William S. Lind: 4GW Within the United States

In what appears to be his last posting on the regretfully closing D-N-I website, William S. Lind discusses the emergence of 4GW within the United States.

Citing a Washington Post article about COIN operations in Salinas, CA

The Salinas COIN operation is largely a response to Mexican drug gangs:

The gang problem dates back decades in Salinas, headquarters of the northern California network known as La Familia or Norteños. Organized in regiments, the gang operates more coherently in Salinas than its rival, the Mexican Mafia based in Southern California, according to Sgt. Mark Lazzarini, a Salinas police officer. He briefed the Monterey contingent and calls it a "godsend."

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For nearly two generations now, American polity has been a response to the 1960's. Proponents of the Afghan and Iraq war are largely persons who believe that Vietnam could have been won; while opponents are largely persons who instead believe it should not have been fought. Music, sex, drugs, religion, civil rights - you name it - positions today largely reflect positions adopted back in the 1960's.

This framework - the entire debate on both sides - poorly fits today's world. It has become a cliche - quite frankly a bore.

Mexico simply does not fit into this over-worn 1960's dichotomy. It was not part of that debate; and you simply cannot fit it into any hippie vs. redneck refrain.

And Mexico has its own dynamic. This dynamic is flowing into Salinas, right now, as Lind describes. It is flowing into Europe, as so many posts on this blog have described. It poses a challenge the 1960's framework cannot account for and which we can no longer ignore. The results will be chaotic - hopefully exciting, potentially disruptive, perhaps violent, but certainly not boring.