Creating Shortages of Human Assets

The most valuable resources of any organization are, without a doubt, its human resources. Even the most well-designed and well-funded organization cannot properly function without the proper types of people in proper quantities. Put simply, unless a militant group can, for the purposes of fighting or operating equipment, either recruit people themselves or outsource people from private companies, all combat operations will stop. The organization must have not only the proper number of people but they must also have the proper skill sets to perform necessary functions with enough quality to ensure that their efforts are useful to the mission. In contrast, a force that has skilled individuals dedicated to a cause, in having few supplies will find resourceful methods to continue to defend their cause. Mercenaries fighting for the Taliban and Al-Qaeda, though with little capital with which to acquire combat supplies, have proven to be very resourceful in their strategies by using cheap, common supplies. Their ability to turn even broken objects and refuse into devastating weaponry such as IEDs (Improvised Explosive Devices) and EFPs (Explosively Formed Penetrators) is evidence of a great level of skill and resourcefulness among combatants that have little besides skill and resourcefulness with which to fight.