Targeting Terrorists – 6 Minute Audio: Not 'Snake'... 'Hydra' - Western Organizational Structures And Methods Won't Win The War On al-Qaeda (May 4, 2011)

Summary of Audio (link below):  this short audio addresses what the speaker perceives as psychological challenges western nations face when engaging Sunni Extremist groups like al Qaeda…specifically when it comes to understanding al Qaeda’s organization structure, adaptation and identifying root causes.

According to the speaker, American Institutions try to analyze Sunni extremists from a western “looking glass”.  He specifically brings this point up when he identifies how Anwar al Awlaki was named to replace Osama bin Laden over Ayman Zawahiri.  The speaker said we don’t assume about the basic structure about our own power sharing system, but we try to assume al Qaeda’s organizational structure functions somewhat like the do in the west.  Hierarchical structures suffer from decapitation approaches, while al Qaeda is decentralized and decapitation will not work.

Serious insurgents, terrorists, irregular warfare practitioners rely on mobility and adaptation to survive and persist…people are generally replaceable…driven by a cause.

Furthermore, the speaker suggests having al Anwar al-Awlaki and Abu Yehya Gadan argue and defend their positions by debating US media leaders in order to draw out the causes driving them to support extremism so they can be debated and addressed. 

 

Source:  May 04 2011 Travus T. Hipp Morning News & Commentary