Simple "solutions", complex failures

[sharp_blue]

In physics it's often that case that if you find the right way to view a difficult problem then its solution becomes almost obvious. When I started writing this weblog, one of my intentions was to try to share with non-physicists some of these ways of viewing physical theories. The weblog's subtitle - "making the complex simple" - and its title are

Comments

[vorotylo]

Thank you.

[sharp_blue]

You're welcome.

I sometimes think I'm in some way being horribly naive or else just saying completely obvious things...

[vorotylo]

Anyway, I enjoy reading them, so let the things go.

[twoeleven]

The specifically Islamist terrorist organisations clearly divide into one class which are Sunni and another class which is Shia. These two classes of organisations are generally hostile towards each other even though they have a number of enemies (foremost amongst them the United States and Israel) in common. Some, but not all, of the latter groups receive backing from Iran.

careful there. if reports such as this are correct, such distinctions are less and less true. iran is also generally suspected of backing hamas, a sunni group seekng to destroy israel.

imho, an exit strategy for iraq is merely a first (woefully belated) test-case for what to do more generally in the middle east (or the larger islamic world). one of my great frustrations with the conduct of the war is that the us army doctrine for fighting guerrilas (link to large pdf file) emphasizes¹ the futility of relying on force alone², and orders commanders to seek to understand and redress underlying social problems in the assistance of whatever passes for legitimate