Wretchard and Robb have already commented on Martin Muckian’s “Structural Vulnerabilities of Networked Insurgencies” in the latest issue of Parameters. If you haven’t already done so, I highly encourage you to check it out.

One of the key points Muckian makes is that networked insurgencies do not necessarily have strong political cohesion.

As long as the network confronts issues that are within the shared story of the narrative, it can maintain its unity. If issues outside the narrative arise, however, such as the elections or an agenda for the future of Iraq, the network loses its cohesion as groups respond according to their own ideology. The network may be capable of reaching a consensus, but this takes time. This disjointedness demonstrates that the political cohesion of a networked insurgency is directly vulnerable in a way the Maoist revolutionaries were not.

These shared narratives and doctrine represent the schwepunkt of the insurgents’ orientation. In order to disrupt this,

Attack the narrative by forcing the insurgency to respond to issues that are outside its scope—this can disrupt or even fracture the movement as each group responds to the issue according to its own ideology. Ideological differences are a primary cause of fracturing within networked groups. A counterinsurgency should take every opportunity to disrupt its adversary by promoting internal dissension.

Muckian is on the right track here. He sets the proper context. Building on earlier work that examined the difference between Maoist insurgencies and the current Iraqi insurgency, Muckian takes the next step of analyzing the vulnerabilities of the Iraqi form of insurgency. Some of his specific recommendations need further development, as Robb pointed out in his post. For example, Robb criticizes Muckian for recommending that COIN forces directly attack the IT infrastructure of insurgents, since this same infrastructure is also used for legimiate economic activity. Instead of attacking the infrastructure, COIN forces ought to use the IT infrastructure to disrupt and confuse the insurgents’ orientation.