SysAdmin plus drone strikes

ARTICLE: Taliban Leader in Pakistan Is Reportedly Killed, By PIR ZUBAIR SHAH, SABRINA TAVERNISE and MARK MAZZETTI, New York Times, August 7, 2009

This is why drones are good.

And as much as everybody, including me, praises McChrystal for "getting it" on counterinsurgency, doing that well doesn't obviate the mafia-style warfare that still must be waged against the Taliban/al Qaeda leadership (meaning we target them aggressively and unceasingly).

It is the most important aspect of the "clear" strategy in my mind, because it keeps the enemy's leadership in a flux and progressively downgrades talent (give me A.J. over Tony Soprano any day). Granted, all "clearing" and no holding-to-build yields little permanent gain, so McChrystal "getting it" is huge, given his strong kinetic background (and accomplishments).

But note that the "clearing" stuff is not your typical Leviathan work (e.g., mass bombardment from on high), but a much more discrete and focused sort of warfare that the SysAdmin force, in my mind, has to make part of its normal capacity.

I know, I know. It's all arcane "theory." Except it's happening across the board. The Army and Marines are clearly moving in the SysAdmin direction and the Navy and Air Force are clearly covering the Leviathan hedge.

Doesn't mean we see complete bifurcation, but it does mean a long-term struggle over resources, and that's where Gates has been truly influential in his rebalancing efforts.

Comments

[David Sutton]

Jason Burke excellent book on AQ clearly shows the three tiered structure of that organisation. At the top being the Hard Core Aq, bin Laden et al.

If by drone strikes, trigger puller or other methods the US can erode that hard core element then all the better to assist in smashing the next tier the networked network of affiliates.

It still leaves the third tier - AQ the idea - free floating around the world, finding homes in the disconnected and disenfranchised but that’s a longer struggle that has little to do with drones and more to do with words.

[Louis Heberlein]

Most mafias are reduced, not eliminated. However, the survivors do accommodate and adjust to society and the official governing authorities. They eliminate new 'wild cards' in their ranks, and help authorities monitor and restrict new groups.