My original sources focused on regulars and irregulars fighting alongside each other in times gone by. Notes on more modern uses have been added to this article. This is needed, but the article is a little disjointed now. If I have time, I’ll reorder it. --A D Monroe III 08:44, 20 Dec 2004 (UTC)
I've moved the historical use of irregulars into a separate section, and changed the tense of the rest to be current. I've also added some additional links.
I've also hinted that irregulars are more important than most historians recognize, for reasons stated in the article. This isn't based on any direct evidence, but more the lack of them. I've found battles with regulars on the winning side are well reported, while others are not. The size of enemy irregular forces often seems to be ridiculously high, while friendly irregular forces are usually only indirectly referenced. Only by taking all these ancient battle figures together have I seen this pattern of bias against irregulars.
Will others find this opinionated? I believe I've kept the tone open for interpretation, so hopefully not.
Anyway, I'm done for now. --A D Monroe III 21:34, 20 Dec 2004 (UTC)
- There's a possibility that what you've doing is sharing your own interpretation, which is contrary to the intent of Wikipedia; see: Wikipedia: No original research. Our job as Wikipedians is not to disagree with or build upon the work of experts; our job is to accurately characterize expert opinion. The best way to do this is to cite your sources, which is something this article needs. Just something to keep in mind -- it's something I have to frequently remind myself as well. --Kevin Myers 01:42, Jan 10, 2005 (UTC)