Strike

When we analyze more fully the tactic of guerrilla warfare, we will see that the guerrilla fighter needs to have a good knowledge of the surrounding countryside, the paths of entry and escape, the possibilities of speedy maneuver, good hiding places; naturally, also, he must count on the support of the people. All this indicates that the guerrilla fighter will carry out his action in wild places of small population.

Che Guevara, Guerilla Warfare

The basic idea of guerilla warfare as articulated by Che in his classic book is that it turns severe military disadvantages into a strategy for victory. The guerilla band faces an enemy that is much better-armed, with a much larger standing military, and much better financing and support resources.

But the government's gigantism is also its problem. Its installations are permanent, and hence are permanent targets. Its decision-making procedures are bureaucratic, and hence cumbersome. It has cities and resources and armaments to defend, and hence it is immobile.

The terror merchants of today understand this very well. What sets them apart from Che's band of guerillas in the jungle of Cuba or Bolivia is, first, their international reach, and, second, their unconscionable decision to favor civilian targets.

But while they are elusive, we are immobile as our skyscrapers. While they are characterized by small bands and tight cohesion, we are trying not only to decide on a military response, but to assemble an international coalition. They kill our people in seconds; we might be chasing them around for years. They move at will and apparently undetectably around the mountains of Afghanistan and through various frontiers and borders. We are as huge and stationary as the Pentagon.

We had better think about this situation as a guerilla war. The strike has to be sudden; it has to be decisive; and it has to be resourceful and mobile. You're going to have put people on the ground, and those people are going to have to be able to operate without an elaborate chain of command.

And we're absolutely going to have to get some sense of the resources at the disposal of the terrorists and of the degree of their popular support. But unfortunately the time to gather intelligence is about over. If we're going to move, we have to move fast.

The Pentagon is a good symbol for our basic military posture: we tend toward a strategy of overwhelming force. That someone could crash a plane into that huge building is a perfect symbol of the way the conflict stands at the moment: a sudden irrational conflagration in an almost infinite bureaucracy, induced by a few dedicated people.

If our response has the hugeness of the Pentagon and involves massive invasions over incredibly difficult terrain, we are likely to be frustrated. The people we seek will move out of our way with ease, and the political situation on the ground as we become occupiers will be untenable.

The question is, can we move fast, now? It is already late.

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