The evolution of insurgency

This is an interesting framing, though I missed it when it first appeared. From USA Today, November 7, 2004:

T.X. Hammes, a Marine colonel who studies guerrilla warfare at the National Defense University in Washington, D.C., says American troops will confront the best fighters a determined enemy has to offer. "Insurgency is Darwinian. Those who are stupid and unlucky were killed early," Hammes says. "Those that survive get tougher. We see this in the enemy's tactics — they figure out what we are doing and they change. They are a very adaptive enemy."

That's my emphasis added.

Actually, I read a similar quote in a recent issue of Time in a waiting room, but couldn't find it on the web.

Others have discussed the fact that insurgencies evolve, including major media outlets and bloggers, but the usage here could be catchy if repeated often: the "insurgency is Darwinian."


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