The Shura

Shura: (shūrā) is an Arabic word for ‘consultation’. It is a gathering of Leaders among a Tribe or Group which contemplates an issue, agrees upon a solution, and rallies their groups towards that goal. The agreement reached provides the community’s consent to action, recognizing the authority of the community and accepting the burden of consequence.

Despite the few of you out there scratching your heads, this concept is not at all foreign to the West- gatherings to resolve issues based upon common, recognized places at that table, is fairly commonplace. We do it everyday informally and formally- humans are social creatures by nature and react with hostility to accepted norms being violated.

Therefor it is not without too much effort we can extend such a concept to our defensive postures. For Survivalists, Preppers, Militia-types or just those with a broad concern of the condition of things, and for that there’s plenty among us, an entire subculture exists focused upon self reliant defense. And that’s where the confusion comes in. For some this requires being every bit as cool as a Soldier of Fortune cover. Going back to our definition above, it’s the consent of the community that’s commonly forgotten or simply written off (because it’s easy to fancy oneself as a hero if that’s overlooked) and the last part, that burden of consequence, is never recognized. Ever. The community bears the consequence of what you do or fail to do. What if that group of bubbas in pickup trucks you thought were brigands were actually emissaries from the next County over? You didn’t know the difference so you shot them. Good job, you’ve provoked a range war. What if that Security Force you perfectly ambushed really was there to set up a dental clinic? Don’t think that matters? Now you’ve pissed off the stronger foe and your people, who’ll now be happy to hand your ass off to whomever. You never read the story of the protagonist that ambushes and kills a group of doctors- no, because then they’d be the antagonists, the people to beat. But unplugged from your local community, one bad decision and now that’s you.

Take the group in the photo at right. To most, they look like dirty, disheveled, impoverished, ignorant goat farmers with antiquated equipment. They cling to their guns and religion, primarily farm opium and raise animals, and don’t like anyone telling them their way of life is wrong. And many of you out there dismiss them as backwards, inherently inbred losers; easy to beat. You know you do. I used to as well. Until I went there and shot a few of them. And I respect them a whole lot more than some of you out there. Yep, I said it; I mean it. They don’t run their mouths, make idiotic memes, repeat stupid catchphrases made by a 12 year old or have an unrealistic expectation of the world. They go and do with what little they have, right or wrong in our eyes, and the Tribe comes first, accepting full well the consequences of their actions.

If you have not yet checked out this post and embedded video, go ahead and do so. I agree with the points raised, and with this would like to emphasize the one point missed- the importance of Community.

The goal here is not moral equivalence but context- the way the West looks at them is the same exact way most of the international socialist views the South and Southern Culture. Keep that in mind. Communists have nothing but scorn for the South and seek to erase it. Our culture is deemed backwards and ignorant, clinging to guns and religion, and before that, exploitative colonialist relics, as we’re reminded over and over. Put in that context the broad view becomes a bit different. The Afghan is an interesting breed- not a coherent people but rather a multitude of tribes which loosely encompass a people. Sort of like the evolution and influence of the Scottish and Irish, along with the aristocratic nature of the old British planter families and the French in the very deep South. But simultaneously, as with Afghanistan, we commonly recognize customs and practices and place a maximum on cultural preservation. The difficulty for us over there, the puzzle we have yet to figure out, is how to beat the Taliban which understands this fact far better than the yahn-kee ferenghi tourist ever will. It’s the same reason the alt-Right enjoys an insurmountable popularity in the Southeast akin to the Dixi-crats of old and why we’ve always reacted with extreme hostility to outsiders, still referring to anyone coming from other areas and critical of local practice as outsiders when being nice, transplants when a bit irritated, and carpetbaggers when pissed off. If your name comes up and we react with a sideways grin and cocked head it’s not normally for a good reason…followed by either a grunt or a “bless his heart…”. These are common, recognized reflections of shared value, just as the Afghan speaks in terms of growing seasons and fables reflecting his culture. That pakol-wearing opium farmer from Khandahar with filthy hands and years-old dishdasha is not too far removed from the tobacco farmer in any rural County with filthy hands and years-old Carhartt and Wranglers. And they both get royally pissed off if you damage their crop- so much so that an occupying force is gonna have a rough time on their hands when they do so. Don’t take my word for it- I’ve only picked the pieces of diesel fuel jug out of my head from the fertilizer IEDs they build. Ask anyone who’s been blown up in Afghanistan or rural northern Iraq- they’ll tell you. I’ve had the pleasure of both. Of the farmers, both have deep roots in their community and are listened to; they know every mover and shaker in the community, have recognized consent of that community, and both have friends in low places who’ll be more than happy to pop some pills to relax and stick a bomb in the ground for the people who screwed with their livelihood.

Most importantly, in this context, none of them are isolationist loners. In fact, such an attitude in Afghanistan will end up getting that person killed in a winter or two at most. Those people are outcasts that no one places any value upon, not caring what happens to them- it’s usually not pretty. Post-shtf, that’ll probably be the same for you no matter how much shit you’ve bought, unless you’ve been working on getting your voice heard at the next Shura, whether you call it a County Commissioner’s Meeting, School Board, or Sheriff’s Townhall or Church get-together and earned enough respect for anyone to listen. This doesn’t mean don’t work to bring as much to the table as possible, it doesn’t mean you’re free to become a burden on everyone else, and no, it doesn’t mean don’t go out and practice with your weapons and tactics- exactly the opposite- but you have to recognize some context. No, you’re not an Infantryman. No, you’re not in an Infantry unit. And hell no, stop thinking like one- you don’t have an army behind you; you do need a community of people you know very well and who know (and think favorably of) you. And when the day eventually comes that an army be raised, it’ll be those with documented experience who get tapped for the leading and training job- not some self-important blowhard with a kludged-out AR-15. Three seasoned guys who look and fight like they’re from there and can hit a man at 500m is a hell of a lot better and much more effective than 12 lead farmers doing modified CQB drills and looking like Delta Farce- and don’t know it.  This doesn’t mean don’t train, it simply means train smarter. Make perceived handicaps strengths. You’re not fighting in Iraq or Afghanistan, you’ll be fighting like the Iraqi or Afghan. By all means, don’t believe me. And realize that none of it matters either way if the community ain’t behind you.

I can hear the caterwauling now…like a bobcat in a river bottom…