Kilcullen [in Counterinsurgency Redux] sees an ecosystem -- and ecosystems
merely appear chaotic. In actuality, they are highly ordered, reflecting a sort of emergence that many complex systems display...
[Dashiell Hammett's nameless detective quoted, in his book Red Harvest:]
"Plans are all right sometimes ... And sometimes just stirring things
up is all right - if you're tough enough to survive, and keep your eyes open so you'll see what you want when it comes to
the top." ...
Instability is his natural element. He acts unpredictably, even quirkily,
to keep the other side off balance and to discover openings.
All of this is a far cry from the idea pummelled into our minds for nearly
four years: the absolute necessity of "a plan" for the war. Yet in a conflict ecosystem, the law of the jungle may
well apply instead of the law of the operations order. Perhaps anarchy is our best friend.
