War of the Flea

by Taber, Robert

• ISBN13: 9781574885552
• ISBN10: 1574885553
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2002-08-01
• Publisher: Potomac Books Inc

Summary

'œThe guerrilla fights the war of the flea, and his military enemy suffers the dog's disadvantages: too much to defend; too small, ubiquitous, and agile an enemy to come to grips with.' With these words, Robert Taber began a revolution in conventional military thought that has dramatically impacted the way armed conflicts have been fought since the book's initial publication in 1965. Whether ideological, nationalistic, or religious, all guerrilla insurgencies use similar tactics to advance their cause. War of the Flea'stimeless analysis of the guerrilla fighter's means and methods provides a fundamental resource for any reader seeking to understand this distinct form of warfare and the challenge it continues to present to today's armed forces in the Philippines, Colombia, and elsewhere.

Table of Contents

	p. 1
The wind of revolution
Popular will as the key to strategy
The confrontation of the haves and the have-nots
Fallacies of counterinsurgency
Guerrilla war as an extension of politics
Cracks in the armor of the modern state
	p. 17
The war of the flea
Political and military objectives
Creating "the climate of collapse."
Organization of insurgent forces
Guevara on guerrilla war: the base
	p. 25
Inception and evolution of an insurgency
Transition to civil war
Alternative solutions
The Cuban example
	p. 39
Protracted war
Popular forces versus regular armies
The guerrilla as missionary
Mao Tse-tung on the war of the flea
The lessons of China
	p. 57
Colonial war and the French experience
Strategy and tactics of Vo Nguyen Giap
How the Vietminh won in Indochina
	p. 75
The political character of the Second Indochina War
The American role
Expansion of the war
The outlook
	p. 97
Wars of national liberation and their cost
The Irish "troubles" and the role of the Black and Tans
Terrorism in Israel
Rebellion in North Africa
	p. 117
General Grivas on guerrilla war in Cyprus
The political uses of terrorism
Errors of British strategy
	p. 135
Failures in the war of the flea
Magsaysay and the Huks in the Philippines
The price of British victory in Malaya
Why the Communists lost in Greece
	p. 149
Sun Tzu on The Art of War
Principles of guerrilla strategy and tactics
Terrain as a determining factor
Guerrilla war in urban areas
The character of the guerrilla
	p. 173
Guerrilla movements in the Third World
The revolutionary base
Outlook for the United States
Proposals for a new American foreign policy in Latin America
Table of Contents provided by Syndetics. All Rights Reserved.