Vorlonagent wrote:
[snip]

> 
> The Media War is every bit as important as the shooting war on the ground. 
> The islamics that make up the bulk of the ranks of terrorists are often 
> under-educated.  Appearance is everything over there.  The appearance of 
> being tough and badass means you are.  Right after the war, some iraqis 
> thought US night vision goggles gave us X-ray vision.  Iraqi TV used to run 
> a TV program (and may still) of video of terroists talking tough on video 
> tape but whining and crying when captured.  It was very popular.  It should 
> be run in the US.  That's what I meant about the mideast recoiling whenever 
> a major terrorist badass got killed by americans.  If we put up the facade 
> of being united and resolute, then no matter what we think privately, we ARE 
> united and resolute to the bad guys and they're much more likley to quit the 
> field sooner.  If we put up the appearance of being divided and squabbling 
> amongst ourselves and losing the courage of our convictions we look weak and 
> like someone who can be bullied.


The USA like Britain goes in for adversarial politics (and courts).  It 
will never be able to maintain an appearance of being united for long. 
The people in the Middle East see what they think is a weak point and 
attempt some divide and reconquer.  What we can do is persuade them that 
the argumentative pair are a trap, naively enter the gap and both sides 
will shoot at you.

The British have a reputation in the Middle East for being very crafty 
and the locals suspect everything that goes wrong is a conspiracy.  The 
real reason that things go wrong is that the locals are too lazy to fix 
the underlying problem.  They stepped in a puddle not because the 
British put the puddle there but because they did not dig a drainage 
ditch to get rid of the water the last 10 times they stepped in it.

A reputation for craftiness and being good at conspiracies means that 
the locals will accept that public arguments are simply bait for a trap. 
  They just have to be shown how the trap works.

Film - Terrorists see two groups of Americans arguing and celibate the 
sign of weakness.  They try to use the gap to get a better shot.  Then 
everything changes, both groups fire at the terrorists plus some hidden 
snipers.

Next scene is the coffee bar back at the base.  The leaders of the two 
groups are very happy and sitting next to each other.  They congratulate 
each other, agree to go to the same birthday party and then plan the 
next day's ambush.  Story over heard by an Arab boy sweeping the floor.

Andrew Swallow
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