I made the comparison between insurgents in Iraq and gangs. Yes, I am aware that there are differences, very real differences. But there are times when I think we should pay attention to the similarities. This, btw, creates a similar parallel between counterinsurgency and policing. (Since many African American communities feel like the police are an alien, invading force it's sometimes more apt than I'd like.)
Our classes on counterinsurgency talked about what makes a nation vulnerable to an insurgency. There have to be grievances that the insurgent can exploit. If the majority of the population doesn't have a grievance, then they are less likely to aid and abet an insurgent. This, btw, is supposed to be one of the great strengths of a democracy. Our first amendment specifically says we have the right "to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."
For a little more graphic detail - in the Algerian war for independence, the nationalists committed horrific acts. The French were horrified, and reacted so strongly that they imprisoned and alienated Algerians who were previously neutral. In so doing, they basically created the insurgency that would eventually defeat them. (Opened up a whole bunch of issues that trouble the Algerians today, but that's a different story.)
This isn't just wishful thinking, or naivety. One of David Galula's famous laws of counterinsurgency is that "Most of the population will be neutral in the conflict; support of the masses can be obtained with the help of an active friendly minority." Bad decisions on the part of a counterinsurgent can and will turn those neutral masses into outright hostiles. Getting the population on your side, however, makes it harder and harder for the insurgent to hide.
Ferguson, Baltimore - these things could not have blown up the way they did if there weren't grievances to exploit. The rioting seems to give people (who are unwilling to address those grievances in the first place) an excuse to ignore those grievances. To blame it all on bad parenting, or stupid criminals.
Now, I've heard questions about the Baltimore riots. People saying it was instigated (whether by professional agitators or an overreacting police force, who knows? I wasn't there.) I've also heard that the vast majority of the protests were peaceful, and that it was the media hunt for a certain kind of story that has made the riots the face of Baltimore protest. Again, I wasn't there. I don't know. The people saying these things seem to be locals, and seem likely to know more than I do. And, let's face it, after seeing the media mangle Iraq I could totally believe that they'd focus on a few rioters and ignore the majority that didn't.
What I do know is this - yet again grievances are not being addressed. They are sidelined. Marginalized. Ignored. Stories about riots overshadow, by a great degree, the question of how someone who was arrested without force or incident could be dead a week later.
Whether or not someone has a criminal record should not affect whether he's alive a week after he was arrested. It is not justice for a cop to rough someone up because they 'know' he's a bad guy...
Any more than it would be okay for a soldier to beat a detainee that they 'know' is al Qaeda.
Our classes on counterinsurgency talked about what makes a nation vulnerable to an insurgency. There have to be grievances that the insurgent can exploit. If the majority of the population doesn't have a grievance, then they are less likely to aid and abet an insurgent. This, btw, is supposed to be one of the great strengths of a democracy. Our first amendment specifically says we have the right "to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."
For a little more graphic detail - in the Algerian war for independence, the nationalists committed horrific acts. The French were horrified, and reacted so strongly that they imprisoned and alienated Algerians who were previously neutral. In so doing, they basically created the insurgency that would eventually defeat them. (Opened up a whole bunch of issues that trouble the Algerians today, but that's a different story.)
This isn't just wishful thinking, or naivety. One of David Galula's famous laws of counterinsurgency is that "Most of the population will be neutral in the conflict; support of the masses can be obtained with the help of an active friendly minority." Bad decisions on the part of a counterinsurgent can and will turn those neutral masses into outright hostiles. Getting the population on your side, however, makes it harder and harder for the insurgent to hide.
Ferguson, Baltimore - these things could not have blown up the way they did if there weren't grievances to exploit. The rioting seems to give people (who are unwilling to address those grievances in the first place) an excuse to ignore those grievances. To blame it all on bad parenting, or stupid criminals.
Now, I've heard questions about the Baltimore riots. People saying it was instigated (whether by professional agitators or an overreacting police force, who knows? I wasn't there.) I've also heard that the vast majority of the protests were peaceful, and that it was the media hunt for a certain kind of story that has made the riots the face of Baltimore protest. Again, I wasn't there. I don't know. The people saying these things seem to be locals, and seem likely to know more than I do. And, let's face it, after seeing the media mangle Iraq I could totally believe that they'd focus on a few rioters and ignore the majority that didn't.
What I do know is this - yet again grievances are not being addressed. They are sidelined. Marginalized. Ignored. Stories about riots overshadow, by a great degree, the question of how someone who was arrested without force or incident could be dead a week later.
Whether or not someone has a criminal record should not affect whether he's alive a week after he was arrested. It is not justice for a cop to rough someone up because they 'know' he's a bad guy...
Any more than it would be okay for a soldier to beat a detainee that they 'know' is al Qaeda.
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