More Complaints about IO
AM may be impressed by the US publishing a squirm-worthy video of pre-teen terrors. Kip is not so impressed. First, we (that is the institutional military) learn nothing. More than a year ago, US forces released what should have been a manhood-shaming video of Zarqawi...and it was an utter IO failure. Why? Because US forces released it-hardly a credible source among target populations in the Muslim world.
Much more powerful would have been a release by the international community, a non-military friendly NGO (I would hope that training child soldiers would raise hackles among Human Rights Watch in particular), or, best, perhaps, the Iraqi government.
And, insurgents would have released a similarly damning video in minutes or hours.
We got this in December. What's the deal?
Update: Ooh, good point about the Zarqawi video, Kip. (AM)
5 comments:
Kip:
Absolutely agree--the video will have little effect released by the USG, and will likely be dismissed by the target audience as either a USG forgery or exaggerated footage of kids playing "insurgent and soldier" (a not entirely uncommon pastime in the area, albeit not with real weapons).
It might also be added that, for the laudable international effort to halt the recruitment of child soldiers around the world, under-18s routinely participated in European resistance movements during WWII. Moreover many Western countries allow voluntary recruitment--if not combat--by those under age 18, including Canada (16), France (17), Norway (16), Poland (17), Switzerland (17), the UK (16), and the US (17), among others.
That echoes my thoughts Kip, although mine are of a slightly different nature. I'll give AM that the video might give some parents pause, but as you allude to, those are only going to be the parents that are already predisposed to be friendly to the west, as those who are not will dismiss is as produced propaganda.
However, my main hang up is what is the counter to this? That is to say, what are we (the military, the Iraqi government, the U.S. government as a whole in areas outside of Iraq/Afghanistan) doing to counter this? The video is indicative of a larger problem...to the average kid, this sort of thing has to look awesome. Guns, belonging, having power over people, etc.
Maybe I'm completely wrong, but I'm willing to bet good money that the U.S.'s effort (directly or through proxies) is pretty weak in this regard.
Mike,
Great points. If I were a kid I would love this stuff too. It's exactly for that reason that 3-24 warns "beware the children."
I think something like this can be effective if it is packaged and targeted at women, who are important influencers in the Arab world, even if they are a bit more hidden (less so in Iraq than in other areas where I've been involved).
Anon, great point about under-18s. I have a friend who fought in WWII in the Polish resistance at the age of 9.
He was perfect for getting through checkpoints and sniping in the forests. I was in elementary school at that age, and I think the world would be a better place if all children were in school at that age. That said, I did gain intelligence from children at times in Iraq, not through force or intimidation but because they volunteered it.
Kip: Norway has a volunteer-age of 16? News to me, since the roll-up call comes at 17 and the agelimit for touching automatic weapons is 18.
As for the psychological angle, I agree. To the traumatized child, this must look like power-fantasy heaven, a band of brothers w. weapons taking control of their enviroment. With the danger of sounding like a broken record, in a kinky way this type of video can be seen as a response to the PR-efforts of Gitmo: The images of the humiliated enemy mirrors each other, but here its the kids (jihds?) of the streetgang who have the power. Think rape-revenge fantasy. How does one counter that?
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