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| Terror Networks & Islam |
| When Devils Walk the Earth |
| 2005-10-14 |
| I found this accidentally. It's on the Air War College website and was written for the Center for Emerging Threats and Opportunities. No date of publication and no copyright. I searched Rantburg for it, and it doesn't seem to have been posted here before. If you don't read anything else, read Ralph Peter's recommendations, starting on page 30. I think that it comes awfully close to capturing the consensus here at Rantburg. I like recommendation number one: Be feared. |
| Posted by:11A5S |
| #8 I like the part about consistently killing any and all terrorists that can be identified and located. Until we go completely hell-for-breakfast on terrorists and terror supporters, not much is going to change. Kill them wherever they are and whenever we find them. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2005-10-14 23:54 |
| #7 BP, the author is Ralph Peters, a retired Army intelligence officer with strong ties to the Army Staff, which he frequently uses for background for his opinion pieces in the NY Post. He has written two very influential strategy pieces in the official journal of the Army War College. The first deals with the characteristics of failed states. The second urges the destabilization of the Middle East, as opposed to the post Cold War policy of stabilizing it. Both articles were written pre 9/11, IIRC, with the second having some degree of influence over the current administration's policy. You are correct that it is a bit showy. Peters writes fiction in addition to his opinion and strategy pieces. I would agree that his style sometimes detracts from his more serious pieces. I don't know if anyone has accused him of cutting and pasting. |
| Posted by: 11A5S 2005-10-14 16:24 |
| #6 I've gone through the first few pages, and it looks good. Highly recommended. A proviso is in order: one can believe in a coming Apocalypse without being an apocalyptic Terrorist. Think of it like Murphy's law: a man can sincerely believe that shit's gonna happen, but there's a big difference between the man that prepares himself against that shit, tries to warn others about that shit, and tries to prevent that shit from happening, and the man who CAUSES that shit to happen. |
| Posted by: Ptah 2005-10-14 15:07 |
| #5 Isn't thr bylinr Ralph Peters? |
| Posted by: Spomolet Slolurong6442 2005-10-14 13:30 |
| #4 I'd advise you to read the whole paper a little more clearly... It's psychology of Terrorism is interesting (and is probably a cut-n-paste job), but then it seems to go a bit bullshitty in the middle (the bit I reckon the author wrote). Definetly fancies himself (I'm guessing a bloke wrote it) as an o-so-aloof art-poseur, maybe a Arts degree? I get the feeling from his examples that he doesn't like the U.K. so perhaps ex-UK based US Airman? You know in some bits I'd almost bet money that the guy who writes the Belmont Club wrote this. In toto It starts well and ends rather mixed. |
| Posted by: Bright Pebbles 2005-10-14 13:18 |
| #3 Unfortunately, it's going to take a lot more dead Americans for the wisdom of this paper to be generally accepted. This is likely to happen when professional warriors aren't allowed to make war professionally. It's always the civilian leadership that ends up sacrificing American lives (whether inadvertently or otherwise) by imposing political constraints on the military as a result of fretting over things like "cultural sensitivities". |
| Posted by: Bomb-a-rama 2005-10-14 12:18 |
| #2 I liked this one: 24. In dealing with Islamic apocalyptic terrorists, remember that their most cherished symbols are fewer and far more vulnerable than are the West’s. Ultimately, no potential target can be regarded as off limits when the United States is threatened with mass casualties. Worry less about offending foreign sensibilities and more about protecting Americans. Unfortunately, it's going to take a lot more dead Americans for the wisdom of this paper to be generally accepted. |
| Posted by: Thurong Sheamp3393 2005-10-14 09:56 |
| #1 Looking through the tags of the PDF, it looks like it was written (or at least last modified) on Sept 10, 2002. The author also has several terrorism related books on amazon. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0811700240/103-6853483-6557410?v=glance |
| Posted by: JackassFestival 2005-10-14 09:47 |