I was listening to some television commentators mock the importance of killing the head of ISIS, the latest group of monsters to threaten civilization. Their reasoning was "If you kill one leader they'll just name another."
Perhaps it is because of my work as a management consultant that comments like that cause me to groan and throw furniture around the room. In the mind of those commentators, people are as interchangeable as light bulbs. One is gone and you quickly replace it with another and all goes on as before.
But, of course, people are not light bulbs. To draw an example from the American Civil War, if you kill Grant and the replacement is McClellan or Hooker, then the situation has changed enormously. If you kill so many of the ISIS leaders that they're snatching replacements from the motor pool or the band, then you've done some serious harm. That doesn't even consider the standard bureaucratic disruption which comes with such turnover. We've all seen the positioning, game-playing, and communication problems which arise with any change in command.
Eliminate the ISIS leadership and keep on doing it. That is only one of many needed actions, but it is worth the effort.
3 comments:
And remember, "If they're dead, they can't behead."
Wally,
You need to be Secretary of State.
Michael
Obviously, you are attracted to the subtlety of my Terrorist Disposal System approach to the issue.
Post a Comment