Wargaming Termination of Tea Party Extremists

Our military planners are openly discussing how to kill "Tea Party extremists" who have taken over a small town in the USA. Is this "operational lay-down" merely a "cartoonish and needlessly provocative scenario," as described by The Washington Times, or is it something much more malevolent?

The military scenario appears in the July 25, 2012 issue of the respected Small Wars Journal and posits that, while Obama will be thrown out of office in 2012, ten years of race- and immigrant-bashing by "right-wing demagogues" will have whipped white Americans into gang-like attacks on non-whites.

Read more: http://www.americanthinker.com/2012/08/wargaming_termination_of_tea_party_extremists.html#ixzz24HANT56n

The more and more I mull over that notorious paper, the more and more wrong-headed it looks - even on its own terms. There's a much better strategy, even if FedGov is unlikely to use it.

Assume that the city of Mu, a major city in the state of Atlantis, has been taken over by the Ruritarian Liberators. The RL is a group of well-drilled insurgents that have tapped into popular grievances that are not only shared in the city but also in wide swaths of Atlantis itself. Those grievances are also shared by a significant part of the populace in the United States itself, but not in a wide swath. The mayor of Mu has been deposed by the RL and is in custody, to the general amusement of most Mu residents. The Muians who are on the side of the United States government are keeping their mouths shut. So are the Muians who are not but have doubts of their own.

The Governor of Atlantis does not sympathize with the Ruritanian Liberators at all, but he knows that they've tapped into a rich vein of grievance. Consequently, he's afraid to act.

So, with my fantasy-general hat on, I ask: What should FedGov do to get rid of the Ruritanian Liberators insurgency?

Since the RL is composed of men of action, the best strategy takes advantages of their corresponding weaknesses. Action-oriented insurgents are passionate, looking for a confrontation and prepared for it, and highly focused on their goal. Their corresponding weakness is emotionality. Also, as insurgents, they have no legitimacy in the populace outside of their charismatic leadership.

With these weak points in mind, here's what I suggest. Note that it differs profoundly from the solution proffered by Drs Benson and Weber:

Start by evacuating the Governor and the Legislature of Atlantis. Play on their fear of a state-wide insurgency to encourage them to bug out. Assure them that, if they're called "cowards," it means they're doing the right thing.
Ask the Governor to give the same order to the Atlantis State Police.
Explain to all of them that the reason for the withdrawl is to go out of the way to show that FedGov does not want to shoot Americans. The Ruritanian Liberators are being given a chance to surrender peacefully. Stress that there's no need at this point to shoot the RLers; remind the troops and police that the insurgents are still Americans. Doing so will reassure any Oath Keeper types.
For those who complain that anarchy will break out as a result, use one of two answers: a) For any suspected sympathizers, and others not specifically trustworthy: "Well, they wanted the responsibilites of governing. Now they have them." For the ones known to be trustworthy, explain that it's to show Atlanteans and every other American what'll happen without "government."
Also, withdraw all the federal police and military presence from Atlantis as expeditiously as possible. Use the same dual explanation to any who show qualms. Take the materiel that can be moved expeditiously, but leave the rest. Make it clear in propaganda broadcasts that the materiel left behind, as well as all Federal property, is still owned by the Government of the United States. Leave a skeleton crew, just enough to prevent a small group of private looters, on any bases. Their real job is not to protect the materiel from the RL, but to vidcam anyone stealing it. Instruct them to blame the RL for any thefts. These mostly-abandoned bases are the bait.
If someone takes the bait, FedGov should launch a propaganda offensive. The Ruritanian Liberators should be compared to the Confederacy at this point, and the base(s) stolen from should be compared to Fort Sumter. Ask the mainstream media, and the compliant new media, to put on a real show, which includes Civil War experts. Make sure the propaganda scares people, but not to the point of panic. Also make sure that the RL are called thieves as part of the propaganda offensive. "They stole from us, they'll steal from you" and such forth.
While the propaganda offensive is going on, use the U.S. military to surround Atlantis but not to the point of interdiction or violation of the Third Amendment. Make sure that the surrounders are well-staffed with counterinsurgency forces, to the greatest extent practicable. Have the Governor of Atlantis explain the situation to Atlanteans, and the Atlantean legislators to chime in too.
Also, every piece of the propaganda offensive - directed at all Americans - should be laced with "If You See Something, Say Something." Make it clear that it takes real bravery to call the tip line. Example: "They'll call you coward for doing so, but that's because they're afraid. 'Those that doeth evil, hateth the light.'" "Remember: these people hate their neighbour like themselves." And so on.
Also, urge citizens to take pictures and videos, and upload them. Urge them, as part of "See-Something-Say-Something," to tell the general public too.
If there's any evidence that the RL has interdicted the Internet, stop all FedGov payment of funds to Atlantis. That includes Social Security and Medicare. Explain publicly that the payments can't get through because the Ruritanian Liberators interdicted the Internet. They'll almost certainly put on one of their IT guys to explain that they did no such thing, and why. FedGov should respond with a FedGov expert making sarcastic comments about the RL expert needing to debug his code. "What else did he do?" Imply that the IT guys in the RL are reckless and irresponsible. Then, turn the payments back on. Rinse and repeat by opportunity. The reason for this tactic is that FedGov needs an open internet for its propaganda.
Regardless of whether or not the bait is taken, the next step is to bring in the FBI's experts. Have them send in agent provocateurs, moles and informant-seekers. The FBI already does so as a matter of course, so they won't need any additional training.
The job of these moles is to get the Ruritanian Liberators fighting ordinary citizens, and ideally each other. The main goal should be to induce circular firing squads and anarchy. The more leaderless the RL is, the easier this goal will be.
The reason behind these disruptions of FedGov service (and Atlantean police services) is to drain the RL's forces and materiel on resupplying those services. If they don't, the propaganda should emphasize their heartlessness and cruelty, and blame them for any resultant anarchy or suffering. If they do try to cover for FedGov's absence, point out that they're trying to supply ersatz services that FedGov has been supplying all along. "Ignore their pretty patter; they just want to take over." This double offensive should be conducted by a tag team of propagandists.
When the complaints and cries for help come in from Atlantis, make it clear that FedGov can't act as it should because of the RL. This takes advantage of the FedGov strength that the RL can't duplicate: legitimacy.
All parleys from the Ruritanian Liberators should be ignored up to this point. At this point, treat any offers of "go-to zones" as a partial surrender. Send in the counter-insurgency troops to make any mercy drops and order them to stay there "to protect those precious goods against thieves." Make it a priority to Youtube anyone who's suffered.
Whether there's a parley or not, shift the propaganda from eliciting fear in the American public to eliciting anger. Shift the "If You See Something, Say Something" bit to describing the caller-inners as a kind of phone warrior. Tap into the "we're-all-heroes" meme to do so.
This fear-to-anger propaganda routine is primarily aimed at the rest of the United States. It's meant to flush out any non-Atlantean Ruritanian Liberator sympathizers, and to get the American public ready for a big war. At this point, it's not necessary to arrest any non-Atlantean pro-PL people; any arrests for sedition (there should be few) should be framed as FedGov responding to the cry of the people. The goal is to make sure that any pro-PLers outside of Atlantis are scared of their neighbours.
Supply the non-FBI police with lists of suspected pro-RLers, but tell them not to arrest those people for sedition: instruct them to spare their manpower. Instead, ask the police to arrest those sympathizers if and/or when they commit ordinary crimes: assault, murder, theft, etc. Any that do should be described plainly, explicitly and publicly as RL sympathizers. Continue the sedition arrests, but make them few and sporadic: unpredictable in terms of time.
At this point, break up the propaganda offensive intermittently with a boilerplate caution against taking the law into one's own hands. The boilerplate should be directed to "law-abiding citizens and patriots of the United States of America." As part of the boilerplate, say that the watchful eye of a patriotic neighbour is the best jail for the RLers - for now. Use this explanation to anyone who complains that FedGov isn't doing enough: We lack the resources right now."
Once this brew is in place, contact the Ruritanian Liberators and make it very clear that they have no support outside of Atlantis. Anyone who sympathizes with the RL is watched closely by true-blue Americans and is deeply afraid of them. Do it in a read-the-riot-act manner. Tell them to surrender.

At this point, I'll bow out because the above plan creates the winning conditions for Col. Benson's original strategy to have a chance.

The above plan is likely flawed, but it does take advantage of the weak points of any American insurgent: too ready for combat, too emotional, and too dependent upon they being on the side of the people. The best counter-strategem is to withdraw completely from the insurgents' area and let them stew in their own juiced-up juice. It also takes advantage of the biggest strength that FedGov has: despite its "flexibility" with respect to the Constitution, FedGov is still the legitimate government of the United States of America as seated by election. The second strength of FedGov is the benefits that citizens get from it, as long as the benefits don't run out. The last State to join the American Revolution was Georgia: the reason why they were last is because the U.K. government granted them a mercantilistic privilege before the ball got rolling.

Please, feel free to critique.

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