The Rules of This Archive
Methodology
This archive is not neutral, and it does not pretend to be. Our judgment is that the ideology documented here is destructive, and the record of its consequences is the argument. But an indictment is only as strong as its sourcing. These are the rules every page on this site follows, and the standard you should hold us to.
1. Every claim is tiered
Every assertion on this site carries one of three marks, and you will always be able to see which:
- DOCUMENTED. A primary source: the thing itself, quoted, cited, and linked. A claim cannot carry this mark unless it cites at least one primary text.
- REPORTED. Established history, sourced but one step removed from the original. Always cited.
- ASSESSED. Our analytic judgment. Always accompanied by a stated confidence level and the reasoning behind it. Where we editorialize, you will know it.
2. Confidence uses intelligence-community language
Assessed claims state their confidence in the standardized vocabulary of ICD 203: almost no chance, very unlikely, unlikely, roughly even chance, likely, very likely, almost certain. When something cannot be judged, we say that instead of guessing.
3. Their words outrank descriptions of their words
Sources are ranked: a thinker's own text beats an adherent's exposition, which beats a sympathetic academic account, which beats a general survey, which beats journalism, which beats outside critique. We never let a hostile summary stand in for a position when the position itself is available.
4. Quotes carry their context
Every quotation on this site is stored inside its full surrounding passage, and the surrounding text is one click away. If a quote would not survive its own context, we do not use it.
5. Counter-evidence is recorded
Citations on a claim are marked as supporting, contradicting, or qualifying it. When we know of evidence that cuts against one of our claims, it is attached to that claim, in public.
6. Function, not membership
Where we map observed activity onto the doctrinal model of unconventional warfare, the language is always "functions as", never "is". An assessment of what something does is not an assertion of a command structure, and we do not manufacture structure the evidence does not show.
7. Revisions are public
When an assessment changes, the change is logged: what changed, when, and why. Typo fixes are exempt. Everything else stays on the record.
8. Casualty figures are ranges
Where this archive records the human cost of these regimes, figures are given as the range found in serious scholarship, with the disagreement noted, not as a single convenient number.