Traditionally, guerrilla insurgency theory has been essentialized into two schools of thought. The first, Guevarism is marked by its adherence to Che Guevara’s foco theory, which says that a revolutionary uprising can create the necessary social conditions for a successful socialist revolution. It is a radically vanguardist, derived from Marxist-Leninism and adapted for social, political, economic and geographic conditions of Latin America. The second, Maoism is more traditional and conservative in that it considers favorable conditions among the rural population to be a necessary prerequisite for staging a guerrilla insurrection(Also See Mao's Innovations in Popular Warfare. But both agree that the countryside is the only place where such an insurrection is to take place and victory decided. In their analysis the urban sphere is completely excluded as the site of legitimate, potentially successful guerrilla operations. Without this, such movements become simply “terrorists,” linguistically and conceptually separate from a tradition to which it rightfully belongs. Perhaps the most significant theorist in the urban guerrilla tradition is Abraham Guillén, a former fighter in the Spanish Civil War who moved to South America after escaping from one of Franco’s prison. He wrote extensively about the Tupamaros guerrillas of Uruguay, a movement he highlighted as providing a model used by other urban guerrilla movements on the continent in his essay “Problems of Revolutionary Strategy.” This essay has earned canonical status, as urban guerrilla groups throughout South America during the 1960’s and 1970’s were trained by Guillén and his manual. It develops a discourse on urban guerrilla strategy through an in-depth critique of revolutionary movements, both contemporary and historical. He draws on dozens of examples throughout the world, not just in Latin America, although this is where the bulk of his analysis is focused. This is compared to Guevara's “Guerrilla Warfare” in which his analysis is based entirely on his experience in the Sierra Maestra during the Cuban revolution. Because of the historically influential nature of Che and his writings, he has become almost synonymous with guerrilla insurgency. Criticisms of Che and his method are equated in many people's minds with the problematic nature of guerrilla warfare as a whole. As such, Guillén writings, particularly his critique of foquismo are a refreshing change from Guevara’s non-self-critical tome and a positive addition to the discourse of guerrilla warfare.
It is not immediately clear what distinguishes urban guerrilla movements from their rural counterparts, other than the fact that they operate in cities. As previously stated I hope to elucidate these characteristics using the framework outlined in the beginning of this paper as well as my own analytic insight. Despite their obvious and significant differences, the rural jungle and the so-called “urban jungle” serve the same purpose for the guerrilla, protection through concealment. Similar to rural guerrillas disappearing into the jungle after an attack on an urban center, the Tupamaros guerrillas of Uruguay retreated to the safety of Montevideo after their temporary occupation of Pando, a small town immediately outside the capital. Concealment, analogous to that which is provided by the density of vegetation in the mountains is found by utilizing the density of population and development in the urban environment. Additionally, the city provides anonymity due to the alienation and disassociation of people from each other that many argue is inherent in urban social relations. The concealing properties of both types of terrain allow the guerrilla to suddenly appear, strike and melt into their surroundings.
While some similarities can be found between the tactics and strategies of the two types of guerrillas, several major differences distinguish them. To begin with, the daily life of the urban guerrilla is far less involved with the insurgency than that of the rural. According to Abraham Guillén, the urban guerrilla should live separately and fight together with their comrades in arms . The rural guerrilla’s entire life is the insurgency; they live, eat, march, sleep and fight together, almost completely separated from society. But all types of guerrilla theory stress the importance of mobility and non-reliance on permanent terrain (in the country permanent bases, in the city safe houses or arm caches.
Additionally the nature and style of their violent actions are very distinct. To begin with, urban guerrilla groups usually contain far fewer active members than rural groups, as bombings and kidnappings require fewer troops. The rural guerrilla, while certainly assisted by acts of sabotage, fights very much like a conventional army in that their conflicts are primarily gun battles. While they are irregular forces and utilize certain tactics to gain an advantage over a technologically superior opponent, the rural guerrilla army is organized and behaves like a conventional army. The urban guerrilla tends to avoid gun battles if at all possible and prefers three main types of actions, ones that take full advantage of the urban environment and the benefits that it provides, all of which were utilized by the FLQ; armed robbery, kidnappings, and bombings. Armed robberies are obviously nothing new and no different in function than the supply raids of rural guerrillas. The urban guerrilla robs banks, gun stores, shooting ranges, and police and army barrack in order to gain both funds and munitions. Kidnappings are also sources of income for the urban guerrilla but also a potentially useful political tool. Some are merely acts of extortion while others, such as when a politician, member of the bourgeoisie, or their family member had the additional benefit of demonstrating the weakness of the government and implicitly the strength of the guerrilla, freeing political prisoners or supporting non-violent labor movements such as a unions on strike.
The urban guerrilla uses bombings for very much the same reason: to demonstrate the state’s lack of control, it's inability to maintain its monopoly on violence (as described by Weber and Foucault) and stop the bombing of civilians and infrastructure. Foucault sees politics and the states relationship to society as inherently violent, arguing that politics are an extension of war by other means , reformulating von Clausewitz’s famous adage . His theory of biopower argues that the modern state utilizes “an explosion of numerous and diverse techniques for achieving the subjugations of bodies and the control of population .” This is a kind of violence is omnipresent and invisible to those being controlled. Additionally, the state uses its various forms of legitimized violence to maintain its monopoly on means of violent coercion, by suppressing popular and non-state violence, i.e. riots, crime, guerrilla insurgency, etc. The urban guerrilla challenges this monopoly, the cornerstone of legitimized rule and therefore challenges the legitimacy of the state's existence.
Showing newest posts with label China. Show older posts
Showing newest posts with label China. Show older posts
Mar 10, 2009
Tip of the Day: Don't Trust What Gun Dealers Say
From Left to Right: Yugoslavian .380 made in 1953, likely corrosive; Norinco 7.62x39 made in 1993; Portuguese 7.62 NATO, year either 1968 or 79.
Buying and shooting mil surp ammo is a great way to save money and get better quality ammo than most commercial current production ammo, i.e. Wolf, Golden Tiger, etc. But there are a couple of issues to consider. First is the ammo corrosive? Old primers produced corrosive salts which, if not properly cleaned will rust up your barrel, permanently damaging the bore and reducing the weapon's accuracy. Second, is the ammo safe? Most/almost all of the time the answer is yes but old mil surp ammo from the ComBloc (communist bloc) has been know to explode in guns, possibly ruining the weapon and injuring the user. Third, is the ammo reliable and does your gun like it? I bought some Spanish .308/7.62x51 that Sahiem's Saiga didn't like very much many rounds were duds. Before you fire any ammo of unknown origin, you should try to identify it.
But DON'T LISTEN TO WHAT THE PERSON SELLING YOU THE AMMO TELLS YOU. I would say that %90 of the time, the info they give me is wrong. Consider:
• I bought some AK ammo which none of the gun store employees could identify but they assured me that it wasn't corrosive. Turns out that it was East German steel-core that was corrosive.
• I bought some nice brass AK which I was told was Russian, but ended up being from South Africa.
• I recently bought some Norinco commercial AK ammo at a gun show(pictured above). I asked the dealer if it was from before Clinton's ban on the importation of Chinese Ammo in the '90s. He told me that there was no such ban (which there is) and that it was current production. I quick check of the head stamp proved that it was in fact manufactured in '93.
• Saheim bought some 7.62x51 at a gun store and was told that it was Israeli when it was a mix of American and Canadian ammo.
And that's why the Tip of the Day is to not trust what gun dealers say and do your own research. I am sure that Saheim and my readers can provide other examples of ignorant/misinformed gun dealers in the comment section
Aug 10, 2008
The Olympics...
They just started and I already can't wait for them to be over. Other that allowing imperialist China to show its true colors, I denounce the modern Olympics of being another product of the culture industry created by our corporate overlords to distract us from what we should really be caring about, i.e. throwing off the chains of our corporate overlords. Am I the only person who doesn't care?
Aug 3, 2008
More Poster Art from Cuba, the PRC and the USSR
I have previously posted about revolutionary poster art from the PRC, USSR and Cuba and have received some positive feedback for it. The topic seems to be growing in popularity and I have found some more website to add to the list. Out of the Netherlands, the International Institute of Social History brings us The Chairman Smiles, a look at poster art from the aforementioned countries. The provide a long bibliography and link list for those interested in further research.
It lead me to the collection of poster art from the Organization of Solidarity with the People of Asia, Africa and Latin America (OSPAAAL), an organization born out of the legendary Tri-Continental Conference in Havana. In addition to an incredible amount of material pertaining to Cuba, there is also poster art from Africa, Asia, the Middle East and the rest of Latin America. Above is my favorite from the Arab world.
Apr 7, 2008
In Defense of Revolutionary Marxism
As a pretty open radical leftist, I am often asked to defend all incarnations of "communism" throughout history, or at least the most notorious ones, i.e. USSR, Maoist China, Pol Pot's Cambodia, North Korea, Cuba etc. Here is my rant/response.
To begin with I am not a Maoist, Stalinist, or a Communist. My political views are much more complex than that, but if forced to label myself I would say that I am a Marxist. The writings of Marx and those who followed in his footsteps inform my perspective of my world. Reading this blog you will notice that the the PRC, the USSR, etc. are not the case studies that I draw on in my posts, other than for appreciation of their cultural products (poster art, music, etc.). The right and other enemies of the revolution like to highlight these supposed failures of communism, but fail to examine situations in which revolutionary leftism flourished, i.e. Chiapas, the Spanish Civil War, APPO-occupied Oaxaca, the Sandinistas, Allende's Chile, etc.
While I by no means support, endorse, or condone these regimes, for neo-conservative capitalists to criticize the Soviet Union and People's Republic of China for being communist dictatorship is extremely problematic, given their political views. They do not mention the dozens of capitalist dictatorships and nor that the U.S. has a horrible track record of creating and supporting brutally repressive dictatorial regimes through loans/grants, contracts, arms deals, coups, and by training their death squads at the School of the Americas. Often these same people while leave U.S. aggression out of the formula completely, making it seem as though formerly left-of-center countries "failed" due to inherent flaws in socialism/communism, not because the billions of dollars that the US has spent fighting "communism", often in illegal and clandestine ways, against the will of the Congress and the American people.
The rhetoric and the reality of American foreign policy are two very different things; while the official line is that America supports the spread of democracy and free elections throughout the world, the reality is that this is only (partially) true when those freely elected regimes agree to bend over to American Imperial interests. Case in point Hugo Chavez, against whom the US supported a coup and other destabilization efforts despite his continual election and reelections by popular vote (on this topic I HIGHLY recommend The Chavez Code: Cracking U.S. Intervention in Venezuela by Eva Golinger and the film The Revolution Will Not Be Televised.) Another example is the overthrow of Guatemala's second democratically elected president Jacobo Arbenz, supported by the CIA and American Fruit interests in 1954 (an event for which a young Che Guevara was present and heavily influenced by, as described in Back on the Road, another book which I can strongly recommend reading).
Now I am not claiming any moral high ground, but for agents of Imperialism to accuse me of being a murderous ideologue seems a bit hypocritical. If there is such thing as "legitimate violence," the hegemonic actions of the US are most often morally indefensible, thus negating any moral authority or claims of a monopoly on violence by the US governments and other Imperial powers. Like I said previously, I completely reject Stalinism, Maoism (except as a military doctrine) and all other forms of mutilated "communism." My political aspirations are to give self-determination and self-rule back to the oppressed peoples of the world, so that all people are truly free.
To begin with I am not a Maoist, Stalinist, or a Communist. My political views are much more complex than that, but if forced to label myself I would say that I am a Marxist. The writings of Marx and those who followed in his footsteps inform my perspective of my world. Reading this blog you will notice that the the PRC, the USSR, etc. are not the case studies that I draw on in my posts, other than for appreciation of their cultural products (poster art, music, etc.). The right and other enemies of the revolution like to highlight these supposed failures of communism, but fail to examine situations in which revolutionary leftism flourished, i.e. Chiapas, the Spanish Civil War, APPO-occupied Oaxaca, the Sandinistas, Allende's Chile, etc.
While I by no means support, endorse, or condone these regimes, for neo-conservative capitalists to criticize the Soviet Union and People's Republic of China for being communist dictatorship is extremely problematic, given their political views. They do not mention the dozens of capitalist dictatorships and nor that the U.S. has a horrible track record of creating and supporting brutally repressive dictatorial regimes through loans/grants, contracts, arms deals, coups, and by training their death squads at the School of the Americas. Often these same people while leave U.S. aggression out of the formula completely, making it seem as though formerly left-of-center countries "failed" due to inherent flaws in socialism/communism, not because the billions of dollars that the US has spent fighting "communism", often in illegal and clandestine ways, against the will of the Congress and the American people.
The rhetoric and the reality of American foreign policy are two very different things; while the official line is that America supports the spread of democracy and free elections throughout the world, the reality is that this is only (partially) true when those freely elected regimes agree to bend over to American Imperial interests. Case in point Hugo Chavez, against whom the US supported a coup and other destabilization efforts despite his continual election and reelections by popular vote (on this topic I HIGHLY recommend The Chavez Code: Cracking U.S. Intervention in Venezuela by Eva Golinger and the film The Revolution Will Not Be Televised.) Another example is the overthrow of Guatemala's second democratically elected president Jacobo Arbenz, supported by the CIA and American Fruit interests in 1954 (an event for which a young Che Guevara was present and heavily influenced by, as described in Back on the Road, another book which I can strongly recommend reading).
Now I am not claiming any moral high ground, but for agents of Imperialism to accuse me of being a murderous ideologue seems a bit hypocritical. If there is such thing as "legitimate violence," the hegemonic actions of the US are most often morally indefensible, thus negating any moral authority or claims of a monopoly on violence by the US governments and other Imperial powers. Like I said previously, I completely reject Stalinism, Maoism (except as a military doctrine) and all other forms of mutilated "communism." My political aspirations are to give self-determination and self-rule back to the oppressed peoples of the world, so that all people are truly free.
Mar 20, 2008
Call to Action: Oppose the Chinese Occupation of Tibet!
I am sure that you all have heard about the current growing unrest throughout Tibet in which upwards of eighty protesters have been killed by police and other forces of the state's repressive apparatys. This is only the latest in a series of repressive and potentially (depending on your definition) genocidal actions taken by the Chinese Government against Tibetans. I call on all defenders of the working class and of the repressed peoples of the world to oppose this action through use of your chosen methodology. The Tiben exile/refugee community in my area has been protesting, marching and gathering petitions on Main Street recently. Express your solidarity with a peaceful resistance movement against imperial occupation! This movement has recently become much more broad based as regular Tibetans joined in protest with monks whose brothers have been shot and killed in recent months.
Feb 4, 2008
The Sino/Soviet Split
The year is 1984 and across Asia, the Red Armies march on to confront capitalist imperialism. Note the Norinco SKS in the first video.
Jan 23, 2008
Mao's Innovations in Popular Warfare
From Gérard Chaliand's Guerrilla Strategies: An Historical Anthology from the Long March to Afghanistan:
"The campaign in China was based on a remarkable innovation. Until the Second World War, the military doctrine of both right and left treated guerrilla operations as purely secondary. The main concerns were, quite rightly, aviation and mechanical forces. Although they contain nothing new in terms of technique , Mao Tse-tung's writings, which deal with revolutionary war rather than guerrilla operations per se, constitute a major breakthrough. It is quite meaningless to isolate the strictly military element in his writing, as certain authors have been tempted to do, for what matters is the close link between the political and the military that characterizes Mao's thinking. The point is that guerrilla warfare is a military tactic aimed at harassing an adversary, whereas revolutionary war is a military means whereby to overthrow a political regime. (authors emphasis)
What was Mao saying that was new? Not unlike his predecessors, he considered guerrilla warfare more than a mere backup for the regular army, although Mao did not in fact write about guerrilla war. What he was concerned with was revolutionary war, in which regular army units employ the tactics of irregulars, partisan units fight in parellel to the regular forces (with their actions sometimes considered most important), and classical full frontal assaults are launched only when the situation demands them. Mao's real innovation lay elsewhere in the field of politics. His political insight was special, for he was a specific and unforeseen avatar of Leninism."
"The campaign in China was based on a remarkable innovation. Until the Second World War, the military doctrine of both right and left treated guerrilla operations as purely secondary. The main concerns were, quite rightly, aviation and mechanical forces. Although they contain nothing new in terms of technique , Mao Tse-tung's writings, which deal with revolutionary war rather than guerrilla operations per se, constitute a major breakthrough. It is quite meaningless to isolate the strictly military element in his writing, as certain authors have been tempted to do, for what matters is the close link between the political and the military that characterizes Mao's thinking. The point is that guerrilla warfare is a military tactic aimed at harassing an adversary, whereas revolutionary war is a military means whereby to overthrow a political regime. (authors emphasis)
What was Mao saying that was new? Not unlike his predecessors, he considered guerrilla warfare more than a mere backup for the regular army, although Mao did not in fact write about guerrilla war. What he was concerned with was revolutionary war, in which regular army units employ the tactics of irregulars, partisan units fight in parellel to the regular forces (with their actions sometimes considered most important), and classical full frontal assaults are launched only when the situation demands them. Mao's real innovation lay elsewhere in the field of politics. His political insight was special, for he was a specific and unforeseen avatar of Leninism."
Jan 2, 2008
Great Films for Free Online
Hope everyone is enjoying these first days of 2008! Here are some great films for you all to watch and ponder. Please feel free to provide your own links in the comments sections
The Corporation
Nicaragua - A Nation's Right to Survive —a great British documentary about the problems facing a post-revolutionary Nicaragua and a good primer on the U.S. multiple military intervention in the region.
The Motorcycle Diaries
638 Ways to Kill Castro
Tunnel Warfare - part propaganda, part guerrilla training film, this movies is compelling for a great number of reasons.
That should keep you all busy and entertained for a while.
The Corporation
Nicaragua - A Nation's Right to Survive —a great British documentary about the problems facing a post-revolutionary Nicaragua and a good primer on the U.S. multiple military intervention in the region.
The Motorcycle Diaries
638 Ways to Kill Castro
Tunnel Warfare - part propaganda, part guerrilla training film, this movies is compelling for a great number of reasons.
That should keep you all busy and entertained for a while.
Nov 4, 2007
No Revolution for China!
Repeat visitors will notice a new feature on the site, a the red banner on the top right of the page that tells you that The Revolution has been banned in China. I mentioned this a few posts back. I learned about this from The Great Firewall of China. This is why I don't get people who support and defend modern day PRC and call themselves Marxists/Socialists/Communists. How can a communists country have soo much capitalism and exploitation of workers? Censorship is to be expected but why would you censor Marxists.org, this site and other pro-revolutionary websites if you were in fact a worker's state?
Oct 7, 2007
Revolutionary Art
I recently came across a number of sites devoted to one of my favorite subjects, socialist propaganda poster art. I have already posted about Mao Post, but there is more Chinese, as well as Cuban poster art on Docs Populi. Also check out these two sister blogs, Soviet Poster a Day and Posters of Cuba - The Crimson Dawn Island, which I think is a great name.
May 2, 2007
Do you like Mao?
Then you'll love Maopost.com! They have literally hundreds of vintage propaganda posters from Mao's Communist China. The art is incredibly well done and well, bad ass at points. The vast majority of them aren't for sale but they all can be easily downloaded for free. Or you can opt to have a professional painter reproduce a painting with your likeness instead of the person's face. But that cost money. I've been in email contact with these guys and apparently the Chinese government doesn't care, as long as they aren't producing something for consumption in China. Speaking of China, there are free downloads of Chinese Communist songs in the audio section of World Revolution Media, a site I just recently posted. Not as good as the Russian and Italian songs about Che, but still solid.
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