When: THURSDAY, December 18, 2014 at 7:00 PM
Where: WALDEMERE FIRE HOUSE COMMUNITY ROOM 2070 WALDEMERE St. SARASOTA (NEAR SARASOTA MEMORIAL HOSPITAL EAST OF US 41 ON WALDEMERE ST.)
Program: Transformational Guerrillas and the Iraqi Tribes Who Fight Them
Presenter: Terri K. Wonder, PH.D.
In 2008, Terri Wonder was hired by the United States Army to be a civilian social scientist in a mission-essential “Surge” program in Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom. She deployed twice with U.S. combat personnel from Ft. Benning, Georgia.
While working for the Corps Theater Command of Multi-National Forces-Iraq, Camp Victory, Baghdad, from 2009 to 2010, she coined the term “transformational guerillas” to describe a special class of Islamic insurgent fighters who refused to stand down even after being given incentives to do so as part of Iraq’s tribal “Awakening” movement in 2007 and after.
Transformational guerillas are distinct from another class of fighters, “accidental guerillas” — local fighters who become caught up in the contagion of fighting at the outset of insurgent warfare — according to Australian counterinsurgency theorist, David Kilcullen, in his book The Accidental Guerilla: Fighting Small Wars in the Midst of a Big One (2009).
From her own research, Wonder concludes that whereas accidental guerillas may be persuaded to stop fighting and even join the other side in a counterinsurgent campaign, transformational guerillas are not easily disillusioned after joining an insurgent campaign. Totally committed to a higher cause, transformational guerillas are not persuadable and will continue to fight until they are captured or killed.
Presented a Superior Civilian Service Award in 2010, Wonder’s cutting-edge statistical and cultural research was credited for saving lives. Wonder ranks among the few people in the world who has had the opportunity to systematically research captive insurgent populations and create a socio-cultural profile of them.
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Be prepared for Terri Wonder’s Talk:
Quiz: How much do you know about the Islamic State?
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Torturers Are Not Patriots
BY ERIC MARGOLIS • DECEMBER 13, 2014
“…The whole world expects a higher standard of law, government, and behavior from the United States. That’s why I was always proud to be an American and to wear my nation’s uniform. That was before Bush & Co. brought so low our nation, fouled its honor, and made it into a world-class hypocrite. Time to clean out our Augean Stables.
Torturers are never patriots. They are criminals.” Eric Magolis
http://www.unz.com/emargolis/torturers-are-not-patriots/
Eric Margolis identifies his politics as “Eisenhower Republican“. Though his domestic political persuasion is moderately conservative (he is a staunch anti-communist and a supporter of capitalism), Margolis’ views on the Middle East are sharply at odds with those of the neoconservatives (Wikipedia)
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McCain Knows Torture
(Sarasota Herald Tribune, Thursday, December 11, 2014 P. 10A)
Note: FLVCS has stood against torture from our founding. Our Statement of Principles states: As veterans, we support the ethical and humane treatment of prisoners and we oppose all torture.
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ACTION REQUEST
FLVCS members and supporters should write a letter to the editor and to your representative and senators with emphasis on the points against torture that Senator McCain voiced so well. Those who rationalize and justify torture are speaking out loud and clear which shames all patriotic Americans. At the least, we must speak out with clarity in opposition to their claptrap.
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