Dr. Terri Wonder to Give Iraq Lecture in Sarasota Thursday

SARASOTA — Former Manatee County Commission Candidate Terri Wonder, Ph.D., will present a lecture titled “Transformational Guerillas and the Iraqi Tribes Who Fight Them” for the Florida Veterans for Common Sense on Thursday at the Waldemere Fire Station in Sarasota.

photo by John Rehill

In 2008, Wonder was hired by the United States Army to be a sworn civilian social scientist in a mission-essential “Surge” program in Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom. She deployed twice with US combat personnel from Ft. Benning, Georgia.

While working for the Corps Theater Command of Multi-National Forces-Iraq, Camp Victory, Baghdad, 2009-2010, she coined the term “transformational guerillas” to describe a special class of Islamic insurgent fighters who refused to stand down even after being given incentives to do so as part of Iraq’s tribal “Awakening” movement in 2007 and after.

Wonder says transformational guerillas are distinct from another class of fighters, “accidental guerillas,” local fighters who become caught up in the contagion of fighting at the outset of insurgent warfare, as described by Australian counterinsurgency theorist, David Kilcullen, in his book "The Accidental Guerilla: Fighting Small Wars in the Midst of a Big One" (2009).

From her own research, Wonder concludes that whereas accidental guerillas may be persuaded to stop fighting and even join the other side in a counterinsurgent campaign, transformational guerillas are not easily disillusioned after joining an insurgent campaign. Totally committed to a higher cause, transformational guerillas are not persuadable and will continue to fight until they are captured or killed.

Presented a Superior Civilian Service Award in 2010, Wonder’s cutting-edge statistical and cultural research was credited for saving lives. Wonder ranks among the few people in the world who has had the opportunity to systematically research captive insurgent populations and create a socio-cultural profile of them.

The Waldemere Fire Station is located at 2070 Waldemere Street in Sarasota.