Resumo de Twenty Seven Articles - Colonel T.E. Lawrence

Twenty Seven Articles ? A guide for British officers working with Arabs during WW1.

Col. T.E Lawrence, also known as Lawrence of Arabia wrote The Seven Pillars of Wisdom, a definitive account of his guerrilla warfare tactics against the Turkish or Ottoman Empire in the Middle East, long considered the bible of guerrilla warfare. Lawrence was disillusioned with the French and British carve up of Arab lands after the war. King Faisal, the Arab leader was appointed King of Iraq.

Lawrence wrote Twenty Seven Articles, starting with ?diagnose the problem?. ?One must know what is going on in counterinsurgency?. WW2 was resolved by referring to maps of enemy positions. ?Seek early victories to ensure dominance of the battlefield?. ?People will be grateful for reconstruction, however, when the Taliban return to threaten villagers with weapons, they return to the enemy. In Afghanistan the population lack individual choice, they think and act collectively. Afghanistan is won or lost by a village or a valley at a time.

Presently, in Afghanistan, U.S. forces engage with the local population and their leaders prior to deploying a single soldier. U.S. ground force operations are planned by meeting the provincial governor, the military and police chiefs and local villagers. This was quite unimaginable in 2001. A U.S. commander in Kandahar spoke to villagers for weeks prior to a well planned and executed military campaign, specific aid packages were delivered as soon as the firing ceased. U.S. troops are re-rotated to the same areas sometimes up to three times so that they know the people, the villages and the valleys thus learning from previous mistakes. The Pashtun population of Afghanistan is 40% at most. Talibanisation is restricted to the south and east. Afghanistan is a viable state north of the Hindu Kush, with Kabul a viable capital. Afghanistan will not fail, the approval rating for the Afghan government is 50% better - than Blair?s U.K. government.

The IrishBatt area of Lebanon during 23 years of UNIFIL was declared the safest part of southern Lebanon by Robert Fisk, Middle East correspondent for the London Independent. IrishBatt achieved a great deal through genuine engagement with the local population coupled with careful humanitarian construction and social work.

Incidentally, T.E. Lawrence is alleged to have been offered command of a Flying Column in southern Ireland by Michael Collins!

Seven Pillars of Wisdom, Colonel T.E. Lawrence, 1928
Twenty Seven Articles, Colonel T.E. Lawrence,1926

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