USMC GWOT: “no rules and no clear ending” (!)

Terrorism is, let’s face it, if not a permanent part of modern life, at least something with a permanent place in the modern consciousness. Counter- and anti-terrorism resources are unendingly popular, not only for the intended government and military audiences, but also with average Joes and Janes around the world.

Long-time readers may well remember the Army’s anti-terrorism certification that I publicized last year, and which was fairly popular at that time. A big part of the appeal was not the practical instruction, such as it is - most people who worked their way through the certification agree that it’s largely glaringly obvious common-sense stuff; rather, the appeal for many was the fairly cheesy, over-the-top nature of the anti-terrorism rhetoric.

Anyone who likes that sort of stuff will no doubt greatly enjoy a little bit of Marine training material just sent my way…

Marine Corps Institute course 0201C is entitled “Terrorism Awareness for Marines”, and covers just about what you’d expect from the title. Like a lot of other military manuals dealing with terrorism, this one - circa 2005 - shares that same great ideological fervor whose constant repetition has done the President so much good in the polls:

A “new age of terrorism”, and “a war with no rules and no clear ending”? Actually, let’s run that whole sentence by, one more time: “The United States has entered a new age of terrorism that targets both civilians and Armed Forces in a war with no rules and no clear ending.” Well, I’m glad our ideological doctrine is in no way whatsoever scary-sounding or open to mis-interpretation by our enemies! (Seriously, Quantico: WTF? Does nobody proof-read this stuff?)

The rest of the document doesn’t get much better, though the above is probably - depending on whether you’re a glass-half-full, or glass-half-empty personality - the low or high point of the textbook. Still, feel free to download the course (3.3MB Adobe PDF!) and either educate yourself on the finer points of terrorism and political ideologies:

…and all other things terrorism, or simply play “hunt the badly cringe-worthy statements”. If you spot anything worth pointing and laughing (or groaning) at, share with the class, eh?

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