| July 2, 2007 Edition |
|
Global Jitters Over Terror AttacksMark Hosenball Newsweek Police in New York City are stepping up security precautions in the wake of the discovery in central London of two cars that had been rigged with homemade explosives. Meanwhile, British authorities are scouring the country for specific individuals they believe are linked to the failed bombing attempts. Homeland Security and other U.S. counterterrorism and national-security officials say they know of no specific information indicating that the apparent terror threat in London extends in any way to the United States or is linked to any current plot directed against U.S. targets. "At this point, I have seen no specific, credible information suggesting that this incident is connected to a threat to the homeland," said Michael Chertoff, the Homeland Security Secretary, in a statement. "We have no plans at this time to change the U.S. threat level. DHS and the FBI have been in touch with our state and local homeland security and law-enforcement partners to convey available information." But authorities in New York are taking extra precautions anyway, according to a senior law-enforcement official familiar with current police operations in the city. The official said that New York Police Department officers currently policing the subway system will be held on duty after their shifts normally end on Friday night and that NYPD is also setting up special checkpoints to screen vehicles entering the city, particularly the borough of Manhattan. NYPD is also activating a special operation to use sensors to check parking garages for evidence of possible terrorist activity, including traces of radioactivity or possible chemical weapons. But the official noted these moves are precautionary and not a response to any specific threat directed against New York. In London, authorities discovered the first bomb at about 1 a.m. last night, London time, when an ambulance crew was called to a nightclub near Piccadilly Circus, one of the British capital's busiest entertainment districts. The police said the ambulance had gone to the Tiger Tiger club in The Haymarket, Piccadilly, London W1 to treat a person who had been taken ill. But while there, the police said, medical technicians noticed a Mercedes parked outside the club that appeared to have smoke inside it. Ambulance personnel called the police, and when Scotland Yard bomb-disposal experts examined the car, they found what the police described as "significant quantities" of gasoline as well as gas canisters and a large number of nails inside the vehicle. Scotland Yard says its officers "disabled a potential means of detonation of the gas and fuel in the vehicle"; some news reports indicated this was accomplished when a police officer noticed what may have been a cell phone in the car that had been rigged up to trigger the bomb and wrenched it from the device, though this account has not yet been officially confirmed. Full Story |
 |
| QUOTE OF THE WEEK |
|
It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you'll do things differently. Warren Buffett |
| PROFESSIONAL ARTICLES, EDITORIALS AND OPINIONS |
The New Strategy in IraqGeneral Petraeus learns from past U.S. mistakes.Weekly StandardFrederick W. Kagan & Kimberly Kagan The new strategy for Iraq has entered its second phase. Now that all of the additional combat forces have arrived in theater, Generals David Petraeus and Ray Odierno have begun Operation Phantom Thunder, a vast and complex effort to disrupt al Qaeda and Shiite militia bases all around Baghdad in advance of the major clear-and-hold operations that will follow. The deployment of forces and preparations for this operation have gone better than expected, and Phantom Thunder is so far proceeding very well. All aspects of the current strategy have been built upon the lessons of previous successful and unsuccessful Coalition efforts to establish security in Iraq, and there is every reason to be optimistic about its outcome. The first phase of the new strategy unfolded over five months--between the president's announcement of the "surge" on January 10 and the arrival of the last of the five additional Army brigades and Marine elements in early June (though critical enablers for those combat forces have only just arrived). As the new units entered Iraq, commanders began pushing forces already in the theater forward from their operating bases into outposts in key neighborhoods of Baghdad and elsewhere. The purpose of these movements was to establish positions within those key neighborhoods and to develop intelligence about the enemy and relationships of trust with the local communities. Also during this first phase, additional Iraqi security forces were deployed to Baghdad in accordance with a plan developed jointly by the U.S. and Iraqi military commands. All of the requested units were provided. The Iraqi military has just completed its second rotation of units into Baghdad; as before, all of the designated units arrived, and they were generally closer to being fully manned than in the first rotation. Full Story Corleone DiplomacyWashington PostJim Hoagland Vladimir Putin's Russia pursues power and treasure by constantly calling attention to its ability to disrupt U.S. goals abroad. Hu Jintao's China works to soften the effects of its accelerating economic and military rise and to embed itself ever more deeply in the U.S. economy. So who gets the ultimate intimacy of a weekend at the Bush family compound in Kennebunkport? No, not Hu. It is Putin, the Russian president who recently threatened to resume targeting missiles on Europe. The Chinese leader quietly settled for a downgraded official White House welcome last year. It would be comforting to think that this weekend's visit to Kennebunkport by Putin is President Bush's first important exercise in Godfather diplomacy. That is, Bush now recognizes Putin as foe, not soul mate, and follows Don Corleone's advice: "Keep your friends close but your enemies closer." The political skies over the Maine resort may be cloud-filled when Bush and Putin publicly describe their talks Monday. They are due to announce symbolic progress on missile defense deployment by unveiling a joint high-level working group of the two nations' defense and foreign ministers. But that development is likely to be overshadowed by continuing tension over independence for Kosovo and over the Kremlin's implacable drive to squeeze Western companies out of Russia as it entrenches state- and crony-controlled monopolies of energy production and transport. Full Story Richard Lugar, Meet David KilcullenThoughtful analysis of the war is in short supply in Washington.Weekly StandardWilliam Kristol Indiana senator Richard Lugar is, if he may say so himself, a thoughtful fellow. Not, to be fair, that he quite says so himself. In his speech on the floor of the Senate last Monday night, he simply chose to point out that unnamed others had been engaged in "sloganeering rhetoric and political opportunism" and had failed to appreciate "the complexities at the core of our situation." He, by contrast, chose to offer "a thoughtful revision of our Iraq policy," "a thoughtful Plan B" for Iraq. Except it's not thoughtful. Students of American politics should read Lugar's 50-minute speech as a case study in pseudo-thoughtfulness, full of cheek-puffing and chin-pulling. It fails to deal seriously with the real strategic choices the United States faces in the war we're fighting. Lugar acknowledges that the security strategy is working and probably could achieve its goals. Yet in the same breath he accepts as a given "the short period framed by our own domestic political debate." Why? Who "framed" that time period? Who drives our "domestic political debate"? Don't senators have any influence on this? Can't they try to shape, or reshape, the political debate--especially if it threatens the success of a major U.S. military effort? Apparently that would be too much to ask. Lugar also fails to explain how the partial withdrawal and redeployment of U.S. troops that he recommends, along with various diplomatic initiatives, would actually achieve the fundamental goals he identifies--preventing horrendous violence in Iraq, denying victory to al Qaeda and/or Iran, and avoiding great damage to U.S. credibility. The speech is hollow at its center, and unserious to the core. Full Story |
| BREAKING NEWS FOR THE PROFESSIONAL |
An Exit to DisasterWashington PostMichael Gerson History seems to be settling on some criticisms of the early conduct of the Iraq war. On the theory that America could liberate and leave, force levels were reduced too early, security responsibilities were transferred to Iraqis before they were ready, and planning for future challenges was unrealistic. "Victory in Iraq," one official of the Coalition Provisional Authority told me a couple of years ago, "was defined as decapitating the regime. No one defined victory as creating a sustainable country six months down the road." Now Democrats running for president have thought deeply and produced their own Iraq policy: They want to cut force levels too early and transfer responsibility to Iraqis before they are ready, and they offer no plan to deal with the chaos that would result six months down the road. In essential outline, they have chosen to duplicate the early mistakes of an administration they hold in contempt. The Democratic debate on Iraq has become an escalating contest of exit strategies. Sen. Hillary Clinton outlines a "three-step plan to bring the troops home starting now." Sen. Barack Obama pledges to "have all our troops out by March 31 of next year." Former senator John Edwards wants a "timetable for withdrawal" that would generously leave "some presence to guard the embassy, for example, in Baghdad." Full Story The lesson of history: PersevereSt. Louis TodayChristopher "Kit" Bond What to do in Iraq? It is the question confounding America. As in all the most challenging endeavors in life, the temptation to quit and relieve the immediate pain - which is very real in the case of Iraq - is at odds with the need to prevail. We know the primary heartfelt arguments in favor of retreating in Iraq: The cost in lives, treasure and liberties is too high; the war has not been properly managed; it realistically cannot be won. Looking to history, however, it is human will that dictates outcomes, particularly when all seems lost. A century and a half after the fact, President Abraham Lincoln's leadership during the Civil War is widely revered and credited with having preserved the Union and having freed the slaves. At the time, though, he was widely reviled for staying the course. We can profit by looking to Lincoln's example as we consider our options in Iraq. By the end of the Civil War in 1865, America had lost more than 600,000 men, more than 400 for each day of the war. Yet the country was only one-tenth the size it is today, Full Story Reality Check for the Antiwar CrowdThe problems with "supporting" the troops by pushing for withdrawal.Weekly StandardPete Hegseth AS AN IRAQ WAR VETERAN who participated in combat operations and political reconciliation efforts, I take issue with some of the arguments repeatedly being made on Capitol Hill. Most recently I was bothered by statements from Sen. Carl Levin, who cited three common antiwar arguments in his June 21 op-ed, " Lincoln's Example for Iraq," all of which run counter to realities on the ground in Iraq. * A deadline for withdrawal is an incentive for Iraqi political compromise. Levin thinks we ought to pressure Iraq's government with a warning tantamount to saying: "You better fix the situation before we leave and your country descends into chaos." He should consider the more likely result: an American exit date crushing any incentive for Iraqi leaders to cooperate and instead prompting rival factions to position themselves to capitalize on the looming power void. My experience in Iraq bore this out. Only after my unit established a meaningful relationship with the president of the Samarra city council--built on tangible security improvements and a commitment to cooperation--did political progress occur. Our relationship fostered unforeseen political opportunities and encouraged leaders, even ones from rival tribes, to side with American and Iraqi forces against local insurgents and foreign fighters. Full Story Iranian Techniques Tested in IraqDefense TechThe recent upsurge on mortar attacks against key Iraqi and US government facilities in Baghdad could be partly attributed to Iranian training of insurgents, a top coalition commander said late last week. Lt. Gen. Ray Odierno told reporters at the Pentagon recent sweeps in Diyala province have netted around 50 "high value" terror suspects, most of whom are Iraqis who've joined al Qaeda - and most of those are IED builders and truck/car bomb factory facilitators. Some, however, are Shiite insurgents who have received training in Iran on mortar techniques. Odierno explained: We have found a few people that were Shi'a extremists that were connected to -- that had some training in Iran -- those mostly being the mortar and rocket teams inside of Baghdad where they were trained in Iran and came in here to conduct attacks against not only coalition and Iraqi security forces, but government of Iraq targets inside of the Green Zone. Full Story In Iraq, Operation Last ChanceTime MagazineJoe Klein The Iraqi men squatting shoulder to shoulder in the blasted, abandoned classroom couldn't tell at first that the American soldier addressing them was a man of real authority. He was slight, taut, with sandy hair and a thin beak of a nose. He didn't sound like a big shot; he didn't bark in a commanding voice. "How many of you are going to make it?" he asked, in sketchy Arabic. Several of the men - Iraqi police recruits - looked up, saw the four stars on General David Petraeus' cap and shifted nervously, unsure of what he meant. His interpreter had better success. A scattering of hands were timidly raised. "You're all going to make it!" Petraeus said, giving the Iraqis' response the most benign possible interpretation. "That's good. Are you ready to defend your country?" There was a grudging shout, the Iraqi equivalent of, "Yes, sir!" It was midafternoon on a blistering June Saturday in Yusufia, just south of Baghdad. The abandoned school was stifling, though more tolerable than the dusty, sun-addled main street of town, which we'd just walked along - the general on an arid grip-and-grin tour, offering Salaam aleikum, habibi! greetings to the few Iraqis willing to brave the midday heat. Now Petraeus moved from classroom to classroom, cloaked in heavy body armor, sweat trickling down the side of his face. Each room was packed with nonsmiling Iraqi men in deep squat - 500 in all. Petraeus was exhilarated. They were different from the usual police recruits. These had been selected by local sheiks. Full Story |
| JOB OPPORTUNITIES FOR THE PROFESSIONAL |
|
TO FILL OUT AN APPLICATION AND SUBMIT YOUR RESUME CLICK HERE Questions regarding Security Consulting or Training at Blackwater (252) 435-2488 or email dcarter@blackwaterusa.com. |
| SECURITY FOR THE PROFESSIONAL |
The Evolution and Importance of Army/Marine Corps Field Manual 3-24, CounterinsurgencySmall Wars JournalJohn Nagl Although there were lonely voices arguing that the Army needed to focus on counterinsurgency in the wake of the Cold War-Dan Bolger, Eliot Cohen, and Steve Metz chief among them-the sad fact is that when an insurgency began in Iraq in the late summer of 2003, the Army was unprepared to fight it. The American Army of 2003 was organized, designed, trained, and equipped to defeat another conventional army; indeed, it had no peer in that arena. It was, however, unprepared for an enemy who understood that it could not hope to defeat the U.S. Army on a conventional battlefield, and who therefore chose to wage war against America from the shadows. The story of how the Army found itself less than ready to fight an insurgency goes back to the Army's unwillingness to internalize and build upon the lessons of Vietnam. Chief of Staff of the Army General Peter Schoomaker has written that in Vietnam, "The U.S. Army, predisposed to fight a conventional enemy that fought using conventional tactics, overpowered innovative ideas from within the Army and from outside it. Full Story Dispatch From IranIranians may have lost faith in the mullahs, but they're not about to overthrow them.NewsweekMichael Hirsh Where the heck are the mullahs? And what happened to all those angry young Revolutionary Guards eager to take you hostage-or, at the very least, spit in your face for personally representing the Great Satan? This is the most jarring impression an American caught in the time warp of 1979 has upon landing in today's Tehran, where Islamic fervor has been replaced by Islamic bling. Luxury stores are loaded with jewelry, leather handbags and knockoffs of Western designer brands, and coffee shops and restaurants are crowded late into the night. This is still the Islamic Republic of Iran, of course, so there are no bare shoulders or legs in sight, much less midriffs, even in the summer heat. But many Iranian women have long since cast off their chadors and gone defiantly chic, despite an abortive attempt by the government this past spring to reassert strictures on modesty, when it sent carloads of basij-or young paramilitaries-out to harass females who dared show too much skin or hair. The typical look around town consists of perfect makeup (spread over exquisitely straight noses; cosmetic surgery is a huge business here), faded jeans under form-fitting Islamic "manteaus"-a sort of truncated raincoat that comes to mid-thigh-and colorful silk higabs loosely arrayed over the backs of their heads. Iranian males, meanwhile, are looking less and less menacing and more and more metrosexual. The younger ones often wear their hair long, which 10 years ago might have provoked a brutal barbering on the street by enraged Islamists. Full Story America is Still the Power That CountsEconomistEVEN the greatest empires hurt when they lose wars. It is not surprising then that Iraq weighs so heavily on the American psyche. Most Americans want to get out as soon as possible, surge or no surge; many more wish they had never invaded the country in the first place. But for a growing number of Americans the superpower's inability to impose its will on Mesopotamia is symptomatic of a deeper malaise. Nearly six years after September 11th, nervousness about the state of America's "hard power" is growing (see article). Iraq and Afghanistan (another far-off place where the United States, short of troops and allies, may be losing a war) have stretched the Pentagon's resources. An army designed to have 17 brigades on active deployment now has 25 in the field. Despite bringing in reservists and the National Guard, many American troops spend more than half their time on active duty; the British spend a fifth. Full Story Scoring The WarWar And The MediaInvestors Business DailyOne way the media distort Americans' view of the ongoing war against terrorists is by focusing on just one side in the conflict: ours. Whether it's the daily body count or alleged abuses at Abu Ghraib or Guantanamo, the public could be forgiven for thinking the U.S. is not only losing the war, but behaving badly in doing so. But neither is true. This year, for instance, the U.S. has killed roughly 650 terrorists a month, according to published reports and Defense Department estimates. That compares with about 37 U.S. combat deaths per month, through May. The ratio, thus, is about 18 terrorists killed in combat for every allied soldier killed. And that doesn't include the current offensive in Diayala Province, Operation Arrowhead Ripper, which dispatched 159 enemy combatants in just the first five days. Since the war began, we've lost about 70 troops a month. This compares with 526 a month in Vietnam, more than 900 a month in Korea and 6,639 a month during World War II. Full Story Winds of WarWall Street JournalJoshua Muravchik Several conflicts of various intensities are raging in the Middle East. But a bigger war, involving more states--Israel, Lebanon, Syria, Iran, the Palestinian Authority and perhaps the United States and others--is growing more likely every day, beckoned by the sense that America and Israel are in retreat and that radical Islam is ascending. Consider the pell-mell events of recent weeks. Iran imprisons four Americans on absurd charges only weeks after seizing 15 British sailors on the high seas. Iran's Revolutionary Guard is caught delivering weapons to the Taliban and explosives to Iraqi terrorists. A car bomb in Lebanon is used to assassinate parliament member Walid Eido, killing nine others and wounding 11 more. At the same time, Fatah al-Islam, a shady group linked to Syria, launches an attack on the Lebanese army from within a Palestinian refugee area, beheading several soldiers. Tehran trumpets further progress on nuclear enrichment as President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad repeats his call for annihilating Israel, crowing that "the countdown to the destruction of this regime has begun." Hamas seizes control militarily in Gaza. Katyusha rockets are launched from Lebanon into northern Israel for the first time since the end of last summer's Israel-Hezbollah war. Full Story |
| TACTICAL TRAINING & INTELLIGENCE RESOURCES FOR THE PROFESSIONAL |
Blackwater® Personal Protection Specialist CourseSecurity Managers, Law Enforcement agencies and individual security professionals have asked Blackwater to offer open courses on conducting protective operations in permissive and semi-permissive environments. Blackwater Lodge and Training Center now does just that with the first in a series of Personal Protection Specialist courses and seminars! Upcoming Course Dates: July 8 - 14, 2007 Fairfax/Loudon County, Virginia August 12-18, 2007 Moyock, NC This course reflects how we train our own personal protection teams. Course content includes classes and discussions as applied to protective operations in permissive and semi-permissive environments. This is a practical application course students attending must be prepared for long days and training exercises which may take place overnight or out of town operations. This course meets the training requirements for the Virginia DCJS PSS Personal Protection Specialist registration (032E) DCJS #88-1453 Course Cost: $2,500.00 includes: most meals, student transportation during course and student handbook. Please contact Blackwater for assistance with lodging needs. Class size is limited to 24. Please register early! To register or for more information contact: Blackwater Sales at (252) 435-1748 or e-mail David Taft at: dtaft@blackwaterusa.com | |
| FRANKS REVIEW |
Tactical Equipment EvaluationSnubnose RevolutionTwenty-five years ago it wasn't a surprise for a snubnose revolver to be a common off-duty or backup gun. But in the 1980s a ton of law enforcement agencies started transitioning from revolvers to semi-automatic pistols and it became more common for compact and sub-compact pistols to become the mainstream off-duty or backup gun. After all, it only made sense to have your backup gun be a high-capacity weapon of the same caliber as your duty weapon. But in 2006 when a major holster manufacturer is prioritizing what model of weapon to make a new holster for, the snubnose revolver was way up on the list. Everywhere I turn - most especially in the northeast section of our country - the snubnose revolver is there in off-duty holsters. It made me wonder just what was so great about the snubnose - because I haven't carried one for more than twenty years.Full Story Can Be Viewed At: http://www.borelliconsulting.com/evals/guns/snubrevolution.htm Recreational Equipment ReviewWorkhorse KnivesOver the course of the past few years I've evaluated plenty of knives. I found myself recently going through my inventory as I put together a revamped Bugout Bag and prepared hiking belts for my family. I was also searching through some lockblade folders to put into bike bags as my family as all of a sudden started bicycling much more. As I considered options I realized that there are just a few knives I have that I consider reliable and valuable - and it's those that I would like to have anytime there is an emergency at hand requiring an edged tool or weapon.Full Story Can Be Viewed At: http://www.borelliconsulting.com/recevals/toolknife/workhorseknives.htm |
| CHAPLAINS CORNER |
DUTYdu•ty [doo-tee, dyoo-] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation -noun, plural -ties. 1. something that one is expected or required to do by moral or legal obligation. 2. the binding or obligatory force of something that is morally or legally right; moral or legal obligation. 3. an action or task required by a person's position or occupation; function: 7. Military (Firefighters, EMTs and Law Enforcement: Italics My addition) a. an assigned task, occupation, or place of service: Often we are given basic instruction for a task or set of tasks and then we are expected to complete the assigned task without further supervision or instruction,i.e., patrol assignments. In military and para-military organizations this expectation is a fact of our lives. That is the way it has always been done so that is the expectation. The word patrol comes from the French meaning literally to go through puddles... plus added to it in today's expectations... wherever you are assigned or expected to go in the performance of your duties whether by direct command from a superior by voice or written instructions; by the necessity dictated by additional knowledge acquired while on patrol; by additional knowledge or assignments acquired by radio or computer dispatch... It is our job to go and to do whatever the circumstances dictate once we arrive at the location and evaluate. We may be assigned to do our patrols on foot; by aircraft; by motor vehicle; by bicycle; by boat; or by some other ingenious methods. Sometimes the only task assigned is to patrol an assigned area or a specific route. Sometimes we are assigned to take care of any problems found. Sometimes we are assigned to look for specific problems and ignore all others. http://www.blackwaterusa.com/btw2007/article/070207chaplain.htm |
|
| THE PRIVATE SECURITY BLOGOSPHERE |
|
The Other Side of The Story (http://pmc-psc-truth.blogspot.com/) Thank you to everyone who submitted blogs for the BTW staff to include in this section. We were overwhelmed with all the great responses. We are spending this week reviewing all the wonderful suggestions. Thank you to our readers. Please continue to submit your suggestions. |
|
| BUMPER STICKER |
I don't have a beer gut, I have a protective covering for my rock hard abs. |
| CONTACT INFORMATION |
|
The Blackwater Tactical Weekly is a free weekly e-publication. The BTW provides readers valuable information from diverse sources regarding tactical and strategic security issues. Editor-in-Chief – Gary Jackson (btw@blackwaterusa.com) Questions regarding Security Consulting or Training
at Blackwater (252) 435-2488 Editorial Calendar: The weekly theme may change at the discretion of
the Editor based on current events. To view an archived BTW, Click Here |
| LEGAL NOTICE |
| Blackwater USA (the "Company"), provides this Newsletter as a source of diverse information to its readers. The Company does not warrant or endorse the products or services advertised in or reviewed in the Newsletter. The views and statements of the reviewers and commentators presented in the Newsletter are entirely their own, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Company or its affiliates. The Company does not monitor or warrant the accuracy or reliability of the material provided in this Newsletter or presented at any of the third-party websites to which links are provided in this Newsletter. WARNING: Use of certain of the products and services discussed or reviewed in this Newsletter can lead to personal injury or death. It is critical to follow manufacturers' instructions in using such products or services. The Company will not accept any liability for damages, injuries, or death resulting from the use or misuse of any such products or services. |
 |
                  |
|
