Less Is More in the Fight Against Terrorism

[HuckleB]

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/09/100917090835.htm

"Terrorist networks are complex. Now, a mathematical analysis of their properties published this month in the International Journal of Networking and Virtual Organisations, suggests that the best way to fight them is to isolate the hubs within the network rather than trying to destroy the network as a whole through short-term battles.

According to Philip Vos Fellman a Lecturer at Suffolk University, Boston, and member of the New England Complex Systems Institute, USA, tools used to analyze complex systems can also be used to study terrorist networks with a view to undermining them.

Vos Fellman explains how terrorist networks are "typical of the structures encountered in the study of conflict, in that they possess multiple, irreducible levels of complexity and ambiguity."

"This complexity is compounded by the covert activities of terrorist networks where key elements may remain hidden for extended periods of time and the network itself is dynamic," adds Vos Fellman, an expert in mathematical modeling and strategy. The nature of a dynamic network is akin to the robust Internet but contrasts starkly with the structure of the armed forces or homeland security systems, which tend to be centralized and hierarchical.

..."


---------------------------------


Of course, even if this study had been a part of the Bushista universe, it would have been ignored. Science doesn't have a place in connieland.

:hi:

[alfredo]

1. Read "Three Cups of Tea."

[HuckleB]

2. It's a great read, and a good recommendation!

:toast:

[alfredo]

3. The real enemy is ignorance.