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September 02, 2008

Abu Muqawama on insurgencies in the Southern Philippines and Southern Thailand

I was interested to see the excellent Abu Muqawama blog posting about these insurgencies. Well worth reading the post in full but - maybe because I have just eaten - I was especially taken with the discussion of the utility of food vendors in HumInt:

The food vendors in SE Asia are the creators of some of the greatest cuisine known to humanity, and one should always partake whenever possible. They are also some of the best HUMINT in the region. When they are not in an area that they usually populate, be wary; when they arrive in even greater numbers than one usually sees, this is either: (1) a Festival (which you can confirm with a calendar and newspaper) or (2) a massive protest is coming.

Posted by jon_mendel at September 2, 2008 01:41 AM

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