content: There are a lot of reasons for them not to stay together. They believe in what they are doing enough to put themselves in harm's way - but they aren't stupid enough to stick in a cluster. What I think you mistake is that formations work well when you have the superiority of range, accuracy, and artillery. Formations on the ground also need to be supported by air or enough coordinated groups in the area to be effective, otherwise all it takes is one mortar and a few hand grenades. Their thinking is not so primitive as it is a primitive manner of fighting due to complete and utter technological and resource domination by the west and the wealthy Arabs. To the west, once a group becomes enough of a threat, the question for us is only how much are we willing to spend on the cruise missile?