| October 29, 2007 Edition |
The Scorched-Earth ObsessionMore than one California fire is being blamed on arson. Inside the mind of the fire starters.NewsweekEvan Thomas, Karen Breslau and Andrew Murr They call it the "devil winds." Dave Hillman woke up at 2 a.m. last Monday feeling sick. The weather reports forecast high winds, and Hillman, chief arson investigator for California's Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, knew devil winds had a way of stimulating arsonists. Whenever a "wind event" occurs, he knows, after 37 years as a firefighter (24 of them studying arson), that "there are always going to be nuts coming out of the woodwork." Downed power lines, flying embers that can travel a mile in a strong wind, tossed cigarettes, sloppy workers with blowtorches - the causes of the fires that raged from north of Los Angeles to south of San Diego last week may have been varied and accidental. Full Story |
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| QUOTE OF THE WEEK |
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The strongest principle of growth lies in human choice. George Eliot |
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| PROFESSIONAL ARTICLES, EDITORIALS AND OPINIONS |
The New Battle of AlgiersBouteflika has the upper hand, for now.The Weekly StandardRoger Kaplan Overshadowed by Iraq and Afghanistan in the global war on terror, less scrutinized than Turkey as a laboratory of Islam's compatibility with liberal democracy, Algeria remains a crucial testing ground for the ability of postcolonial Islamic societies to develop modern institutions. Algeria is also, since emerging from its own war on Islamist terror in the 1990s, a de facto partner of the United States, as soldiers of both nations patrol the Mediterranean to its north and the Sahara to its south. But like so much in this long war of shadows and mirages, bombs and machine guns, reversals and betrayals, the Algerian scene is opaque. The attempted assassination of President Abdelaziz Bouteflika last month reminds us how ephemeral a success on any front in this war can be, how fragile a truce, how premature a shout of victory. Full Story Osama bin Laden's growing anxietyHe's struggling to direct fewer and fewer followers.The Christian Science MonitorFawaz A. Gerges In yet another sign of trouble for Al Qaeda, Osama bin Laden publicly conceded that his like-minded militants in Iraq "made mistakes." In an audiotape broadcast by Al Jazeera this week, he sounds deeply anxious about the survival of Al Qaeda in Iraq - a group that is largely independent of his own organization but adheres to a similar ideology. Al Qaeda's top leader appealed to Sunni Arab tribes and other armed Iraqi Sunni groups to stop fighting Al Qaeda members and unite against the real enemy - the US-led coalition. Full Story Nuke NightmareBehind Israel's Syria StrikeNew York PostRalph Peters On Sept. 6, Israel struck a remote target in eastern Syria. The story didn't really break for weeks, and details are still emerging - but the consensus view is that Israeli aircraft attacked a secret nuclear facility. There's much more to it than that. The echoes of that strike resound far beyond the Middle East. Tel Aviv isn't showing any leg when it comes to exactly who did what to whom. Airstrikes may have been synchronized with commando action on the ground. We don't know, and, for now, secrets are being kept. Full Story  |
| BREAKING NEWS FOR THE PROFESSIONAL |
Where the Jihad Lives NowIslamic militants have spread beyond their tribal bases, and have the run of an unstable, nuclear-armed nation.NewsweekRon Moreau and Michael Hirsh Benazir Bhutto was worried she would not survive the day. It was, for her, to be a moment of joyous return after eight years of exile, but also an hour of great peril. Just before she left Dubai for Pakistan on Thursday, Oct. 18, Bhutto directed that a letter be hand-delivered to Pervez Musharraf, the embattled Pakistani autocrat with whom she had negotiated a tenuous political alliance. If anything happens to me, please investigate the following individuals in your government, she wrote, according to an account given to NEWSWEEK by her husband, Asif Ali Zardari. Bhutto, Pakistan's former prime minister, then proceeded to name several senior security officials she considered to be enemies, Zardari said. Full Story Not This TimeIraqi Police thwart a massive car bomb attack in Samarra.The Weekly StandardJeff Emanuel Last week, for the first time in four attempts this year, Iraqi National Police in Samarra were able to avoid being hit with a devastating suicide car bomb (or SVBIED, for Suicide Vehicle-Borne Improvised Explosive Device). Al Qaeda terrorists, attempting to drive a SVBIED up to a National Police outpost in the southwestern part of the city and detonate it, encountered a surprising amount of resistance from the National Police there, who were able to destroy the rolling bomb before it reached their position. Full Story Turkey's identity crisisDomestic conflicts are steering the country toward a battle with Iraq's Kurds. The fallout could hurt not only Ankara and the United States, but the entire region.USA TodayRalph Peters The eastern quarter of Turkey isn't Turkish. It's inhabited by Kurds, the descendents of tribesmen whom the Greek soldier and author Xenophon encountered in those mountains 2,500 years ago - more than a thousand years before the first Turk arrived. If a referendum on independence were held today, Turkey's Kurds, who make up about 20% of its 73 million people, would vote overwhelmingly to secede from the shrunken empire Ankara inherited from the Ottomans. That's part of what Turkish saber-rattling on the border with northern Iraq is about - the fear that even an autonomous Kurdistan-in-Iraq threatens Turkey's territorial integrity because the region's Kurds might view it as the core of a Kurdish state. Full Story A Maginot Line in the SkyBeat our Satellites, Beat AmericaNew York PostRalph Peters After the carnage of the First World War, France responded to the horrors of trench warfare by building the ultimate trenches - the infamous Maginot Line, a system of almost 5,000 individual fortifications arrayed along hundreds of miles of front to a depth of 20 miles. Only the Great Wall of China was longer - and the Maginot Line was vastly more complex. A marvel of military engineering, the problem was that it required an enemy who played by French rules. What happened? Paris poured so much money and effort into its network of fortresses that the generals couldn't believe it wouldn't work - the Germans would simply have to behave as required. Full Story Winning One Battle, Fighting the NextAmerica needs to be heartened by our success in Iraq, and seize a victory.The Weekly StandardFrederick W. Kagan America has won an important battle in the war on terror. We turned an imminent victory for Al Qaeda In Iraq into a humiliating defeat for them and thereby created an opportunity for further progress not only in Iraq, but also in the global struggle. In the past five months, terrorist operations in and around Baghdad have dropped by 59 percent. Car bomb deaths are down by 81 percent. Casualties from enemy attacks dropped 77 percent. And violence during the just-completed season of Ramadan--traditionally a peak of terrorist attacks--was the lowest in three years. Full Story |
| THE WEEKLY CARTOON |
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| JOB OPPORTUNITIES FOR THE PROFESSIONAL |
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To view the latest contract opportunities at Blackwater, visit our Contract Web Page. TO FILL OUT AN APPLICATION AND SUBMIT YOUR RESUME CLICK HERE Questions regarding Security Consulting or Training at Blackwater (252) 435-2488 or email webmaster@blackwaterusa.com. |
| SECURITY FOR THE PROFESSIONAL |
Super-strong body armour in sightBBC NewsPaul Rincon A new type of carbon fibre, developed at the University of Cambridge, could be woven into super-strong body armour for the military and law enforcement. The researchers say their material is already several times stronger, tougher and stiffer than fibres currently used to make protective armour. The lightweight fibre, made up of millions of tiny carbon nanotubes, is starting to reveal exciting properties. Carbon nanotubes are hollow cylinders of carbon just one atom thick. The new material was developed by a group at the Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy at Cambridge. Full Story Putin's Guessing GamesWashington PostJim Hoagland Put Iowa and New Hampshire on the back burner for a moment: Election fever also grips Russia, which chooses a new Duma in December and a president in March. Pollsters, analysts and Duma members are furiously debating two questions: What exact outcome will Vladimir Putin choose for these elections? And when will he communicate it to them and to the world? The only sure thing is that Putin will keep everyone guessing as long as it suits him. This is not the way the Kremlin portrays its version of "sovereign democracy," but it is not far from it either. When I encounter Vladislav Surkov, President Putin's chief political strategist and ideologue, he assures me that Russian democracy "is going in the right direction," pauses two beats, smiles and adds, "step by step." Full Story Dueling Prime MinistersThe Saudi king's apparent policy shift over Nawaz Sharif is threatening to deepen the dangerous polarization of pro-Western and Islamist factions in Pakistan.NewsweekFasih Ahmed It was the Saudis who took in Nawaz Sharif and his family when the Pakistani prime minister was deposed by Gen. Pervez Musharraf in a bloodless coup eight years ago. It was the Saudis who came to the aid of Pakistan's embattled president last month by publicly agreeing to house Sharif, once again, following his deportation just a few hours after landing in Islamabad. And it is the Saudis who are now, unexpectedly, said to be pressing Musharraf for Sharif's return home ahead of the January elections. Full Story Warden StoneA Marine Corps general brings a new approach to detainee operations.The Weekly StandardChristian Lowe It may not be the most dramatic operation going on to defeat the insurgency and weed out al Qaeda operatives in Iraq, and it may not grab the biggest headlines. But one Marine general is waging his counterinsurgency fight by attacking the battlefield of the mind, rather than kicking in doors and blowing up buildings. In a corner of the sprawling Baghdad International Airport, just a harrowing armored bus ride from the Green Zone, Maj. Gen. Doug Stone is implementing a novel plan to undercut the insurgency by drying up its base of hardened fighters. Full Story Inside the SurgeHow Ordinary Iraqis are Turning the Tide of WarNew York PostMichael Yon This week, the U.S. announced that military deaths in Iraq had fallen dramatically, to the lowest levels since March 2006, a sign that the surge of troops is working. Officers say increased cooperation from Iraqi civilians - who are tired of the terrorism and violence - has helped stem attacks. This comes as no surprise to Michael Yon, a writer who has blogged from Iraq since 2004. Yon, who is supported by donations to his Web site (michaelyon-online.com), writes about his own observations on the ground this year, embedded with U.S. troops. Full Story |
| TACTICAL TRAINING & INTELLIGENCE RESOURCES FOR THE PROFESSIONAL |
Mirror Image Training: Training to Combat TerrorismMirror Image is a tactical and strategic training course developed and owned by the Terrorism Research Center. TRC instructors have trained hundreds of military personnel that are subsequently deployed to active combat operations, as well as large numbers of first responders, law enforcement, and security professionals. Mirror Image is an intensive one-week classroom and field-training program, designed to realistically simulate terrorist recruiting, training techniques, and operational tactics. During the course, participants will receive insight into the mindset and rationale of the terrorist through hands-on experience with the methods and means terrorist employ, education about terrorist ideologies and the cultural dimensions that influence their decision making process. Military, law enforcement, intelligence, and security professionals will, in turn, be able to see themselves as the terrorists see them and understand the weaknesses in their own environment that the terrorists will seek to exploit, and which all too often they miss. Armed with these insights participants will leave the course better able to anticipate, prevent and respond to multiple terrorist threats.
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| FRANKS REVIEW |
Tactical Equipment EvaluationMirror-based Sighting Devices For Small ArmsCourtesy of GySgt Will Falcon, USMCOne of the primary challenges of MOUT is how to use the urban surroundings so that the physical environment becomes an advantage rather than a handicap to our soldiers. Accomplishing this goal will provide both defensive and offensive benefits. Consequently, the last several years have seen significant interest in the development of weapon sighting systems which can allow soldiers to return well-aimed lethal fire from a protected position behind cover. In today's urban combat environment, using these new tools to think and fight "outside the box" can be one of the keys to success, especially since this technique of fighting cannot presently be matched by the enemy.Full Story Can Be Viewed At: http://www.borelliconsulting.com/evals/other/mirrorsights.htm
Recreational Equipment ReviewSOG Bi-Polar TiNi KnifeEvery now and then I receive an item for review or evaluation in the tactical arena that just overwhelms me with its potential use in the recreational field. That's what happened when I received a SOG Knives Bi-Polar TiNi dual blade folding knife. While the knife obviously has application for military and law enforcement professionals, the spectrum of use during off-duty time seems just as wide and varied to me. Let's take a look at the knife, starting with the basic information and then examining some of the uses it can serve.Full Story Can Be Viewed At: http://www.borelliconsulting.com/recevals/toolknife/sogbipolar.htm |
| CHAPLAINS CORNER |
WHAT A MOMENT MAY BRING...Peace or battle...Rest or agitation... Blessing or cursing... Victory or defeat... Life or death... In the news this week... A son who was in the sixth tour of war in Iraq and Afghanistan told his mother on his last time home that he would not come home alive again. She did not want to talk with him about it. He was killed in Afghanistan during his sixth tour. Can you ever prepare to deal with the death of a loved one? The Bible says that you can. I have proven for myself that you can. I have experienced it with Grandparents, parents, in-laws, my spouse, one of my sons, many friends.... and thousands of strangers from stillborn and newborn to very, very old... When I was a Trooper working alone most of the time with very large areas to cover, I knew each time that I kissed my wife and kids good-bye that it could be the last time... Of course that could be true for anyone who drives on our streets or travels in any means of transportation as well as for Peace Keepers who are on the front lines of the war against evil. Children are born and some die as children. Children are born and some live to be over a hundred years of age... Some die at every age between birth and some later age whether it be minutes, hours, days, weeks, months... or a hundred years. http://www.blackwaterusa.com/btw2007/article/102907chaplain.htm |
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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
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