The Open-Source War

"...as Microsoft has found, that there is no good monopolistic solution to a mature open-source effort. In that case, the United States might be better off adopting I.B.M.'s embrace of open source. This solution would require renouncing the state's monopoly on violence by using Shiite and Kurdish militias as a counterinsurgency.

This is similar to the strategy used to halt the insurgencies in El Salvador in the 1980's (the Salvador Option*) and Colombia in the 1990's. In those cases, these militias used local knowledge, unconstrained tactics and high levels of motivation to defeat insurgents (this is in contrast to the ineffectiveness of Iraq's paycheck military). This option will probably work in Iraq too." (Wow, that was cold*)

(See, Islamic Balkanization model proposed by Dr Bernard Lewis and "A Clean Break: A New Strategy for Securing the Realm" "Open-Source Warfare By Robert N. Charette")