CTTA-May-2018.pdf

LTC,
These articles you post are very well written. But, they appear to miss the mark on purpose.
This was the first time I read about a virtual tribe, or social group associated with those following Muhammad's orders to form a Caliphate. They are apart of the Humma. It does not matter if it is a physical Mosque they worship the one true god of the Kaaba at, ir online. John Kerry also thought it was a lack of jobs. But, not the fear of globalism.
The article reads how to defeat terrorism. But, Islamic terrorism is based on an ideology hiding behind a theology. We see it with the Taliban getting ready for their spring offencive against the Infidels and Apostates.
ISIS and AQ can not be defeated physically. Their physical military can. But, like in Africa, the ideology of Muhammad will continue until we are ready to attack those moving this ideological war forward inside the Ummah.
One last thing. Lone wolves my arse. They are part of the Ummah too. Check the Mosque they pound their head on the ground towards zero point . There, you will find the hate sermons on Infidels, Jews, Apostates, the West, Christians, Homosexuals...
Have a good night Sir.

Kind of reminds me of Robert Taber's book War of the Flea in which writes about the need of an insurgency to create and maintain a "climate of collapse" - if they don't keep stirring things up, the population's perception of government legitimacy increases and the insurgency sees the deterioration of the conditions for undermining the government.
However, it seems to me that the magnitude of the 9/11 spectacle works two ways - yes, it impressed many people susceptible to the narratives of al Qaida and later ISIS, but at the same time, both al Qaida and ISIS have been dealt very public thrashings. After such a spectacle on 9/11, to be so openly and clearly pounded as al Qaida and ISIS have been, it would seem to me that the vision of some great resurgent caliphate would be exposed as a delusion and abandoned by many young men in the very populations they seek to influence. Maybe that's unrealistically hopeful of me, but they gave it their best shot, and it simply wasn't anywhere near good enough - and that was made obvious. The other article you posted discussed the usefulness of lethality in influencing. I think what's been done to al Qaida and ISIS is the sort thing I would expect to have produced exactly that - influence from lethality.

Interesting read