Colors — such a simple thing, yet so many meanings.
In politics, we have red states and blue states. The Greens? Yawn.
In gangs, color of clothing can mean life and death. Just ask Hollywood about Colors.
In military jargon, colors take on a shifting meaning. In an armored company, at least in my day, the colors red, white and blue represented the call-sign of first, second and third platoon, respectively. In an exercise against an opposing force (OPFOR), the exercising units are designated blue and the OPFOR are called red.
In the unfortunate case of friendly fire, such as the well-publicized loss of ranger Pat Tillman, occurrences are called blue-on-blue. These have historically been accidents caused by the infamous fog of war. Red-on-red stories would often carry the same accidental meaning.
But sometimes red-on-red is not accidental. When the accidental enemy fraticide happens, that is fortuitous. When it’s intentional … well, that begs attention. Bill Roggio does just that (hat tip Ace):
The brutal acts of violence directed at civilians and Iraqi police is losing favor among some of the members of the Iraqi insurgency. During Operation Matador, we saw examples of the local tribes, some of whom are sympathetic or even participating in the insurgency, rise up to fight the foreign jihadis after their attempts to impose a Taliban-like rule of law in Western Anbar.
Go, read it. It’s somewhat lengthy but worth every moment.