We’ve talked a bit about Red, Yellow, and Green villages in Afghanistan. They were essentially classifications we assigned to villages as part of a Village Stability Operation (VSO) in order to prioritize our efforts in turning “yellow” villages “green”. Very briefly, red villages were decidedly anti-US/Coalition Forces OR pro-Taliban; yellow villages were mixed or indifferent; and green villages were pro-US/CF OR anti-Taliban. We had to identify these villages, classify them, and then target for influence appropriately. We didn’t waste time on red villages that we were unable to turn. Instead, we focused on keeping the green villages for us, and convincing/influencing the yellow villages to support us.
Going back to the fact that we can’t kill them all, and that killing one insurgent often creates one or more in his place, we have to align our strategy appropriately. This is the battle for hearts and minds that is won and lost in the villages, on the ground, with the people; not sitting behind a computer saying that it can’t be done.
As I was looking at a topo map of my hunting unit, I started to classify terrain as red, yellow, or green based on the likelihood of deer there at certain times of the day. It occurred to me that this analysis has a very profound usefulness to the Patriot/Prepper as well.
