Monday, August 2, 2010

Charlie Quintard in Africa.


Sudan's "Arrow Boys."
There are no obsolete weapons, only obsolete tactics.

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

Here's the money sentence:
"Arrow Boys are proud of their efforts. But the government isn't as comfortable with locals taking matters into their own hands."

Uh-huh. Can't have the people defending themselves and becoming self-sufficient. That might mean that they won't need the government and the bloated bureauracracy -- no matter how inefficient it is and unable to defend the people.

B Woodman
III-per

Legal Alien said...

A great example of citizens protecting themselves when Rule of Law is gone.

Where we are headed.

Got Militia?

Legal Alien

pdxr13 said...

Gov't the same everywhere"

Arrow Boys are proud of their efforts. But the government isn't as comfortable with locals taking matters into their own hands.

"At one stage, you feel like strengthening them by giving them more arms and ammo ... but again you are cautious because they are not military people. They may end up shooting each other, or they may end up going to an ambush of an organized force, who will just shoot all of them or shoot most of them," says Alfred Ngbakogbe, the state's secretary-general.

Translation: How dare anyone without a central government permission slip attempt to take up arms and defend themselves? We don't control them, so it would be fine if they die. No way are we going to do more than wring our hands and lament that we don't have an iron grip on our country.

Cheers.

Anonymous said...

I never found out what plants they use for the poison. There are several relatives of the strichnine tree in east Africa.

.govs in that area of Africa are very paranoid. There are still plenty with alliegence to pre colonial kingdoms which cross the colonial lines on maps.

Many of the political refugees from that area are attempting to get "Stateless person" passports, as they do not recognize the legitimacy of Ugandan, Congolese or sudanese states.

I guess the .govs would be glad to have an outsider clear out some of the people from the area.

The Ugandan and Kenyan govs were certainly keen to burn villages, torture and murder civillians allong their mutual border in the name of gun control, and the UN was keen to fund and act as apologist for those crimes.

Anonymous said...

I have a compound bow and a sword in my equipment stash.
Will go Rambo if needed.

Slobyskya Rotchakokov said...

If you looked at the accompanying photos of the displaced people - especially the woman holding her baby in the ragged tent, and the little boy in the church, the last photo - and upon seeing them, did not feel both profound sorrow, holy anger and a renewed hatred for oppressors all over the world - then something is wrong with you.
If only WE could somehow arm those courageous people.
For how long now has the rest of the world steadfastly avoided even acknowledging the horror of Sudan?

frosty2 said...

And of course the UN is tracking the carnage while trying to figure out how they can use it to steal aid funds. The UN is worse than useless, much worse.

I wish it were possible to put a couple of SKS's and some ammo in the mail for them.

Dennis308 said...

Ditto, You guys already said all that needs to be said.

Dennis
III
Texas

Allen said...

this proves that even i na modern combat environment, knowing how to make expedient primitive weapons is a valuable skill.

blowgun
bow
sling
staff sling (and it's big brother the traction trebuchet)
slingshot
atlatl
bola
crossbow

we could even do as far as ye olde "4 winds shotgun"

note that using these can put food in the pot without using your combat-valuable ammunition.

frosty2 said...

I enjoy shooting and hunting with my Traditional bows, but they can be hard to pack. Check out the Chief AJ solution. Shoot .45 cal round balls for small/medium game and flip up the arrow rest and shoot broad heads for antthing larger. I have one on order, the HFX.
http://www.chiefaj.com/slingshot_page.htm

Anonymous said...

WaPo apparently advocates the Kosovo rules as well.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/08/02/AR2010080202627_pf.html

Anonymous said...

The government appears to be possibly more afraid of these resisters than the "army." The resisters or arrow boys, have the will to resist but are totally defensive and ill-equipped.

They are basically peaceful average people who don't want to be molested or have to go off and fight. The government is either involved with the "army" or allows it's activities for other reasons which are beneficial to the government.

Once a people get it into their heads that they don't really much care for their government, and have the means to resist or even compete with that government, control and benefit become negligible.

I loved the last sentence in the article about "meaningless conflict." Stupid commentary, since it obviously has significant meaning to everyone involved.

People this dumb should be explored to Africa, so they can learn "meaninglessness," up close and personal.

Anonymous said...

The bodkin pointed arrow, medievel armor piercer par excellence.

The guys used to dip them in some putrifying medievel roadkill b4 use.