Developing effective indigenous forces has turned out to be one of the most important counter-insurgency tasks , whether in Afghanistan or Yemen. Yet it is a task that both the U.S and NATO allies struggle with.
The U.S Army is therefore thinking about creating standardized units to undertake the training tasks while in Britain, the head of the army, General Sir Richard Dannatt, has argued that the British army needs to be restructured, grow bigger, and acquire new peacemaking and reconstruction skill, including by establishing specialized reconstruction units as part of eight “organic” manoeuvre brigades.
But what is lacking is a NATO “chapeaux”, which could help build capabilities elsewhere, ensure greater interoperability and guarantee that the new security assistance mission is a priority for all NATO allies. Creating a 2000- person NATO Military Advisory Force supported by a Military Advisory Centre,would be the next logical move to achieve this. Read more about this idea in this article in World Defence Systems
Brent Smith, a Professor of sociology and criminal justice at the University of Arkansas has just published an interesting paper (pdf) on terrorist behaviour. In the course of his research he and his team studied:
– Ten attacks by international groups that involved 93 preparatory acts.
– Fourteen attacks by right-wing groups that involved 55 preparatory acts.
– Twenty-nine attacks by environmental groups that involved 80 preparatory acts.
– Six attacks by left-wing groups that involved eight preparatory acts.
And the results are pretty striking. Terrorists, it seems, hate commuting.* According to Smith:
Terrorists may stay close to home because of new immigration status, lack of transportation, lack of knowledge of the urban landscape or a desire to avoid attention. Among single-issue terrorists in particular, 71 percent of the preparatory acts occurred within 12 miles and 92 percent within 28 miles of the target. This finding may also be attributed to the use of “uncoordinated violence” tactics by these environmental and anti-abortion extremists, which often results in local targeting by “lone wolves” sympathetic to the cause.
More bad news for McCain. The Huffington Post leads with an article on links between the head of his transition team and Saddam Hussein:
William Timmons, the Washington lobbyist who John McCain has named to head his presidential transition team, aided an influence effort on behalf of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein to ease international sanctions against his regime.
The two lobbyists who Timmons worked closely with over a five year period on the lobbying campaign later either pleaded guilty to or were convicted of federal criminal charges that they had acted as unregistered agents of Saddam Hussein’s government.
As regular readers will be aware, I’ve long admired the courageous approach to public diplomacy taken by the US Department of Homeland Security, particularly in the fantastically Byzantine process that is immigration at New York’s John F Kennedy airport.
Now, DHS are raising their game to a whole new level. As frequent travellers will know, in order to qualify for the US visa waiver program, visitors from overseas now have to apply for special authorisation to do so. But what really completes the web experience is a thoughtful, unique touch: when you arrive at the web page to fill out your application, you’re greeted with a special pop-up message – I’m not kidding – that reads as follows:
This Department of Homeland Security (DHS) computer system and any related equipment is subject to monitoring for administrative oversight, law enforcement, criminal investigative purposes, inquiries into alleged wrongdoing or misuse, and to ensure proper performance of applicable security features and procedures. As part of this monitoring, DHS may acquire, access, retain, intercept, capture, retrieve, record, read, inspect, analyze, audit, copy and disclose any information processed, transmitted, received, communicated, and stored within the computer system. If monitoring reveals possible misuse or criminal activity, notice of such may be provided to appropriate supervisory personnel and law enforcement officials. DHS may conduct these activities in any manner without further notice. By clicking OK below or by using this system, you consent to the terms set forth in this notice.
Wow. That wins the prize by a country mile for the least welcoming, most f**k-you way to arrive at a website that I’ve ever seen in my life. I’m lost for words.
Readers of this blog will be familiar with ourenthusiasm for Web 2.0 especially when used in times of emergency. Following the London bombings a wikipedia page was created at 09:18, twenty eight minutes after the first explosion. Since then the wikipedia page has been updated on a regular basis – the last entry was made on the 11th October 2008.
People around the globe contribute to the article around the clock – the first 24 hours of page editing is captured in the following neat video.
