| November 12, 2007 Edition |
How They Did ItExecuting the winning strategy in Iraq.The Weekly StandardKimberly Kagan The surge of operations that American and Iraqi forces began on June 15 has dramatically improved security in Baghdad and throughout Iraq. U.S. commanders and soldiers have reversed the negative trends of 2006, some of which date back to 2005. The total number of enemy attacks has fallen for four consecutive months, and has now reached levels last seen before the February 2006 Samarra mosque bombing. IED explosions have plummeted to late 2004 levels. Iraqi civilian casualties, which peaked at 3,000 in the month of December 2006, are now below 1,000 for the second straight month. The number of coalition soldiers killed in action has fallen for five straight months and is now at the lowest level since February 2004. These trends persisted through Ramadan, when violence had typically spiked. Full Story |
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| QUOTE OF THE WEEK |
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Courage and perseverance have a magical talisman, before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish into air. John Quincy Adams |
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| PROFESSIONAL ARTICLES, EDITORIALS AND OPINIONS |
Guarding Pakistan’s NukesAmid the chaos, could radicals get ahold of the Bomb?NewsweekMichael Isikoff and Mark Hosenball The latest turmoil in Pakistan has sparked new worry over the prospect that Al Qaeda or other Islamic radicals will acquire access to the country's nuclear arsenal. Pakistan has an estimated 50 nuclear bombs (compared with about 80 in India), which are dispersed throughout the country. U.S. officials acknowledge they do not have as much information about their location and security arrangements as they would like. Yet despite Pakistan's political convulsions, U.S. officials say their fears about loose nukes are not as great as they once might have been. Full Story Hugo Chavez's criminal paradiseUnder the anti-globalization president, Venezuela has become a haven for global crime.Los Angeles TimesMoises Naim While President Hugo Chavez has been molding Venezuela into his personal socialist vision, other transformations -- less visible but equally profound -- have taken hold in the country. Venezuela has become a major hub for international crime syndicates. What attracts them is not the local market; what they really love are the excellent conditions Venezuela offers to anyone in charge of managing a global criminal network. Full Story Mad Mullahs Puzzled PutinNew York PostAmir Taheri 'Educational": That's how President Vladimir Putin's entourage described the Russian's recent whirlwind trip to Tehran. Islamic Republic President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad hyped the 36-hour visit as a "historic event." Some Western commentators even suggested that Putin and Ahmadinejad planned to create an axis to counter Western influence in the Middle East. In fact, the visit seems to have persuaded Putin and his closest advisers that the Tehran leadership is culturally and temperamentally incapable of playing the classical Cold War-style power games that the Russians are interested in. Full Story 
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| BREAKING NEWS FOR THE PROFESSIONAL |
The Second Coup"Pakistan is on the verge of destabilization."The Daily StandardBill Roggio Pakistan's tenuous political and security situation just got a whole lot worse. After days of rumors that President Pervez Musharraf would impose a state of emergency in the violence-wracked country, Musharraf followed through on Saturday in a move that is likely to plunge the county into further political turmoil and provide an opening for the Taliban and al Qaeda to consolidate their gains in Pakistan's northwest tribal areas. In what Pakistan's English language news organization Dawn called "General Musharraf's Second Coup," Musharraf deployed units of the paramilitary Rangers throughout the capital on Saturday just prior to declaring the state of emergency. The constitution was suspended and replaced by a Provisional Constitutional Order. Full Story China's balancing act: guns vs riceAsia TimesMichael S Chase The true level of China's current defense budget is difficult to calculate, but projecting future trends in Beijing's military spending entails struggling with even greater uncertainties and complexities. Forecasts of Chinese military spending over the next 10-20 years vary widely depending on the methods employed, and underlying assumptions about factors such as China's future economic performance and the tradeoffs the country's leaders will face as they decide how to balance military modernization against other budgetary requirements. In 2005, the US Department of Defense predicted a possible three-fold or greater increase in China's defense spending over the next 20 years, which would place its military budget at $210-$315 billion (in constant 2005 US dollars) or more in 2025. Full Story Hollow VictoryGeorgia's riots may be over, but for President Saakashvili it's also the end of his stint as the darling of the West.NewsweekOwen Matthews and Anna Nemtsova Is this the end of Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili's brave new democracy? Thursday night the streets of Tbilisi, Georgia's capital, were eerily silent as riot police patrolled and an army of janitors cleaned up the trash left after six days of street protests which erupted in violence on Tuesday. Friday, Georgia's opposition announced that there would be no more protests after Saakashvili called for snap elections in January. But the image of Georgia as a free, if chaotic, model of post-Soviet democracy lies in tatters. Full Story As one mafia fades, Italy faces anotherPolice nabbed the Cosa Nostra's chief Monday, but the strongest organized crime group is the 'Ndrangheta – an organization responsible for 80 percent of Europe's cocaine imports.Christian Science MonitorBruce Livesey This past August, the fatal shooting of six Italian men exiting a restaurant in Duisburg, Germany, informed the world of what Italian authorities already knew: Italy's 'Ndrangheta crime syndicate had come of age as an international force. The Cosa Nostra, Italy's Sicilian mafia, used to be the country's most notorious and feared organization. But the capture this week of Salvatore Lo Piccolo showed how far they have fallen: For the second time in less than two years, their top boss was arrested. Full Story Radical Islam Behind BarsIslamist prison chaplains face renewed challenge.The Daily StandardStephen Schwartz As reported at length in the weekly standard--the latest commentary appeared here on September 16, 2007--federal, state, county, and city prison officials have wrestled since the horror of 9/11 with the presence of radical Muslim chaplains in our country's correctional systems. To the shock of most Americans, when they hear about it, missionaries of the ultrafundamentalist Wahhabi sect, financed by Saudi Arabia and supporting terrorism, have a monopoly on Muslim chaplaincies behind bars. Similar patterns of "authorized" prison infiltration by Islamists are visible in Britain, Russia, and other countries. 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 |
While Pakistan BurnsIf you think Musharraf's wrong to free jailed Taliban members while he busts dissidents, wait until you hear who's back on the loose.NewsweekSami Yousafzai and Ron Moreau Pakistani lawyers, human-rights activists and opposition-party members can scarcely ignore the irony of their situation: while thousands of them are being beaten and locked up under President Pervez Musharraf's newly declared state of emergency, his government has just let more than two dozen militant Islamists out of jail. Protesters might be even angrier if Musharraf disclosed the names of some of those freed militants. Taliban sources tell NEWSWEEK that the top man on the list was Mullah Obaidullah Akhund—the highest-ranking Taliban official ever captured by the Pakistanis. As one of Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar's closest confidants and his defense minister until the post 9-11 invasion of Afghanistan, Obaidullah was No. 3 in the group's hierarchy and a member of its ruling 10-man shura (council). Full Story Home-grown terrorist recruitment rising, says British spy chiefThe Brown government unveils plans to curb recruitment in mosques, jails.Christian Science MonitorMark Rice-Oxley It was not that long ago that the British government would refuse to acknowledge that MI5 even existed. Nowadays, public speeches by the head of Britain's domestic intelligence are almost de rigueur. This week, MI5 chief Jonathan Evans signaled that the service wants to raise public vigilance to the terrorist threat, and to stress that intelligence agents alone cannot solve the Islamist extremist problem. It was followed quickly by British and European Union officials pushing plans for tougher enforcement measures. Full Story Lebanon's militias rearm before voteWeeks ahead of presidential elections, black market weapons sales are soaring as factions prepare for street battles.Christian Science MonitorNicholas Blanford It has been a good year for Abu Jamil, a Lebanese arms dealer. "People are buying guns more than ever. They are expecting a war," says this portly, shaven-headed former militiaman as he shows friends a photograph of his newly purchased SUV on his mobile phone. The deadline for Lebanon's presidential election is less than three weeks away and with no signs of consensus over a candidate among feuding political factions, many Lebanese fear a violent outcome. The rising tensions come amid heightened speculation that Lebanon's political factions are arming themselves, resuscitating old militias from the 1975-90 civil war and building new ones in anticipation of street battles ahead. Full Story In Niger Delta, a calm before the storm?International Herald TribuneSarah J. Wachter Port Harcourt, the main city in the oil-producing Niger Delta region, is mostly calm these days, civil rights activists say, after months of bloody gang warfare in July and August. A dawn-to-dusk curfew is in place for the next seven months. The city and the entire region, in southern Nigeria, have been heavily militarized, with thousands of government troops deployed across the oil states of Rivers, Delta and Bayelsa. The Delta region is marked by widespread and grinding poverty, with little to show for the vast oil riches extracted there by international oil companies in partnership with the Nigerian national oil corporation. Full Story Recent Incidents Intensify Worries of Chinese Espionage in the United StatesWorld Politics ReviewRichard Weitz Recent revelations that China-based hackers may have penetrated U.S. computer networks -- including those operated by the Departments of Defense and Homeland Security as well as by major U.S. defense firms -- has heightened concerns about Chinese spying in the United States. Computer experts believe that the extensive scale of the information operations means they probably involved, to some degree, the Chinese military or intelligence services. Although U.S. authorities remain concerned by the espionage operations conducted in the United States by Russia, Iran, and Cuba, they consider Chinese spying the most serious in terms of size. The sheer number of people of Chinese origin in the United States -- including immigrants, tourists, and students -- gives Chinese intelligence collectors tremendous opportunities to gather information within the United States. 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 EvaluationPersonalizing Your ArsenalIn the past I've looked at relatively quick and easy ways that you can modify specific weapons to serve you better under given conditions. In looking back I realized that what I've done is address many small issues rather than give an acceptable overview of what may benefit you in the overall performance of your weapons. So, to address that, in this week's review we're going to look at modifications you can make (no armorer or gunsmith required) to your rifles, shotguns and pistols that will ultimately benefit you. The modifications suggested may not be applicable to everyone, but, in general, are suitable for most operational environments.Full Story Can Be Viewed At: http://www.borelliconsulting.com/evals/guns/personalize.htm
Recreational Equipment ReviewSmoke Hole, West VirginiaAlright, this one is new for me. A couple weekends ago I went on a camping trip to beautiful downtown Smoke Hole, West Virginia. Now, if you knew Smoke Hole, you'd know that the beautiful downtown part simply doesn't apply. I had never been there before and although I enjoy camping a lot, I simply wasn't prepared for how isolated a camp site could be that you could drive to. Of course, the sometimes one lane gravel drive that is nine miles long and often overlooks a cliff down more than 100 feet helps to add to the feel of isolation. The beauty of Smoke Hole is that, once you've driven in, it's equally enjoyable by the backpacker, drive in camper, or RV equipped family.Full Story Can Be Viewed At: http://www.borelliconsulting.com/recevals/campback/smokehole.htm |
| CHAPLAINS CORNER |
VETERAN'S DAY, NOVEMBER 11TH“These are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman.”—Thomas Paine
Thanks to all 23.7 million veterans of our armed services Definitions courtesy of Dictionary.com Veteran - (noun) - a person who has served in a military force, esp. one who has fought in a war: (adjective) - (of soldiers) having had service or experience in warfare: Military - an organization for keeping the peace where the soldiers serve mostly in groups... mostly in peace keeping efforts outside the homeland except when the homeland is invaded... Law enforcement - an organization for keeping the peace where the soldiers serve mostly alone... mostly inside the home country for keeping the peace among citizens and visitors inside the homeland... I am a son of the soil of Virginia... I come to pay homage to all the sons and daughters who have served our country by placing their lives on the line for peace, safety, liberty and justice. I was previously a Virginia State Police Trooper... On the State Seal of Virginia there is the inscription... "SIC SEMPER TYRANNUS"... surrounding the figure of a Virgin Warrior with her foot on the neck of a downed foe with his defeated crown cast aside. The inscription means "THUS ALWAYS TO TYRANTS!"... It was on my badge... It was on my patrol car... It still is on and in my heart. The attitude permeates my being... Tyrants shall not be allowed to thrive and put down others who do not wish to be under their rule and control... Tyrants shall not be allowed to abuse, maim and kill as they desire to do... The sons of the soil of Virginia have this message so indelibly impressed into them that it shall always be thus as long as we live and breathe. http://www.blackwaterusa.com/btw2007/article/111207chaplain.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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