Propaganda which the people feel:They then use the grievances of the people to try to get public support.For example: <strong>AQ</strong>'s main propaganda is that the Western (and even far Eastern) powers are takingMuslim resources and wealth unlawfully, without any benefit coming to the masses of poor Muslims.This message is simple and it resonates with the masses of Muslims who see their countries occupied allthe time without any material benefit coming to them.Propaganda is the most important aspect of guerilla warfare because public support means the publicwill support your cause, give you money and men, and even hide you in moments of danger. 'You arethe people', that's what guerilla warfare is. If the people turn against you, then you have lost the war.(see Iraq chapter on how guerilla warfare can fail.)The Guerilla War begins:The aim of guerilla wars is for a smaller army to defeat a greater army through small sabotage of keyareaattacks, traps and by surprise [known as: Assymetric warfare.] They do this by doing acts ofSabotage, attacking important points of a governments strong points (places and the people). This oftenincludes:*Government buildings. (internationally: it is Embassies of the enemy country). They areattacked to target main figures, and to weaken government control.*Army outposts, Police stations, Military airports etc. (since they will be the main enemy of theguerillas during the war).*Highroads, Bridges, & Communication Towers (anything which makes it difficult for the armyand police to unite together as 1, and to make it difficult for them to communicate and resupplyeach other.)Small attacks against all these areas and then retreating to the safe hideouts will cause damage to theenemy government, the enemy will in turn become more violent and the people will face harshnessfrom the enemy government for hiding the guerillas. This will gain the guerillas more public supportbecause it proves the guerillas are fighting for a good cause and the regime is the tyrant.8
Where guerillas attack from?Guerillas' will usually choose a good city to target. (<strong>AQ</strong> chose al-Raqqa as the target city in Syria becauseit has alot of crude Oil to sell).The guerillas will start from the countryside (rural) areas because these are less controlled bygovernments. The rural people are also more independent, often poorer, and more distant from thegovernment, so more likely to support the guerillas'. Guerillas' will therefore start by getting the localson their side, telling them they should have control over their own resources.The guerillas will then damage highways so the city is isolated, then siege and attack the Governmentstrong points. They will break Communication signal Towers to prevent the government, police, andarmy from communicating, they will then attack the army and police bases individually, and retreat totheir rural base whenever facing tough resistance. Some of the police and army may even defect andjoin the side of the rebels if they prefer the new cause. These gradual 'hit and run' [attrition] tactics willgradually win the city over to the new guerilla groups. They will then have control over the city andshould secure it through armed men on key infrastructure (the previous strong government points) andgood governance so it cannot be attacked and retaken by the enemy government. If the people like thecause and are now getting their rights, they will protect the city against the enemy by any means fortheir own independence. Checkpoints will be placed on the outskirts of rebel control areas by the newpower to stop any unwanted people from crossing into their territory, unless they are thoroughlysearched first.If they secure the city and have enough support, they can move to the next city and use similar tactics totake over that too. Now they will have enough money and weapons from their previous battles to fundtheir new operations. This technique will continue until the war reaches the capital city (which is oftenthe most protected and strategically hard to reach), reaching to the heart of the capital - the King orPresidential palace. If this falls to the guerillas', then the nation is theirs.A good united governance will be required to unite the people, otherwise they will fight each other forpower and the nation will be disunited once more. This is what happened in Afghanistan when theAfghan Mujahideen (fighters) defeated the Russians in the 80s. They began to fight each other forpower, and the disunity only stopped when the Taliban united the Afghans under Islamic law in the late90s, and in 2001 had full control of the country. Then the US led war undid the efforts of the Taliban,divided the country once again, and forced the Taliban back into the mountains. But now throughoutthe 12years ( 2013 ), guerilla tactics have been used by the Taliban to regain most of Afghanistan onceagain. <strong>Al</strong>l areas controlled by the Taliban are known as the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, with theTaliban a stronger and maturer force.9
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