Another for the wall of dead terrorists

Once upon a time at a particular institution, new analysts were assigned to a simulation course which involved a model joint terrorism task force. Over the course of time, they built up quite a collection of handheld imagery of various prominent targets, many of which came out of historical case studies. This collection was for a time assembled into an infamous “wall”, in which the sole factor for inclusion was that the target has been serviced and resolved.

Via MESH –Middle East Strategy at Harvard – we learn that the infamous Lebanese Hezbollah leadership figure Imad Mughniyah is dead in a classic Beirut style car bomb. His brother was previously killed in the same fashion.

This one has been a long time coming. We are sure that many of those former junior analysts – now having progressed for quite a number of years in the field, and with many a now forgotten face having been posted to that wall since – may be quietly ordering a round as a toast to a small measure of victory. It does not matter, in that moment, whether this was merely red on red violence, or if some unknown covert action element of the international great game achieved the decisive checkmate. It only matters that the faces now change, and the benefits of Mughniyah’s long operational experience has been denied to the terrorist adversary.

In good Buenos Aires fashion, we think our drinks for celebration shall be the Bellini – perhaps accompanied by a fine bife de lomo.

The IED Fight

Given that the ongoing efforts to counter IED attacks is the primary tactical and technological level struggle of the Long War, we are continually amazed at the amount of misinformation, disinformation, and sheer ignorance which has been propagating in recent months. (If ever there were more clearly illustrated the failure of PAO and IO in this conflict, we have yet to see it.)

In terms of understanding individual experiences on the ground, this is the equivalent of airpower in the Battle of Britain, or amphibious operations in the Pacific theatre. And it is almost entirely unknown outside of the narrative of chaos that repeats endlessly in major media channels.

Thankfully, a few recent stories have begun to illuminate an otherwise clouded environment. We are not necessarily in favour of the level of detail which is being revealed about current operations and activities, but we do value the higher order effects of at last seeing parts of a much larger story told.

A global web of special operations and intelligence professionals are engaged in the fight, assisted by technical experts and veteran operational planners. In the air, there are the unseen flights “banging trons”. On the ground, there are innovations in armor and other protective designs. But other efforts have not been successful, mired in the legal and political morass which characterizes the ambiguity in which this war is prosecuted.

All the while, these tactics spread in new theatres, with serious geopolitical implications for those willing to confront them. For our enemies are clearly named, and acting in plain sight – if one but chooses to look.

But regrettably, all of the our vast capabilities available will avail us naught if we do not maintain the political will, and the moral certainty, to win this fight. This should be household knowledge - not the obscure domain of the professional. There are more stories to be told, and they should be told - in a way that protects those in harm's way from adverse disclosure but lets the truth be known. That is a task we leave to others, acting under appropriate command guidance and authorization - but it is a call that needs to be heeded.

To borrow the famous plea: Faster, please.

The unbearable lightness of the bench

We do not normally comment on active cases or current intelligence matters, but this news item from the United Kingdom simply beggars belief. Apparently, the judge which is responsible for perhaps the most significant trial testing the civilized world’s response to the proliferation of terrorism support activities in the Parallel World is completely unfamiliar with even the most basic features of the environment.

We find it amazing that in this day an age, a system can be so flawed as to assign the responsibility of objective and balanced discernment to an individual who lacks even a layman’s understanding of the substance of the issues at hand.

This however underscores even more clearly the abject failure of the legal approach in counter-terrorism operations. In the Long War, the network is just another element of the battlespace, and it is futile to attempt to use structures designed centuries ago to obtain victory in this new age. Moving forward, deeper into the 21st century evolution of 4th and 5th generation warfare, it will no longer be merely futile but, like this incident illustrates, entirely absurd.

The judge is a national embarrassment for a key US ally. Regrettably, it is equally likely had such a case been brought on this side of the pond that a similar clueless individual would have been the one to hear arguments.

Our enemies have no doubt taken note. It is precisely this sort of event which provokes "lawfare" and other 5GW attempts to use our most revered Western institutions against us.

h/t Slashdot, LGF