Category Archives: Iraq

Inside Al Qaeda’s hard drives

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A stash of data yields up insights about the business of terrorism
By Renny McPherson
July 17, 2011

When Navy SEALs killed Osama bin Laden at his Abbottabad, Pakistan, compound on May 2, the ensuing coverage focused on how the death of Al Qaeda’s leader might undercut terrorism worldwide. But the raid accomplished more than bin Laden’s removal: It yielded several computers, nearly a dozen hard drives, and about 100 other data-storage devices. Speaking on “Meet the Press” the weekend after the raid, presidential national security adviser Tom Donilon called it “the largest cache of intelligence derived from the scene of any single terrorist.”

After combing over this huge pool of data, a task force of analysts has already produced hundreds of intelligence reports geared to a primary goal: hunting down Al Qaeda operatives. Meanwhile, however, there is a second and longer-term task ahead. If studied diligently enough, the captured data is likely to provide an unparalleled look at how Al Qaeda functions. And that information may be as essential to disrupting Al Qaeda’s activities as it was to kill bin Laden.

I speak from experience, because I was part of a team at the RAND Corporation that performed a multiyear analysis of a similar, albeit much smaller, data dump – the data seized from Al Qaeda in Iraq. Over four years, we sought to provide as clear a picture as possible of Al Qaeda in Iraq for military commanders and intelligence officials. We mined information from two sources: declassified documents found on a hard drive at a residence in Julaybah, Iraq, in 2007 by Iraqi Awakening forces, and documents discovered by a patrol of Marines in Tuzliyah, Anbar, Iraq, in that same year. Based on this data, we were able to build a portrait of Al Qaeda in Iraq as a business – and a business that ran quite differently than conventional wisdom would suggest.

For more _ http://www.boston.com/news/politics/articles/2011/07/17/inside_al_qaedas_hard_drives/?page=2

UAE Announces contractors to help its military

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(From UAE News Sources)

Abu Dhabi, 15 May 2011 (WAM) – General Juma Ali Khalaf Al Hamiri, Head of HR and Administration, GHQ, UAE Armed Forces, has made the following statement: The United Arab Emirates armed forces have been through an accelerated and extensive process of development and Emiratisation since their creation at the founding of the UAE four decades ago. The result is that the UAE armed forces have been able to make meaningful and significant contributions in theatres of operations such as Kosovo, Iraq, Afghanistan and most recently Libya.

At the heart of the successful approach has been strong alliances within the international community and in part the sourcing of expertise through the private sector. International contractors providing planning, training, development and operational support have been integral to the successful development of what is a robust military capability of over 40,000 Emirati personnel at a high state of readiness.

Importantly these third parties have also played significant roles in supporting the UAE Armed Forces in training Iraqi and Afghani security forces with the aim of contributing to the stability of both countries.

The UAE armed forces currently engage a number of third parties, such as Spectre, which delivers academy training capabilities; Horizon, a pilot training partner and R2 (owned by Erik Prince) which provides operational, planning and training support.

As you would expect of a proactive member of the international community, all engagements of commercial entities by the UAE Armed Forces are compliant with international Law and relevant conventions.

Choose Your Own Tactical Adventure

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1st Squad Leader: “I don’t think anyone will be fighting tonight, especially me. Looks like a birthday party at the chief’s house to me. Let’s get back home and get some chow of our own.”

This seems to me to be great opportunity to exploit. The last thing I want to do is let our police friends have any clue about my real intentions at this point. One slip of information can destroy our advantage. Moving away from the police and grabbing the radio, I contact my 1st Fire Team leader: “1st Team, take a few quick photos of the place, but do not be seen or act in a threatening way. Return to my position ASAP.”

Here is how I see it. Tonight the surly gang will likely return from town for lamb stew at the chief’s house, and then depart on a mission unknown. We have until after dinner to nail them. I do not want to arouse even the slightest suspicion of my true intent. There are few roads, and I want anyone who sees us to think we are returning to base. I will make a particularly blatant effort to pass through town and wave goodbye to everyone, as we obviously head to base for the night.    There is no way we can successfully interdict them before they get back to the mountain house from town. They are unarmed now. Any of our assets left near or on the way to the house will be spotted. To fight now at the chief’s house could find us outnumbered and unable to seal all egress routes.

On the way back, I grab the encrypted radio: “Platoon base, let me speak with 6 Actual.   

“Lieutenant, I believe that a team of bad guys is in town resupplying and will be returning to the chief’s home for dinner. We saw more than a dozen suspects in town and dinner preparations for a large group at the house. There was an unfamiliar pickup and van at the house. I am returning to base immediately and have not informed the police or my men of my intentions. We have taken no actions that would arouse bad guy suspicions.

“I recommend that we keep the element of surprise we now have and prepare to raid the chief’s house during dinner. I fear that any later may allow them to depart. As I observed the objective, I recommend that we assemble all possible assets for this operation. There may well have been another dozen men in the van and pickup now at the house that we did not observe. My men will be ready to turn around at your command.”

I am hoping that the lieutenant can rally the platoon, the combined antiarmor team, and heavier high-level assets to implement a strong raid on the chief’s place. We will have the advantage of dark and, if we do it right, surprise. It will be a surprise dessert for the bad guys tonight.

This my friends, is a submitted solution to TDG-11-2….At The Marine Corps Gazette’s Tactical Decision Game

To play click here, and battle wits with the best small platoon and company level field officers in the world……

Modern Military Art

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Check out Michael Fay’s blog Fire and Ice

He is one of the best modern war artists and correspondents out there

And his work is so striking you feel like you need to make sure your anthrax shots are up-to-date to be able just to look at it.

In The Shadow of the Poppy Harvest, oil on canvas, 2011

Interactive Terror Map

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Wars are funny. Sometimes they last a very short time. For example – The most lightweight war in history, the Anglo-Zanzibar War in 1896 lasted only about 45 minutes. On the other side of the spectrum is the Arab-Israeli conflict which is in its 59th year and its two longer more historical older brothers the Hundred Years War between France and Britain and the very much odder Three Hundred and Thirty Five Years’ War between Scilly and the Netherlands. Today we are involved in the Global War on Terrorism which may be indefinite. One of the coolest sites I’ve found that covers this without bias is the Global Incident Map.

Skimming over the 30 Newest Events on the site you see the following listed:

“ILLINOIS – Package Marked ‘Bomb’ Turns Out To Be Nothing

SPAIN – Spanish police discover 15 Palestinians in ship container

SRI LANKA – Passenger bus caught in claymore attack in Sri Lanka – driver killed

ISRAEL – Police: Explosives belt ready for use by Palestinian bomber found in Tel Aviv

OHIO – Mentor Lowes evacuated for bomb scare

AFGHANISTAN – Canadian soldiers injured by roadside bomb”

The site links back to the stories and the interactive map shows flashing symbols literally erupting all over the world. You can also search the site by type of incident (including Assassination….Hoax bomb devices….Chemical Attacks…etc) or by country, or by date.

Check it out…be the most informed war nerd at the water cooler.

Most Deployed Brigade Comes Home

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The road warriors are coming home. The most deployed brigade in the US Army is now returning home from its latest 15 month tour in Iraq where it has been supporting the Global War on Terror.

10th Mountain Division’s 2nd Brigade Combat Team “Commandos” (2-14th Infantry, 4-31st Infantry, 1-89th Cavalry, 2-15th Field Artillery plus support troops) It is fitting that the brigade combat team contains the only remaining battalion of the 31st Infantry Regiment. The 31st (who carry a Polar Bear on their unit crest due to a deployment in Siberia in 1918 during the Russian Civil War) were known as the “American Foreign Legion” due to the fact that it was formed, and spent most of its life, outside of the United States.

The 3,600 man brigade has suffered more than 300 casualties in Iraq. Since September 11th the brigade has spent more than 40 months deployed. This includes two full tours in Iraq as a brigade, two partial tours in Afghanistan, and excursions to Ethiopia and Djibouti.

The brigade motto is Vigor et Dignitas (Strength and Honor) and they show it

TOE of the New Iraqi Army

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Ever sat down and wanted to figure out an army from scratch. Looking for the new TOE for the Iraqi army? Try Here at the Long War Journal. You see the break down of the 61 brigades-sized units organised into 15 divisions and a Special Operations Force. These are broken down into a large (Russian MVD style) Ministry of Interior-controlled armed force of 370,000 men and the Iraqi Army proper with some 208,000 men under arms.

It should be noted that in 1989- at the time of the end of the Cold War -the US Army also had some 480,000 men. These were organised in 18 divisions and many of those were not up to strength. The Regan-era green machine relied on a complicated system of ’round-out’ brigades drawn from the National Guard to flesh out those 18-odd divisions to full strength. (For example, the 155th Mechanized Brigade of the Mississippi Army National Guard would have mobilized and formed the third brigade of the 1st Cavalry Division of the active army.) This was shown to be unrealistic as the round-out brigades, which were held in a higher readiness than the rest of the Guard, would still require 180-days of training before being able to deploy overseas.

So the US military has resurrected the Iraqi army as a landforce the same size or larger than its own largest size since the end of conscription. This is appropriate considering that the Iraqis are wearing the same style Kevlar helmets, chocolate chip desert BDU uniforms, and firing the same M16A2 rifles that the US Army had in 1989.

Snipers Win DSC for Samarra Battle

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On a hot August morning in Samarra, Iraq a four man Reaper Team of the 82nd Airborne’s 2-505 Parachute Infantry Regiment’s Scout Platoon found themselves in a tight spot. Led by 22yr old Sergeant Josh Morley the team contained 21-yr old Specialist Tracy Willis, 23-yr old Specialist Chris Corriveau and unit armorer 23-year-old Specialist Eric Moser. Detailed to provide an over watch for a search operation below, they secretly climbed an apartment rooftop set up shop. With the search operation coming off without a hitch, the Reaper team went to displace, only to find that insurgents had followed and surrounded them. Armed Al-Qaeda foot solders held the stairwells and streets below them, trapping the team on the roof. Within the first few minutes a bad situation got worse. First Sgt Morley and then Spec. Willis were killed, leaving only Corriveau and Moser in the fight. Bombarded by grenades thrown up the stairwell by unseen hands and taking fire from multiple weapons the two snipers fought on unsupported, with a blown radio and dwindling supplies of ammunition.

The ten minute firefight ultimately ended with a nearby friendly infantry platoon coming to the sound of combat and the insurgents withdrawing. An after-action review found that the Reaper team had held off a squad to platoon sized group of men and inflicted no less than ten casualties. More importantly they kept both the bodies of their fallen brothers and their own from falling into the insurgent’s hand- preventing a propaganda victory for the insurgents. Morser and Corriveau were promoted to Sergeant and awarded the DSC, the 2nd highest award for valor in the Army. Morley and Willis were posthumously awarded the Silver Star. Read more in Jeff Emanuel’s excellent piece.

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