COIN is the new black in military circles these days. Owing to this, many people have Malaya on the mind. The Malayan Emergency was one of Britain’s most successful small wars, and for good reason. The Brits went the extra mile in this longest of long wars. From Inside the SAS: (pp.27)
Under Calvert, the Regiment also evolved some startling methods of clandestine warfare. One of these resulted from their discovery that the local prostitutes were demanding payment for their services in bullets and grenades, rather than cash. This ‘currency’ was then passed to the enemy. Calvert’s men were promptly used to pose as clients in order to supply self-destroying ordnance including hand grenades fitted with instantaneous fuses (to kill the users) and exploding bullets which, when fired, served the same purpose.
Comments to this entry
Dan tdaxp
June 28, 2006
3:43 am
Senator Wants IRS to Chase After Pimps Gates gives 500 hookers smart cards
By recognizing a natural market and exploiting it, Her Majesty's forces and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation achieved their goals. Instead of attacking the market in puritanical fury, they used market mechanisms to (a) defeat terrorists and (b) stamp out disease.
On the opposite side of the social engineer scale, an American politician wishes to further distort and hide a market. In the even that terrorists (possible) or diseases (definitely) would use prostitutes as a vector, they would be that much more difficult to fight.
Curzon
June 28, 2006
4:26 am
Justin
June 28, 2006
5:09 am
_"The Line complained bitterly that so many men had been killed by defective shells that the men were afraid to fire their rifles, the Staff countering tartly with the suggestion that the line see that the men kept their arms clean and in serviceable condition.
All of which was obviously to be traced back to an idle afternoon in the rain when Major Wise had filled some dozens of pulajan shells with dynamite. Official reports of the day mention the finding of dead pulajans lying beside their shattered rifles. "_
Joshua
June 29, 2006
7:08 pm
Serve Her Majesty, service her subjects.