that is clearly a brilliant new euphemism for "brutal military occupation". the colonialism in northern ireland has been about as brutal as any other occupation, yet in the minds of the brits, it's justified. the 'economist' is a past master at talking out of both sides of its mouth.
and these are the people who upbraid india for its acts in jammu and kashmir -- extreme bending over backwards to accommodate the mohammedans!
quote:
Can America and its Western allies avoid similar humiliation in Iraq and Afghanistan? Martin van Creveld, an Israeli military historian, argues that insurgencies have been almost impossible to defeat ever since Nazi Germany failed to suppress Josip Broz Tito's partisans in Yugoslavia. Winning such wars requires one of two tactics: extreme restraint and patience, as shown by the British over nearly 38 years in Northern Ireland; or extreme brutality, as shown by Syria in 1982 when the army destroyed much of Hama, a stronghold of Islamist rebels, killing at least 10,000 people. Any other method, says Mr van Creveld, risks being too harsh to win the support of the population but not harsh enough to cow it into submission.
unquote
http://www.economist.com/displayStory.cfm?story_id=10015844&fsrc=nwlgafree
3 comments:
I agree about Economist and Atlanticists, but Prof. Martin van Creveld is a very knowledgeable person on 4th generation warfare. In certain circles he is a very very big man (no he is not a neocon-he does not fit into any easy classification). The fact that the economist is quoting him means that the Economist is eating crow or slowly sliding away from their earlier position.
Read an small article by him in 2005 as an example
Costly Withdrawal Is the Price To Be Paid for a Foolish War
Why Iraq Will End as Vietnam Did
Into the Abyss
He also has an awesome book
a brief overview of the book - mind you this was written in 1996.
Maybe he is being selectively quoted or being deliberately quoted out of context by the Economist.
habc, whats 4th generation warfare? And thanks for posting the comment. Do post more such stuff.
never mind. Here Ive found some info on 4th gen warfare
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