:05:00 +0100 http://www.michaelyon-online.com/irregular-warfare-joc.htm#comment-16504 Thank You MY for all you do for us not behind the enemy line. Your amazing, your work Is Unbelievable, and I am very grateful Thank you - K. Cross Fri, 05 Dec 2008 20:35:00 +0100 http://www.michaelyon-online.com/irregular-warfare-joc.htm#comment-16503 "The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants." Thomas Jefferson - On Point Fri, 05 Dec 2008 19:35:00 +0100 http://www.michaelyon-online.com/irregular-warfare-joc.htm#comment-16500 While this idea may be interesting, I am not willing to support any more long-term basing of our military forces throughout the world. Let the other countries of the world defend themselves, we don't need to meddle in their fights. We do not need to be sending our sons and our riches overseas to fight other people's fights. Iraq was never a threat to USA freedoms. Iran does not have a missile that can reach us, but they can reach Europe - so let them deal with it. If someone screws with us we should annihilate them, but otherwise, we should mind our own business. - woodNfish Fri, 05 Dec 2008 16:57:00 +0100 http://www.michaelyon-online.com/irregular-warfare-joc.htm#comment-16499 This reads like an outline for a marketing/branding platform. CocaCola and MacDonald's should be enlisted in this effort, if they're not already. - Rich Wright Fri, 05 Dec 2008 15:51:00 +0100 http://www.michaelyon-online.com/irregular-warfare-joc.htm#comment-16496 This is very interesting, but--in my ignorance--I do not see it as such a major deal. I know I'm missing something, but is this year-old document essentially intended to free our military to act and re-act in less formal ways? - Pam Richmond Fri, 05 Dec 2008 10:15:00 +0100 http://www.michaelyon-online.com/irregular-warfare-joc.htm#comment-16493 Traditional military operations are highly structured. The worst thing that could happen is to institutionalize this into a bureaucracy. A bureaucracy would kill this faster than anything else. Bureaucracies are the most politial fom of operations and the easiest to confound. This has to be an educational and cognitive/affect mindset. Nothing less than this can work. The organizational dynamics required for this concept to work, cannot be overseen very well or it will get killed by the oversight (fear). Joint operations across bureaucracies require folks that are risk takers for this to work - err on the side of outcome and not job security or the resident bureaucracy. The enemy does this! Will we? I will repeat, it must be an organizational cross functional attitude or it will fail! The reward system has to be for outcome and not compliance with the usual SOP. My take, good luck and God Bless America! - Donald Liveley Fri, 05 Dec 2008 05:28:00 +0100 http://www.michaelyon-online.com/irregular-warfare-joc.htm#comment-16492 This document makes sense to me as a distillation of what we have learned in Iraq - particularly lessons of the Anbar Awakening you reported so well, but also the the Deuce-four reporting from Mosul which detailed some of the key counter insurgency work that was done before al Qaeda gave us the opportunity to form a strong alliance with the Anbar Sunnis. Looking at an Obama led US dealing with Pakistan-Afghanistan post Mumbai I am grateful for President Bush's persistence with Iraq and his appointment of Petraeus and Gates. I particularly like the idea of the whole government pulling together - particularly after seeing a glaring example of the Department of State's behavior in your recent post Shakedown. The left is fond of believing that defending ourselves against Islamofascism recruits for al Qaeda without recognizing that capitulation is the alternative. What the left also fails to see is the fundamentalist barbarism of the Islamofascists and how it recruits opponents both Western and Muslim - like the Anbar Sunnis. 10 men have seriously disrupted relations between Pakistan and India and put the challenge to Obama even before his inauguration. I agree with the above comments that we face issues of will and loyalty. I think Mumbai was well timed to bring the day closer when the pampered fools in our Congress and government put the defense of the country before political games. - Lorenz Gude Fri, 05 Dec 2008 05:10:00 +0100 http://www.michaelyon-online.com/irregular-warfare-joc.htm#comment-16491 Michael, Please expand your analysis/opinions on the doc please. All other's: thanks for comments. - Saberlite Fri, 05 Dec 2008 04:50:00 +0100 http://www.michaelyon-online.com/irregular-warfare-joc.htm#comment-16490 By the 3rd paragraph I found reason for skepticism. I am reminded more recently of the political inclination of the DC Intel communityƒ??s political inclination and thus for political reasons rationalize their propensity for providing secrets to the NY Times. One can be further dissuaded when one considers the Dems continued support for one of their finest Leaky Leahy and appointing him to a responsible Senate committee chair. And then there is Berger accidentally stuffing secrets down his pant legs, into his socks and accidentally storing in a near by construction site only to disappear from this siteƒ?? What would the military expect should they perform so miserablyƒ?? A good OER or EER??? From the Dems perhaps it would be a career enhancement. Bluebird is spot on because the likes of the Weatherman know with current electronic monitoring they could not as easily survive in todays world as they did in the 70s. - The Clinger Fri, 05 Dec 2008 04:14:00 +0100 http://www.michaelyon-online.com/irregular-warfare-joc.htm#comment-16489 The point here is not 'power point', it is the point of a spear. At what point does a people simply give in, drop the spear and hope for the best? Is America willing to fight for what it believes in or are we willing to roll over and play dead? Nice presentation, but, in the end, it will not be power point that saves this country. Brave souls will or...will not... Tim Roesch CPM - Tim Roesch Fri, 05 Dec 2008 00:19:00 +0100 http://www.michaelyon-online.com/irregular-warfare-joc.htm#comment-16488 We, the pro-American People, need continued access to OSINT/Declass material such as IW - Irregular Warfare, so that we may better 'battle' the group of anti-American 'Americans' who exist in the US solely to disrupt, castigate and bring down the US Constitution's freedom concepts. Thank you, Michael Yon for keeping us abreast of what happens throughout Earth's 'hot spots' in which our sons and daughters are involved. - Bluebird Fri, 05 Dec 2008 00:02:00 +0100 http://www.michaelyon-online.com/irregular-warfare-joc.htm#comment-16487 It is long overdue that we free men take all means available to defeat these murderers and make our allies carry their load too. The whole world has seen their viscousness; Strength and all means to disrupt and destroy! - CHIN VAN Thu, 04 Dec 2008 22:29:00 +0100