Bill, I read this as well and it made so much sense. Sometimes I think only we Americans get this, but now in Afghanistan we are forgetting all the lessons of the past years hard-won by our troops in Iraq. Let this be a helpful reminder to the current administration that there is no substitute for victory, especially in a battle for Civilization!

” Thinking about moving to Sri Lanka”……

Umm no. I was there in 1983 when USS America pulled into Columbo. Even with out a terrorist threat in the north part of the island, the place is / was a hellhole. Beautiful beaches, fat Germans at the tourist hotels, the only golf course I have ever played where cows were a hazard, and beggars everywhere. And dirty, dirty streets.

After two days there-we all just said to hell with it and just stayed drunk by the pool.

Chuck, don’t forget to round up all the journalists and lock them up till you get the bad guys bagged and tagged

I beg your pardon, previous post should’ve read:

Why is it that so-called “timeless wisdom” must be re-learned from generation to generation?

Apparently my typing skills are operating in a degraded mode.

I have to say that I’m appalled by the clear ignorance of what has been going on in Sri Lanka evidenced by the comments here. I am even more appalled that a reputable organization like USNI would promote such nonsense–nonsense that bears no resembleance at all to real counterinsurgency doctrine.

Sri Lanka’s troubles go back at least 50 years, to independence, when the Sinhalese government decided to methodically discriminate against its middle-class Tamil minority. As any real counterinsurgency specialist could tell you, this provoked rebellion and facilitated outside intervention. Expansionist elements in India’s military and intelligence services covertly aremd and supported a truly crazy Tamil group, the LTTE, for years. Then, when the Indian goevernment withdrew its support, LTTE assassinated India’s prime minister, Rajiv Gandhi, with, I believe, the first suicide bombing in recent memory. India then mounted an ill-considered invasion/peace-keeping mission that was supposed to annihilate the LTTE by massively escalating the military force invloved. India lost to the Tamils. Since then, the Tamils and Sinhalese have basically bled each other out until only the more numerous Sinhalese could carry on. Now the Sinhalese extremists are setting up concentration camps that will repeat the errors of the past and start the next cycle of bloodletting.

Anyone who has actually studied counterinsurgency doctrine knows that insurgency is not a military problem at all–it’s a political problem. You win by winning hearts and minds, by establishing justice and the benefits of civil society. The military only helps that process. If there is no civil society to support, a counterinsurgency war fails before it starts.

Frankly the Sri Lankan’s did not have the skill when they started, but because they were determined, they learned along the way.

I didn’t have a dog in this fight, didn’t know a lot about it, but thought it was kind of neat that the rebels had a navy. Then I went to Paris about the time it was coming to a head. Our hotel fronted on Place de Republic and the Tamils were staging a continuous demonstration including beating on drums 24 hours a day. By the time it was over, I was ready to kill them all personally.

Not to mention, Mr. Johnston, the discussion isn’t about how these eight fundementals of victory as discussed here aren’t about how they are applied to Sri Lanka, but instead about the degree of clarity that the tenents are set forth. They apply easily to any military situation, not just those of India/Sri Lanka. These are military men and women discussing a set of military axioms, much the same way a tank commander might study Guderain.

Mr. Johnson may be correct in his opinion that the Tamil situation was a longstanding political affair and thus not a true “military” problem. But most radical extremist groups like the LTTE are not really interested in a peaceable political situation where they would have to share power with other groups–however equitably. Behind a mask of (however reasonable) political claims, they seek an absolute victory and will stop at nothing to achieve it. Same for Hezbollah, for example.

Look at Marx’s views on European Social Democrats. The old boy was opposed to compromise because he reasoned that a Social Democrat victory would forestall or water down his intended revolution.

Skippy, I would have paid good money to have an hour with Mr. Clarke.

Byron,

I would have too-but Dan did not tell anybody what he was doing. Just got up, left the ship and was not seen all day. Found out later he had figured out where he lived and showed up uninvited. He said the author was not exactly pleased to see him-but he did not throw him out.

Now a days they probably would have taken him to mast for not filing a “liberty plan”. But in those days many of us could and did go off exploring on our own.