Quotes of the Day:

"Political views were irrelevant to the director (General Donovan). He valued creative intelligence, a love of adventure, and a willingness to fight the enemy."

– Noel Fitch Riley

"The cave you fear to enter holds the treasure you seek."

– Joseph Campbell

"I do not believe that sheer suffering teaches. If suffering alone taught, all the world would be wise. To suffering must be added mourning, understanding, patience, love, openness and the willingness to remain vulnerable." 

– Anne Morrow Lindbergh

1. US and Britain Postpone Decision on Long-Range Strikes

2. Opinion: War is Still a Racket – Wars for Profit, Not Freedom

3. Ukraine May be Winning the Information War in Kursk

4. Limited role for US Navy SEAL team in defense of Taiwan

5. How Taiwanese chips find their way into Russian weapons of death

6. StratBot AI: SOF and north Korea

7. Why China's "Little Blue Men" are a Big Problem

8. NATO warships transit Taiwan Strait, defying China's warnings

9. US targets China's Shein and Temu with new shipping rules

10. House GOP rolling out bill to block China from accessing US ports

11. Biden administration expected to unveil new evidence of RT’s key role in Russian intelligence operations globally

12. Is US losing the AI arms race to China?

13. Iran has cultivated ties with criminal networks in the West to carry out a recent wave of violent plots in the United States and Europe.

14. Biden, NATO effectively declaring war on Russia

15. Stoltenberg says NATO could have done more to prevent Ukraine war, FAS reports

16.  Meet Margarita Simonyan, queen of Russia’s covert information wars

17. Local Government Is Key to the Fight Against Disinformation

18. Send Us Back to Afghanistan

19. The Long-Range Weapons Ukraine Wants to Use on Russia, Explained

20. Sweeping Iraq Raid Killed 4 ISIS Leaders

21. Watch: Freight train smashes into US Army howitzer gun at level crossing

22. This Army division just ran cybersecurity for a far-away brigade

23. Night Stalkers - US special forces at a crossroads

24. A comprehensive guide to the shoulder tabs Army soldiers wear on their uniforms

1. US and Britain Postpone Decision on Long-Range Strikes

Our policy seems to remain that to prevent escalation we will allow Ukraine to fight to the last Ukrainian.

That said, note how our industrial base has let America down. We are running low on ammunition.

Excerpts:

When pressed on the fact that a limited difference is still better than nothing, US officials have used the argument that Washington’s own stocks of the munitions are at risk of depletion.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, however, keeps pushing Kyiv’s Western allies to do more.

Speaking in Kyiv, which was full of dignitaries in town for the Crimean Platform Summit, Zelensky accused the West of being “afraid” to even help Ukraine shoot down incoming missiles as it has done with Israel.

Zelensky added that he will meet Biden “

US and Britain Postpone Decision on Long-Range Strikes

The leaders of the US and UK met in Washington, where a decision to allow Ukraine to use Storm Shadow long-range missiles on Russian territory had been expected. Biden’s caution won out.

by Kyiv Post | September 14, 2024, 9:30 am

kyivpost.com · by Kyiv Post · September 14, 2024

The leaders of the US and UK met in Washington, where a decision to allow Ukraine to use Storm Shadow long-range missiles on Russian territory had been expected. Biden’s caution won out.

by Kyiv Post | September 14, 2024, 9:30 am

US President Joe Biden and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer participate in a bilateral meeting in the Blue Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on September 13, 2024. SAUL LOEB / AFP

Ukraine’s hopes for the US lifting restrictions on the use of American-made weapons were dashed for the time being on Friday as British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and US President Joe Biden met in Washington.

The two leaders have delayed an expected decision to let Ukraine fire Western-supplied long-range missiles into Russia, appearing to back down from Russian President Vladimir Putin’s latest threats of a direct war with NATO.

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The UK has recently said it would like to allow Ukraine to use its Storm Shadow missiles, but since many of the components are US-made, they would need a green light from the Washington to do so.

The United States is not planning to announce any new policy on Ukraine and the use of long-range missiles on Friday, the White House said.

Speaking ahead of a meeting between Biden and Starmer, White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said that the current policy will remain in place.

“There is no change to our view on the provision of long-range strike capabilities for Ukraine to use inside of Russia,” he said, adding that he “would not expect any major announcement in that regard.”

Starmer told reporters at the White House that he had a “wide-ranging discussion about strategy” with Biden but that it “wasn’t a meeting about a particular capability.”

Starmer had been expected to pressure Biden to back his plan to send British Storm Shadow missiles to Ukraine so they could hit deeper inside Russia.

Other Topics of Interest

LG Reportedly Registers ‘O HUI’ Trademark in Russia

The trademark is an existing brand of the South Korean conglomerate the LG Group, the name coincidentally is an obscene reference to the male genitalia in the Russian language.

But as the meeting with Biden neared, Starmer indicated that he and the US President would now discuss the plan at the UN General Assembly in New York later in the month “with a wider group of individuals” – presumably France, which has also supplied Kyiv with their SCALP version of Storm Shadow missiles, and other NATO allies even more squeamish about provoking Putin, such as, Germany and Italy.

As they met with their teams across a long table in the White House, Biden played down Putin’s warning that allowing Ukraine to fire the weapons would mean the West was “at war” with Russia.

“I don’t think much about Vladimir Putin,” Biden told reporters when asked about the comments.

But while Biden said it was “clear that Putin will not prevail in this war,” his actions since the full-scale war began in February 2024 have been frustratingly cautious from Kyiv’s point of view.

The US President has hesitated at every major decision point, starting with shipping HIMARS artillery, then through debates on whether to send M1 Abrams tanks, F-16 fighters, and short- and long-range ATACMS.

US officials, including Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, have said that the missiles were not “game-changers” and would make only a limited difference to Ukraine’s campaign.

When pressed on the fact that a limited difference is still better than nothing, US officials have used the argument that Washington’s own stocks of the munitions are at risk of depletion.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, however, keeps pushing Kyiv’s Western allies to do more.

Speaking in Kyiv, which was full of dignitaries in town for the Crimean Platform Summit, Zelensky accused the West of being “afraid” to even help Ukraine shoot down incoming missiles as it has done with Israel.

Zelensky added that he will meet Biden “this month” to present his “victory plan” on how to end the war with Russia.

kyivpost.com · by Kyiv Post · September 14, 2024

2. Opinion: War is Still a Racket – Wars for Profit, Not Freedom

Excerpts:

As long as defense contractors can profit from war, and use these large profits to buy influence with politicians, they will continue influencing U.S. foreign policy. The result is a defense policy driven by corporate interests rather than by the genuine security needs of the nation. To effectively combat war profiteering, comprehensive reforms are essential.

Adopting a cost-plus model with profit ceilings, regulating defense sector lobbying, prohibiting no-bid contracts, and holding corporate executives legally accountable represent practical measures to dismantle the financial incentives behind military conflicts. Additionally, the influence of corporate money in politics must be ended, and the revolving door between the government and the private sector permanently closed. Only by addressing the root causes of the political-industrial complex can the U.S. hope to avoid future wars driven more by profit than by principle.

Opinion: War is Still a Racket

Wars for Profit, Not Freedom

By Rouge One, September 14, 2024

https://www.strategycentral.io/post/opinion-war-is-still-a-racket?postId=11a2a5da-8efb-46cb-ac07-eaeb088f979c&utm

Smedley Butler was a U.S. Marine Corps Major General who is notable for his outspoken criticism of military intervention and corporate influence on government. He served in the Marine Corps from 1898 to 1931 and earned two Medals of Honor for his bravery in combat. After retiring, Butler wrote a book called War is a Racket.  Full text is available at this link

Introduction

Smedley Butler’s War Is a Racket, written in 1935, is more relevant today than ever. In a world dominated by defense contractors, private military companies, and oil interests, Butler’s piercing critique of war profiteering remains shockingly accurate. His core thesis? War is not fought for democracy or freedom but for profit. As we examine conflicts from the past 20 years, from the Iraq War to the Afghanistan debacle and U.S. global arms sales, it becomes clear: war is still very much a racket, and the corporations are still cashing in while soldiers pay the price. Today, things are probably even more insidious. In 1961, two and a half decades after Butler’s prophetic words, another famous general warned America to beware of the gravity-warping defense industry. 

This article will examine their warnings and show the causal links of how the Defense industry has perverted American foreign policy decisions for generations.

Butler’s Prophetic Warning

Two-time Medal of Honor recipient Major General Smedley Butler, U.S. Marine Corps, didn’t hold back when he wrote War Is a Racket in 1935. The veteran of “The Small Wars” in the Western Hemisphere, the Great War, China during the Boxer Rebellion, and other campaigns, Butler had a depth of war experience, particularly in what some dubbed America’s colonial period. Based on decades of global combat experience, he exposed how wars serve the interests of a small, powerful group—corporations, bankers, and arms manufacturers—while the general public foots the bill in blood and taxes. Butler’s claim was simple: wars are fought not for freedom but for the massive profits that flow to these corporations.

Another general officer echoed his sentiment. The Military-Industrial Complex (MIC), coined by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in his 1961 farewell address, represents the deeply intertwined relationship between the U.S. government, its military, and private defense contractors. Eisenhower's warning was clear: the growing influence of the defense industry could distort U.S. foreign policy, keeping the nation engaged in unnecessary wars that serve corporate interests rather than national security. As the U.S. waged long, costly wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Butler and Eisenhower’s cautionary words became more relevant than ever as defense corporations wielded their influence to prolong these conflicts, ensuring endless profits.

The MIC's evolution into what some scholars now call the “political-industrial complex” shows how corporate interests shape defense policy and prolong wars through political donations, lobbying, and the revolving door between the Department of Defense and private contractors. By examining defense contractors' role in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, it's evident that the most influential players—corporations like Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Raytheon, and General Dynamics—played a pivotal role in ensuring the U.S. remained militarily engaged for decades. The profits these companies secured were directly linked to U.S. foreign policy, driven by the MIC's growing influence over political decision-making.

Iraq War: The Corporate Bonanza

The 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq serves as a quintessential example of how corporate profits and political interests can align to prolong military conflict. Officially launched to "liberate" Iraq from Saddam Hussein’s dictatorship and dismantle its alleged weapons of mass destruction, the Iraq War quickly revealed a different motive: corporate profit. Defense contractors reaped extraordinary financial rewards as the U.S. occupied Iraq for nearly a decade. Halliburton, one of the most notorious beneficiaries, earned $39.5 billion in contracts, often through no-bid deals, for providing logistics, fuel, and reconstruction services. As American taxpayers footed a $2 trillion bill, and over 4,500 U.S. soldiers and hundreds of thousands of Iraqi civilians died, the corporate elite thrived.

Defense contractors played a crucial role in sustaining the war by supplying goods and services and lobbying for increased military spending. Companies like Raytheon and Lockheed Martin routinely advocated for more defense dollars, directly benefiting from extended military engagements. In 2020 alone, defense contractors spent over $100 million on lobbying to ensure that defense budgets remained high, regardless of the actual need for military presence. This consistent flow of contracts and revenue created an economic and political incentive to perpetuate the war, not to end it.

Afghanistan: The Endless War for Profit

If Iraq was a goldmine for defense contractors, Afghanistan was a treasure trove of even greater proportions. Spanning two decades, the U.S. war in Afghanistan represents the longest military engagement in American history. Despite the lack of a clear strategy or endgame, the U.S. funneled over $2.3 trillion into the conflict, enriching defense contractors in the process. Companies like Raytheon, Boeing, and Lockheed Martin secured billions of dollars in contracts for everything from fighter jets to missile defense systems. For them, the continuation of the war meant continued revenue growth. Raytheon’s stock, for instance, surged during the war years as the company provided missile systems and other systems used in Afghanistan.

It could reasonably be argued that the Afghanistan war was sustained not because of military necessity but due to corporate profits and political interests. Writing for “The Atlantic,” Elliot Ackerman argued that the political-industrial complex created an environment where military engagement became self-perpetuating. Defense contractors, benefiting from long-term contracts, had no incentive to see the war end. Lobbying efforts by defense contractors ensured that military budgets remained robust, even as public support for the war waned. Moreover, as military officers and government officials moved into lucrative positions at defense firms, the revolving door phenomenon solidified corporate influence over defense policy.

The Revolving Door: A Conflict of Interest

The revolving door between the Pentagon and defense contractors is another clear example of how corporate interests have shaped U.S. foreign policy. Many high-ranking military officers and government officials responsible for managing the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan later transitioned into lucrative positions within the private defense sector. For example, James Mattis, former Secretary of Defense, joined the board of General Dynamics shortly after leaving government service, demonstrating the close ties between the Pentagon and the defense industry.

This revolving door creates conflicts of interest that serve to prolong military conflicts. When military officers know that their future employment may depend on the goodwill of defense contractors, they are less likely to support policies that would reduce military spending or cut back on defense contracts. The result is a defense policy shaped more by corporate interests than by genuine national security concerns, leading to endless wars that serve primarily to enrich defense companies.

In President Eisenhower's farewell address he stated, "In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist."

Lobbying and Political Donations: Buying Influence

Lobbying and political donations by defense contractors have long been recognized as powerful tools in shaping U.S. defense policy. Lockheed Martin, Boeing, and Raytheon, among others, have consistently ranked among the top corporate spenders on lobbying, using their financial clout to influence policymakers. By 2020, Lockheed Martin alone had spent $13 million on lobbying, much of it directed at ensuring that the Pentagon maintained a high level of defense spending. This lobbying ensures that defense contractors maintain a steady stream of revenue from military engagements, whether through direct contracts, arms sales, or other forms of military support.

Political donations also play a crucial role in maintaining the political-industrial complex. Defense contractors contribute millions to both Democratic and Republican candidates, ensuring that their interests are represented regardless of who is in power. This bipartisan financial support helps guarantee that defense budgets remain high and that U.S. military engagements continue. Politicians, reliant on defense contractor donations to fund their campaigns, are unlikely to push for policies that cut military spending or reduce defense contracts. This dynamic helps explain why the U.S. remained in Iraq and Afghanistan for so long despite mounting public pressure to withdraw.

The Political-Industrial Complex: A Symbiotic Relationship

The term "political-industrial complex" refers to the deep entanglement of corporate, military, and political interests that drive U.S. defense policy. Through lobbying and political donations, defense contractors have forged a symbiotic relationship with the U.S. government, ensuring a steady flow of contracts and military engagements. In return, politicians receive campaign contributions and political support from these powerful corporations, creating a self-reinforcing military engagement and profit cycle.

The political-industrial complex has become so entrenched that it now plays a central role in shaping U.S. foreign policy. Decisions about where and when to engage militarily are influenced by corporate interests, with defense contractors pushing for continued military operations that ensure their financial success. This dynamic has led to a situation where wars, like those in Iraq and Afghanistan, are not fought solely for strategic reasons but also for the financial benefit of private corporations. The influence of the political-industrial complex means that military engagement is less about national security and more about sustaining corporate profits.

A Call to Action: Disincentivize War Profiteering Now

The motivations behind wars should be scrutinized to ensure accountability from leaders and to minimize the influence of the defense industry on government. Efforts should be made to discourage war profiteering through reforms targeting financial, legal, and political structures. The following practical approaches can be explored to achieve these goals:

• Adopt a Universal Cost - Plus Model

By imposing strict limits on how much profit corporations can earn from military contracts, governments can diminish the incentive for companies to advocate for war. Adopting a cost-plus model with clear profit ceilings would prevent excessive gains and align contracts more closely with actual costs.

• Regulate Defense Sector Lobbying

Disincentivizing lobbying by defense contractors is also crucial. Enforcing strict regulations and penalties on defense contractors who lobby for war or military intervention could deter such practices. Creating public registries and transparency laws would expose lobbying efforts, and making it illegal for defense companies to fund political campaigns or influence foreign policy would further curtail their power. 

• Prohibit No-Bid Contracts

Ending no-bid contracts is another important reform. By requiring competitive bidding for all defense contracts, governments can eliminate opportunities for corruption and overpricing associated with no-bid deals. Competitive bidding ensures fair competition and better pricing, reducing the potential for profiteering.

• Establish and Enforce Clear Legal Parameters

Establishing legal mechanisms to hold corporate executives personally liable for using undue influence to profit from conflicts is crucial. CEOs and board members could face fines, criminal charges, or asset seizures if their companies are found guilty of benefiting from unnecessary wars or human rights violations. 

Combatting war profiteering requires comprehensive reforms such as adopting these recommendations to hold corporations accountable and reduce their excessive sway. These measures aim to dismantle the financial incentives behind military conflicts and curtail the defense industry's influence on the government. The priority should be preventing unnecessary wars and ensuring that national security decisions are driven by genuine threats, not profit motives.

Conclusion: The Legacy of the Political-Industrial Complex

Smedley Butler's "War Is a Racket" remains a poignant critique of the military-industrial complex and the economic motivations behind warfare. In today's global landscape, the relevance of Butler's insights is underscored by ongoing debates about defense spending, the influence of private military contractors, and the ethical implications of endless war profiteering.

Butler's work emphasizes the importance of transparency and accountability in policymaking as global conflicts continue. It urges stakeholders to examine the true motives behind warfare and advocate for peace and humanitarian-focused strategies over financial interests. President Dwight D. Eisenhower's 1961 warning about the undue influence of the MIC reinforces Butler’s point. Reflection on Butler and Eisenhower's arguments prompts a critical evaluation of the relationship between economics and war, promoting ethical decision-making and genuine pursuit of national interests.

The conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan highlight the influential role of the political-industrial complex in shaping U.S. defense policy. Defense contractors have wielded their financial power to sway policymakers, prolong military engagements, and secure ongoing profits, solidifying their position in U.S. foreign policy decision-making through lobbying, political contributions, and the revolving door between government and the private sector.

As long as defense contractors can profit from war, and use these large profits to buy influence with politicians, they will continue influencing U.S. foreign policy. The result is a defense policy driven by corporate interests rather than by the genuine security needs of the nation. To effectively combat war profiteering, comprehensive reforms are essential. Adopting a cost-plus model with profit ceilings, regulating defense sector lobbying, prohibiting no-bid contracts, and holding corporate executives legally accountable represent practical measures to dismantle the financial incentives behind military conflicts. Additionally, the influence of corporate money in politics must be ended, and the revolving door between the government and the private sector permanently closed. Only by addressing the root causes of the political-industrial complex can the U.S. hope to avoid future wars driven more by profit than by principle.

Endnotes:

1. Center for Responsive Politics. "Defense: Lobbying, 2020." OpenSecrets. Accessed September 11, 2024. https://www.opensecrets.org/industries/lobbying.php?ind=D.

2. Fang, Lee. "The Defense Contractor’s Dilemma." The Intercept, September 10, 2021. https://theintercept.com/2021/09/10/afghanistan-war-defense-contractors/.

3. Crawford, Neta C. "Profits of War: Corporate Beneficiaries of the Post-9/11 Pentagon Spending Surge." Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs, Brown University, September 2021. https://watson.brown.edu/costsofwar/papers/2021/ProfitsOfWar.

4. Elliot Ackerman, "Did America Win the War on Terror?" The Atlantic, September 11, 2021. https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/09/did-america-win-war-terror/620002/.

5. Project on Government Oversight. "Pentagon Revolving Door Spinning Fast." September 13, 2021. https://www.pogo.org/report/2021/09/pentagon-revolving-door.

6. Fang, Lee. "James Mattis Joins General Dynamics Board." The Intercept, August 7, 2019. https://theintercept.com/2019/08/07/james-mattis-general-dynamics-board/.

7. Center for Responsive Politics. "Lockheed Martin: Lobbying." OpenSecrets. Accessed September 11,

3. Ukraine May be Winning the Information War in Kursk

Well, based on the recent decision on providing long range strike capabilities, it has not yet successfully influenced the US administration.

Ukraine May be Winning the Information War in Kursk

Only time will tell whether Ukraine can continue its Kursk offensive into Russia. But this offensive has the potential to positively influence Western perceptions, sustain funding and material support for Ukraine, and degrade Russian domestic support for the war. Ukraine’s strategic gamble in the information space might pay off. 

The National Interest · by Hunter Stoll · September 10, 2024

Russia has been invaded for the first time since the Second World War. Ukrainian Armed Forces, not pro-Ukrainian Russian separatists, not ambiguously affiliated units conducting small raids, have held a foothold for over a month. Ordinary Russians living along the border have been displaced. The initial Russian response appeared inept, raising the question of whether the military and the Federal Security Service (FSB) can protect its citizens.

These messages and related imagery circulate across major news networks and social media, with new footage emerging every day. Even if the incursion doesn’t divert thousands of Russian forces or last long, analysts argue that it has already been a “nuclear bomb” of sorts in the information space.

Perceptions Matter

The information aspect of warfare is no novel concept, but its evolution and importance have increased rapidly in the digital age.

The hundreds of captured Russian soldiers paint a vivid picture of ill-equipped and demoralized forces. The employment of high-caliber Ukrainian forces in the offensive creates an impressive image of what Western-provided professional training and equipment produce, which is starkly contrasted with the Russian army’s conscripts and aging equipment.

The offensive is affecting domestic Russian audiences as well. Recently, influential Russian military bloggers have criticized the Russian military and FSB response, with the situation being described as “hell on earth” by one blogger.

Other articles describe the humanity and empathy that Ukrainian soldiers show toward Russian civilians, contrasted with the horrors that Ukrainian civilians often experience at the hands of Russian troops. For example, after being injured in a drone strike while heading to rescue his mother from the town of Sudzha in the Kursk oblast, dual Russian and American citizen Oleg Grishchenko and his mother were escorted by Ukrainian forces to Sumy for treatment at a local hospital.

It is no coincidence that this offensive occurred during the summer. It serves two purposes. First, this is prime season for offensive operations, as we’ve seen both Ukraine and Russia launch large offensive operations every summer throughout the war.

Although favorable weather and terrain conditions make it easier for mechanized formations to maneuver in the summer, that’s not the only reason Ukraine made its move now. Ahead of critical U.S. and European election cycles, when Ukraine fatigue threatens continued support for the war effort, this operation is a message to Western backers: Ukraine can succeed – especially with the help of Western-provided platforms and munitions.

The Weeks and Months Ahead

The Kursk offensive continues to put pressure on the U.S. and other Western countries to lift restrictions on Ukraine’s use of long-range weapons systems, such as the Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) and Storm Shadows in Russia. The Biden administration has, over time, eased its restrictions on the delivery and employment of various weapons systems by the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

It is not out of the realm of possibility that this offensive could be a golden ticket for further relaxation, leading to U.S. and Western-provided long-range weapons systems being used to strike deeper inside Russia. This all comes down to how Ukraine informationally conveys the Kursk offensive: if it continues to deliberately minimize civilian casualties and damage to critical infrastructure, the U.S. or other Western allies may ease more of their restrictions on the employment of long-range weaponry.

A seemingly unrelated event on the other side of Europe could also have far-reaching implications in the war’s information space. Pavel Durov, the head of the notorious messaging and social media app Telegram, was recently arrested in France, accused of failing to prevent illicit activity on the app, among other charges. Telegram has spread information, both true and false, across Russia, where other forms of media have largely been banned or censored.

Telegram has been integral to how Russian forces have communicated throughout the war. Its secure communications system often proved more reliable and convenient than secure Russian military communications infrastructure.

Fears that France may be seeking access to encrypted messages led Russian officials to tell users to, “delete those conversations right now and not do it again.” Widespread curtailing of pro-Russian use of Telegram could play in Ukraine’s favor, allowing them to dictate the narrative about the Kursk offensive, and the broader war, instead of Russia.

Whether Ukraine can continue its offensive into Russia, only time will tell. But this offensive has the potential to positively influence Western perceptions, sustain funding and material support for Ukraine, and degrade Russian domestic support for the war. Ukraine’s strategic gamble in the information space just might pay off.

About the Author

Hunter Stoll is a defense analyst at RAND, a nonprofit, nonpartisan research institution, where he focuses on Eurasian security issues and information warfare. He is also a Captain in the U.S. Army Reserve. He holds an M.A. in security studies from Georgetown University. The views expressed in this piece are the author’s own and do not reflect the views of RAND or the U.S. Army Reserve.

Image Credit: Creative Commons and/or Shutterstock.

The National Interest · by Hunter Stoll · September 10, 2024

4. Limited role for US Navy SEAL team in defense of Taiwan

Sigh...

Mr Xi: Be afraid. Be very afraid.  

Excerpt:

Analysts say the U.S. military likely revealed the SEAL Team Six training program to the Financial Times to send a warning to Beijing amid China’s increasingly assertive moves in the region.

"This is one way the U.S. is bolstering deterrence towards China, towards preventing a Chinese invasion of Taiwan," says Morris. "So, I think this is just an added factor getting China to second guess or to reconsider what it will face if it were to invade Taiwan."

Dennis Wilder, a senior fellow for the Initiative for U.S.-China Dialogue on Global Issues at Georgetown University and a former Central Intelligence Agency military analyst, posted on social media platform X, "It is sure to get under Beijing's skin."

Limited role for US Navy SEAL team in defense of Taiwan

September 14, 2024 3:00 AM

By Adam Xu

voanews.com · September 14, 2024

Washington —

The United States Navy's elite SEAL Team Six would likely have a limited role in defending Taiwan should China invade the self-governing and democratic island, say analysts responding to a Financial Times report that the unit has been training for it for more than one year.

Lyle J. Morris, senior fellow for foreign policy and national security at the Asia Society Policy Institute’s Center for China Analysis, tells VOA's Mandarin Service that if the unit is indeed preparing for an attack by Beijing, it may indicate that the U.S. is more deeply involved in defending Taiwan than previously thought.

However, he stressed that the secret and precise combat characteristics of SEAL Team Six mean its role in resisting China's invasion of Taiwan would be very limited and the focus would be on carrying out special tasks.

"As far as their sheer capability to repel an invasion. I think that's more limited," he says. "I think it's in a very discreet, narrow way of coming in for a specific task that Taiwan might need, whether it's helping to protect, let's say, an airfield in Taiwan or protect a communication asset in Taiwan, in Taipei, they could come in and out very discreetly and very lethally to protect that asset."

SEAL Team Six specializes in performing sensitive, highly difficult missions. In 2009, the unit rescued Richard Phillips, captain of the MV Maersk Alabama, who was taken hostage by Somali pirates.

The elite unit gained an international reputation after the successful raid on al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden’s compound in Pakistan in 2011.

It is one of the most highly regarded U.S. military units, along with the United States Army's Delta Force, the 75th Ranger Regiment's Regimental Reconnaissance Company, the Intelligence Support Activity, and the Air Force's 24th Special Tactics Squadron, and part of the Joint Special Operations Command.

"Navy SEALs usually deployed from submarines or, most likely, small ships and are useful for targeting vulnerabilities in enemies’ presentation," Richard D. Fisher Jr., senior fellow with the International Assessment and Strategy Center, tells VOA.

Analysts say the U.S. military likely revealed the SEAL Team Six training program to the Financial Times to send a warning to Beijing amid China’s increasingly assertive moves in the region.

"This is one way the U.S. is bolstering deterrence towards China, towards preventing a Chinese invasion of Taiwan," says Morris. "So, I think this is just an added factor getting China to second guess or to reconsider what it will face if it were to invade Taiwan."

Dennis Wilder, a senior fellow for the Initiative for U.S.-China Dialogue on Global Issues at Georgetown University and a former Central Intelligence Agency military analyst, posted on social media platform X, "It is sure to get under Beijing's skin."

Taiwan Strait

In a written response to VOA's Mandarin Service, Liu Pengyu, the spokesperson of the Chinese Embassy in Washington, said, "The Taiwan question is the very core of China’s core interests and the first red line that must not be crossed in the China-U.S. relationship."

He urged "the U.S. to earnestly abide by the one-China principle and the three China-U.S. joint communiques, stop enhancing military contact with the Taiwan region or arming it by any means or under whatever pretext, stop creating factors that could heighten tensions in the Taiwan Strait, and stop conniving at and supporting the separatists’ attempt to seek 'Taiwan independence’ by force."

Taiwan split from China during the civil war that saw the Communist Party seize power in Beijing in 1949 and the Nationalist Party flee to the island, which developed into a flourishing democracy. But China’s one-party, authoritarian state never gave up its claim to Taiwan and considers it a renegade province that must one day reunite with the mainland, by force if necessary.

Admiral Philips Davidson, former commander of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, warned in 2021 that China could attack Taiwan within six years. President Joe Biden has repeatedly stressed that if China invades Taiwan, the U.S. will intervene militarily to defend it.

The U.S. Department of Defense declined to confirm or deny the Financial Times report. Pentagon spokesperson John Supple said in an email to VOA, "The DoD and our service members prepare and train for a wide range of contingencies. We will not comment on specifics, but will restate that we are committed to our longstanding one China policy, guided by the Taiwan Relations Act, the Three Joint Communiques, and the Six Assurances. As we have said before, conflict is neither imminent nor inevitable."

America’s one-China policy is a strategically ambiguous agreement it made in 1972 to establish relations with China that recognizes Beijing as the only government of China and acknowledges, but does not endorse, Beijing’s claim that Taiwan is part of China.

Washington has unofficial relations with Taiwan defined through the Taiwan Relations Act, the Three Joint Communiques with Beijing, and the Six Assurances with Taipei, which underscore U.S. opposition to attempts to unilaterally alter the status quo and determination to help Taiwan defend itself through weapons sales.

There has been previous U.S. military training for Taiwan’s defense, both on the island and in the United States. Reuters reported last year the U.S. was set to expand the number of troops helping train Taiwanese forces on the island, and Taiwanese officials confirmed more of their troops would be training in the U.S.

voanews.com · September 14, 2024

5. How Taiwanese chips find their way into Russian weapons of death

Excerpts:

Since February 2022, numerous pro-Ukrainian rallies have taken place in Taiwanese cities, along with continuous humanitarian aid to Ukraine from Taiwan.

"Russia's actions are an atrocity against innocent people in Ukraine as well as the ruining of the international law order. We will never accept this and will stand together with people in Ukraine to fight against the aggression," former Taiwanese Foreign Minister Joseph Wu said in an interview with the Ukrainian TV channel Espreso in October 2022.

Despite this popular support, and a formal pledge to back Ukraine, Taiwanese manufacturers are still supplying components that end up arriving in Ukraine with deadly impact.

How Taiwanese chips find their way into Russian weapons of death

We visited the lab in Kyiv where they take the wreckage of Russian missiles, pulling apart the Western components that make it possible for them to rain violence down on Ukraine.

https://www.counteroffensive.news/p/how-taiwanese-chips-find-their-way?utm

Oleh Tymoshenko, Tim Mak, and Elaine Lin

Sep 14, 2024

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It’s 11 am, on a normal working day in Kyiv. 

You're sitting in the corridor of your office because an air raid alert has been announced due to a missile threat. Suddenly, you hear loud explosions outside. 

The surgical building of the Okhmatdyt Children's Hospital after a Russian missile strike on July 8, 2024 in Kyiv, Ukraine (Photo by Oleh Tymoshenko)

Half an hour later, you're at the site of the attack, where a Russian missile hit the main children's hospital in Kyiv.

A few days later, the U.N. officially said that the Okhmatdyt Children's Hospital was “most likely” directly hit by a modern Russian Kh-101 cruise missile containing 400 kilograms of explosives. Two people were killed and sixteen injured. Many more children, undergoing treatment, are displaced.

Critically, the missile included dozens of electronic chips from non-Russian manufacturers. Surprisingly, investigators found Taiwanese chips inside the remnants of the Kh-101 missile.

Back in June 2022, Taiwan imposed sanctions on Russia, including a ban on direct supplies of modern chips that could be used in weapons. However, the Russian Kh-101 used in the attack against Okhmatdyt was only manufactured a few weeks before the attack, according to Conflict Armament Research, a British investigative organization that tracks arms supply chains.

The attack – and its use of Western and Taiwanese components – show the failures of American, European and Taiwanese sanctions, which seek to starve Russia of its ability to manufacture death-dealing technology. After more than two years under sanctions, Russia is still able to supply its defense industry with chips that help it to launch precision strikes on Ukrainian cities, sourcing the parts via shell companies that are hard to track. 

Since February 2022, numerous pro-Ukrainian rallies have taken place in Taiwanese cities, along with continuous humanitarian aid to Ukraine from Taiwan.

"Russia's actions are an atrocity against innocent people in Ukraine as well as the ruining of the international law order. We will never accept this and will stand together with people in Ukraine to fight against the aggression," former Taiwanese Foreign Minister Joseph Wu said in an interview with the Ukrainian TV channel Espreso in October 2022.

Despite this popular support, and a formal pledge to back Ukraine, Taiwanese manufacturers are still supplying components that end up arriving in Ukraine with deadly impact.

Remains of a Russian missile Kh-101 from a several-month-old attack on Kyiv brought to the Kyiv Scientific Research Institute of Forensic Expertise on August 1, 2024 in Kyiv, Ukraine. (Photo by Oleh Tymoshenko)

Since the start of the full-scale invasion, experts have identified at least 80 different components from Taiwanese companies, according to a database of Western components found in Russian weapons. The database was created by the defense intelligence agency of Ukraine, known as GUR. It lists electronics that have been found in Russian cruise missiles, drones, electronic warfare devices, communication devices, and even MLRS missiles. 

Without Taiwanese chips, it would be much more difficult for Russia to produce a wide range of weapons that it uses to kill Ukrainians. 

The remains of the same missile, but from the site of another recent Russian attack on Kyiv, were brought to forensic examiners at the Ministry of Justice, whose experts determine what kind of weapon has been used by Russia. 

The Counteroffensive visited the experts at the Kyiv Scientific Research Institute of Forensic Expertise, where experts explore components from different weapons used by Russia. Their work helps other parts of the government, which can use this information in their own investigations, including into war crimes and those who are complicit.

“These are the wing consoles,” said Andrii Kulchytskyi, head of the Military Research Laboratory, pointing to the remains of the rocket. “In the serial number that is left on the surviving piece of the missile, 263 is the model number of the Kh-101 missile, and the other numbers are the year of manufacture and the control number.”

Andrii Kulchytskyi, Head of the Military Research Laboratory poses for a portrait at the Kyiv Scientific Research Institute of Forensic Expertise on August 1, 2024 in Kyiv, Ukraine

After the war, all this information will be used to determine who launched the missile, from where, and who ordered it to be used. 

But it is even more difficult to determine what was inside the missile. 

First of all, many of the electronics may have simply not survived the explosion. But on top of that, elements such as circuit boards and chips may be burned, or stickers or engravings with manufacturer codes may be peeled off, to make it harder for experts to determine their origins.

Russia has been doing this more often recently, said Serhii, a forensic expert at the laboratory, who asked not to use his last name due to security concerns.

In this case, additional manipulations have to be made, such as scraping the paint off the surface, or using a microscope.

Serhii shows the burnt remains of a circuit board from a Russian missile at the Kyiv Scientific Research Institute of Forensic Expertise on August 1, 2024 in Kyiv, Ukraine

For complicated cases, the experts created their own catalog with photos of various components so that they can be identified by their external features, not just by inscriptions or emblems. 

“See this servomotor? [Andrii shows The Counteroffensive a part from the Russian Shahed drone] There's no marking here, but I know it's a KVS [brand name], because we've seen such copies before,” Andrii explained.

The catalog also contains a section with Taiwanese companies, including Macronix, Winbond, Transcend, Tai-Saw, and a dozen other manufacturers.

Russian Superkam S350 drone, which also contains Taiwanese chips, at the Kyiv Scientific Research Institute of Forensic Expertise on August 1, 2024 in Kyiv, Ukraine

After the examination, all these components and information about them are handed over to investigators as evidence in criminal cases against Russia. The results of the examination are also used by the GUR to create an open database of Western components found in Russian weapons, so that Ukraine's international partners and their sanctions enforcement agencies can be more attentive to their supply.

If you open the GUR's database and sort the components by country of manufacture, you will see that along with microelectronics from authoritarian countries such as Iran, North Korea, and China, there are many components from countries friendly to Ukraine, such as the United States, European democracies, and Taiwan in particular. 

Screenshot from the GUR's web portal “War and Sanctions”, which contains information on foreign components in Russian weapons

“China and Hong Kong, Thailand, UAE, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Taiwan, Indonesia, Maldives, and Turkey – all of these countries have a very simple business registration procedure that Russia uses to create shell companies for the purchase of sanctioned components, and most of them did not impose sanctions against Russia,” explained Agiya Zagrebelska, who is Deputy Chief of Staff at the National Agency on Corruption Prevention.

Agiya Zagrebelska, Deputy Chief of Staff at the National Agency on Corruption Prevention on February 28, 2023 in Kyiv, Ukraine (Photo by Ukrinform)

China is still the main transshipment hub for Russia's access to Western microelectronics and provides 90 percent of the chip supply to Russia.

Recently, China has moved from supplying only dual-use technologies – those with civilian and military applications – to supplying components which only have military use, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell stated. In return, China gained access to the latest Russian submarine and missile technology, which Russia had been wary of sharing before.

When they are discovered by Ukraine, shell companies found to be selling restricted microelectronics to Russia are sanctioned, i.e., their property is frozen, relations with them are banned, and supplies are prohibited, but this is not always practically possible or effective, according to Agiya.

Not all such companies are found in time. The authorities of the sanctions coalition countries, which are supposed to monitor compliance with sanctions, simply cannot cope with the rapid growth in the number of companies involved.

The simple rules of business registration in countries that Russia uses to obtain sanctioned microelectronics often allow a new company to be registered by the same individuals after sanctions are imposed. This is due to the fact that usually only the legal entity is sanctioned, not the owners.

“[This] was the case with [Chinese] SMT-ILogic, which supplied parts for Orlan UAVs [a type of drone]. After this company was sanctioned in China, the same Russians set up another company with a quite similar name and continued to supply the same components for Orlans,” Agiya said.

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The case of Taiwan is somewhat unique compared to other countries through which Russia obtains modern microelectronics for its weapons, due to Taipei's proximity and trade with China.

As stated earlier, Taiwan imposed sanctions against Russia in the first year of the full-scale invasion, including on the supply of chips to Russia. 

And the country has not changed its position on sanctions: in fact, Taiwan has recently expanded sanctions against Russia and banned the export of nitrocellulose, a key raw material for gunpowder production, and established stricter controls over its exports to risky jurisdictions.

The Counteroffensive reached out to the International Trade Administration, which is the department in charged in Taiwan, and found out that the Ukrainian government contacted them about similar issues last Summer. 

Taiwanese journalists at The Reporter disclosed that milling machines from Taiwanese companies went through Turkey and were imported to Russia in January. To prevent Russians from getting Taiwanese chips via high-risk third parties (countries like Turkey and UAE), the Taiwanese government required the sellers to provide an application form and an affidavit letter, to ensure these products are not sent to Russia or Belarus. 

The Taiwanese government has updated the sanctioned list six times since Russia invaded Ukraine. However, the ministry seems to have their hands bound on banning sales to China. 

“We have raised the fines up to 1 million NT Dollars, which is more than 31 thousand USD. We have hosted 11 forums to promote the updated information about the sanctions,” the Taiwan International Trade Administration told The Counteroffensive. “We also gave out suggestions about [how to be] aware of abnormal trading actions from Chinese companies.”

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NEWS OF THE DAY:

US TRAINS ITS ELITE NAVY SEAL UNIT IN CASE OF A CHINESE ATTACK ON TAIWAN: SEAL Team Six, known for killing Osama bin Laden in 2011, has been undergoing special training for more than a year aimed at missions to assist Taiwan if Chinese invasion occurs. In recent years, Washington's concerns about a possible escalation on the part of Beijing have grown significantly. Therefore, the United States is sending not only weapons to Taiwan, but also special operations units that are engaged in preparing the Taiwanese army for a possible conflict.

CANADA: LET UKRAINE STRIKE DEEP INTO RUSSIA -- Canadian PM Justin Trudeau has joined the calls for the United States to allow Ukraine to strike targets behind enemy lines, accusing Putin of trying to "deeply destabilize the international rules-based order that protects us all.” These come as Putin threatens the NATO alliance, warning that this move would draw Russia into a war with the coalition. 

… BUT NO ANNOUNCEMENT YET: Biden and UK PM Keir Starmer discussed letting Ukraine used their systems to fire deep into Russia, but did not make any announcement in Washington D.C. Instead, Starmer said that they would be discussing the issue with a "wider group" at the United Nations general assembly later this month. Biden did dismiss Putin's threats that a policy change would amount to war between Russia and NATO: "I do not think much about Vladimir Putin," he said, according to The Guardian. 

TORONTO PROTESTS RUSSIA FILM, DESPITE CANCELLATION: The Toronto International Film Festival canceled its planned screenings of the documentary ‘Russians at War,’ made by a former RT employee in coordination with a Russian military unit in occupied Ukraine. The film festival claimed that there were unspecified "threats" that forced their hand, but the police reported no specific threats that they were aware of. Despite the cancellation, protesters gathered to demonstrate against the film on Friday, Reuters reported.

JD VANCE OUTLINES TRUMP PEACE PLAN: Trump's running mate said that their proposal would probably involve a demilitarized zone between Russia and Ukraine, one that is heavily fortified. It would also mean that Ukraine would have to commit to not joining NATO. 

6.

StratBot AI

Have a question about military strategy? You are in the right place!

https://www.strategycentral.io/

How should we employ US SOF in north Korea to counter the irregular warfare threats that will take place during and after large scale combat operations?

When considering the employment of U.S. Special Operations Forces (SOF) in North Korea to counter irregular warfare threats during and after large-scale combat operations, a strategic approach is essential. Here are some key considerations:

1. Strategic Integration: SOF should be integrated into a broader strategic framework that aligns with U.S. objectives and the geopolitical context. This involves coordination with interagency partners and allies to ensure a unified approach.
2. Capacity Building: Focus on building the capacity of local forces and institutions. This can be achieved through training, advising, and equipping local security forces to handle irregular threats independently, thereby fostering long-term stability.
3. Intelligence and Reconnaissance: Utilize SOF's capabilities in intelligence gathering and reconnaissance to gain a comprehensive understanding of the operational environment. This will aid in identifying and neutralizing irregular threats effectively.
4. Civil-Military Operations: Engage in civil-military operations to win the support of the local population. This can help undermine the influence of insurgent groups and promote stability.
5. Low-Visibility Operations: Conduct low-visibility operations to disrupt insurgent networks and prevent the escalation of irregular warfare. These operations should be carefully planned to minimize collateral damage and avoid provoking wider conflict.
6. Interagency Collaboration: Collaborate with other U.S. government agencies and international partners to leverage a wide range of capabilities and resources, ensuring a comprehensive approach to countering irregular threats.

By focusing on these strategic elements, U.S. SOF can effectively counter irregular warfare threats in North Korea, contributing to a stable post-conflict environment.

Sources

Sources

1. 

fm3-24.pdf

2. 

CJCSI 3210.06A.pdf

7. Why China's "Little Blue Men" are a Big Problem

​Some very interesting and I would think useful analysis for those who analyze China's malign activities at sea.

Why China's "Little Blue Men" are a Big Problem

Ariana L.

Analyst

sealight.live

https://www.sealight.live/posts/china-s-maritime-militia-1?s=09

The Evolution of the Militia

China's maritime militia, sometimes referred to as its “little blue men,” has been active in the South China Sea since at least 1974 and the seizure of the western Paracel Islands from South Vietnam, just as the government in Saigon was nearing its end. For years, militia operations were primarily based at Hainan Island, a region that, according to Chinese law, has jurisdiction over the South China Sea. This area has maintained a trained and active militia, particularly around disputed locations such as the Scarborough Shoal.

However, things have taken a sharp turn over the last decade. In 2012, China took control of Scarborough Shoal from the Philippines. Shortly afterwards, Xi Jinping rose to power and began efforts to professionalize and expand the maritime militia.

As superbly laid out in the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative's comprehensive 2021 study, China's maritime militia is divided into two main groups—though some vessels do not fit neatly into either category. These include the professional militia fleet, known as MMFVs (maritime militia fishing vessels), and the Spratly Backbone fleet, or SBFVs (Spratly backbone fishing vessels).

The Dual Role of China's Maritime Militia

The MMFVs comprise a professional militia stationed primarily in Hainan Province. Although they appear to be civilian fishing vessels, their actual fishing operations are essentially non-existent. Instead, their primary functions are paramilitary: gathering intelligence, conducting surveillance and engaging in direct aggressions against vessels deemed hostile under the instructions of the People's Liberation Army.

Sansha City’s maritime militia demonstrating knife fighting on Woody Island. (Credit: Xinhua News)

Reportedly equipped with high-pressure water cannons and light weapons these vessels act as frontline enforcers of China’s maritime claims and work in close coordination with the China Coast Guard, though their reinforced hulls are the weapons they use most often, with tactics such as blocking, swarming and ramming.

During the mission, the BRP Datu Sanday was blocked by a combination of Chinese naval and coast guard vessels, including a People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) ship and multiple China Coast Guard (CCG) ships,--

NTF-WPS/via Vince Lopez

More info: https://t.co/nXZPe7GXgT pic.twitter.com/51BwfY0nrM

— Manila Standard (@mnlstandardph) August 26, 2024

Unlike the MMFVs, the SBFVs are working commercial fishing vessels that have been specifically built or retrofitted for militia purposes. Their owners and crews are motivated by both nationalistic pride and substantial financial incentives, making militia work a more lucrative option than traditional fishing. Based out of five main ports in Guangdong Province—Zhanjiang, Maoming, Yangjiang, Taishan, and Jiangmen—these vessels are tasked with maintaining a persistent Chinese presence in the Spratly Islands.

Rather than engaging in direct confrontations with foreign navies or law enforcement, the SBFVs mainly serve as a reserve force. They spend over 280 days a year anchored in the Spratly Islands to qualify for government subsidies. During this time, they collect intelligence, fly the Chinese flag, and prevent other nations' vessels from accessing fishing grounds. They also coordinate activities with the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) and are expected to assist with military operations if needed.

The dual approach of using MMFVs for direct confrontation and SBFVs for maintaining a prolonged presence normalizes China’s assertive actions and strengthens its ability to enforce its territorial claims in the region.

Rafting

China's strategic use of SBFVs to discreetly flout international law is a significant concern in the realm of gray-zone tactics. A particularly pervasive tactic employed by these vessels is known as "rafting." This technique involves tying multiple vessels together at anchor to create semi-permanent floating outposts, which are challenging to disperse due to their collective mass.

Rafted SBFVs at Sabina Shoal (Credit: SkyFi)

These formations enable China to assert control over specific areas and reinforce its territorial claims by maintaining a continuous and visible presence in contested waters, while also allowing the flexibility to relocate them as needed.

Rafting allows China to avoid overtly militarizing the region, as the intimidating presence of large, connected fleets deters foreign vessels from approaching, reducing the likelihood of direct confrontations and complicating diplomatic responses. The primary advantage of rafting lies in its legal ambiguity. By anchoring--but not fishing--in another country's lawful exclusive economic zone (EEZ), these SBFVs maintain a technically legal (since they are not exploiting maritime resources) and apparently passive presence while building China's case for ownership by means of extended occupation. This strategy not only secures resources for China but also advances its geopolitical ambitions while evading direct consequences.

Whitsun Reef Incident

Between March and June 2021, over 200 Chinese marine vessels rafted together at Whitsun Reef, which lies just within the Philippines' 200 nautical mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ). Despite China's claims that these vessels were merely seeking shelter from a storm, the persistent presence of rafted ships highlighted their strategic intent. This tactic has through ensuing years allowed China to effectively occupy the reef and deter Philippine and other foreign vessels from entering the area, showcasing China's ability to assert control without direct military engagement.

Rafted SBFVs at Whitsun Reef, May 2024 (Credit: SkyFi)

Unmasking China’s Maritime Militia

To identify the Chinese Maritime Militia vessels and distinguish them from regular fishing vessels, experts use two primary indicators and four supporting indicators.

Primary Indicators

Keywords

Any vessel identified by names that include terms like “militia,” “maritime militia,” or “distant-water maritime militia” is considered a potential militia vessel. This direct identification is generally limited to experts able to research Chinese-language sources, as official messaging almost never identifies specific ships as militia. Beijing prefers their status remain ambiguous.

However, experts have noted that all observed vessels from the Qiong Sansha Yu fleet appear to engage in active paramilitary activities associated with MMFVs. Other fleets involved in militia work include Qiong Lin Yu and Yue Tai Yu. (For other fleets consult AMTI's comprehensive report.)

Vessel Behavior

These vessels are often observed loitering near disputed features like Thitu Island, Sabina Shoal, Iroquois Reef, Second Thomas Shoal and Whitsun Reef without engaging in fishing activities--either through photographs or Automatic Identification System (AIS) data. This clearly non-commercial activity identifies them as probable militia.

Of course, any active involvement in known maritime gray zone activities is strongly indicative.

Secondary Indicators

Connections to Known Militia Vessels, Officers, Companies or Activities

If a fishing vessel is frequently seen alongside or near recognized militia vessels in port or at sea, it can be an indicator of militia affiliation. Additionally, if a vessel is photographed or reported in the same locations as Chinese military, coast guard or fishery law enforcement vessels--and it engages in non-fishing activities such as maritime rescue drills--it is likely affiliated with the militia.

Government Subsidies

Receiving significantly higher government subsidies, particularly for fuel, can indicate that a vessel is part of China’s maritime militia. Although regular fishing vessels also receive subsidies, those receiving the highest amounts—at least CNY 6,769,000 (approximately USD 1 million) annually—are likely militia vessels.

Anomalous Features of Fishing Vessels

Fishing vessels that are abnormally large, understaffed, equipped with unusual specifications, or operating in designated strategic waters are likely part of China’s maritime militia.

Government Ownership Connections

Fishing vessels with ownership ties to the Chinese government may be part of the maritime militia. However, this is not always the case, as some identified militia vessels do not have these links.

Subsidies: The Militia Enabler

China's maritime militia operates with a significant boost from various government subsidies, leveraging its civilian fleet to assert dominance and control in contested maritime regions.

Double Fuel Subsidies

One of the most impactful subsidies is the double fuel subsidy for fishing vessels operating in the Spratly Islands. These vessels receive two types of fuel subsidies: a regular subsidy that lowers the standard fuel price and an additional special subsidy specifically for operating in the Spratly Islands. Large fishing vessels--over 55 meters in length and with engines greater than 1,200 kW--can claim up to CNY 24,175 (about USD 3,750) per day in fuel subsidies. There's also an annual bonus for vessels deployed into the Spratly archipelago or Scarborough Shoal, which has historically been around CNY 35,000 (USD 5,420).

Construction Subsidies

The government also heavily supports the construction and renovation of SBFVs. These enable the transformation of regular fishing boats into maritime militia vessels. The conversion process is meticulously overseen by military stakeholders to ensure that the vessels meet specific operational requirements.

Direct Subsidies

Provincial and local governments may also chip in with direct subsidies, often matching a percentage of the central government subsidies. These payments help offset the construction and operational costs for fishing vessels involved in militia activities, making it financially viable for owners and crews to participate in these missions.

Loan-Interest Subsidies

To further support the renovation of SBFVs, some local governments may help offset debt interest payments. For instance, Sanya City in Hainan covers 70% of the annual loan interest over five years for these vessels. This kind of financial support encourages further investment in maritime militia capabilities.

Subsidies for the Construction of Professional Maritime Militia Fishing Vessels

Hainan Province invests heavily in constructing and upgrading MMFVs. In 2014, the province received national funding to build high-tonnage vessels for maritime militia units, with subsidies reportedly exceeding CNY 40 million (USD 6.19 million) per vessel. By 2018, it was estimated that Hainan spent around CNY 1.86 billion (USD 288 million) on upgrading 186 vessels. Similarly, Sansha City has also been involved in constructing high-capacity vessels, with costs estimated around CNY 21 million (USD 3.25 million) per vessel.

Subsidies for Equipment

From 2015 to 2019, China’s central government issued special transfer payments to upgrade communication, navigation, and safety equipment on fishing vessels, including ultra-shortwave radios, GPS systems and safety gear. In Guangdong, this equipment has been incorporated into the Fisheries Safety Communication and Command System, enhancing the dual-use capability of vessels for both civilian and military functions.

Subsidies For Militia Operations

Funding for militia operations includes expenses for military training, equipment maintenance and organizational development, with costs distributed between provincial and local governments. The amount of funding can vary considerably depending on regional needs and priorities.

Subsidies to Maritime Militia Personnel

Training subsidies for part-time militia personnel are determined by local economic conditions. Full-time personnel employed by state-owned fisheries receive their salaries and additional benefits from these enterprises, leading to variations in the support they receive.

Subsidies for the Recruitment of Veterans

A nationwide initiative called the 'Spindrift Program' offers vocational training and job placement for veterans. It prioritizes those with military experience to leverage their skills and discipline, ensuring seamless integration into maritime operations and enhancing maritime militia capabilities.

References

Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative. (2022, July 8). Woody Island. Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative. https://amti.csis.org/woody-island/.

Chen, A. (2024, August 3). How is China’s “maritime militia” supporting the PLA in the South China Sea? South China Morning Post. https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3272432/south-china-sea-what-beijings-maritime-militia-and-how-does-it-support-pla.

Lendon, B. (2021, April 13). Beijing has a Navy it doesn’t even admit exists, experts say. and it’s swarming parts of the South China Sea. CNN. https://www.cnn.com/2021/04/12/china/china-maritime-militia-explainer-intl-hnk-ml-dst/index.html.

Poling, G. B., Prétat, H., Mallory, T. G., & Center for Advanced Defense Studies. (2021, November 18). Pulling back the curtain on China’s maritime militia. Center for Strategic and International Studies. https://csis-website-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/publication/211118_Poling_Maritime_Militia.pdf?Y5iaJ4NT8eITSlAKTr.TWxtDHuLIq7wR.

Puri, S., & Austin, G. (n.d.). What the Whitsun Reef Incident tells us about China’s Future Operations at Sea. International Institute for Strategic Studies. https://www.iiss.org/en/online-analysis/online-analysis/2021/04/whitsun-reef-incident-china/.

Ratcliffe, R. (2024, July 29). South China Sea: A visual guide to the key shoals, reefs and Islands. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/jul/30/south-china-sea-map-visual-guide-key-shoals-reefs-islands.

The Center for Strategic & International Studies. (2019, October 1). The Critical Role of Chinese Trade in the South China Sea. JSTOR. https://www.jstor.org/stable/resrep22586.30?seq=2.

sealight.live

8. NATO warships transit Taiwan Strait, defying China's warnings

Must stand up to a bully. international relations and LIfe 101.

NATO warships transit Taiwan Strait, defying China's warnings

Newsweek · by Ryan Chan · September 13, 2024

Published Sep 13, 2024 at 11:39 AM EDTByChina News Reporter

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Two German warships passed through the contested Taiwan Strait on Friday, defying warnings from China to the NATO member as Beijing claimed the self-ruled Taiwan as part of its territory.

"International waters are international waters. It is the shortest and, given the weather conditions, also the safest route. So we are going through," explained Boris Pistorius, the defense minister of Germany, at a press conference with his Lithuanian counterpart Laurynas Kasciunas in Berlin.

Verteidigungsminister #Pistorius hat die Durchfahrt der Fregatte Baden-Württemberg durch die Straße von #Taiwan bestätigt: „Internationale Gewässer sind internationale Gewässer. Es ist der kürzeste und angesichts der Wetterlage auch der sicherste Weg. Also fahren wir durch.“ pic.twitter.com/A22iYvT1cM

— Verteidigungsministerium (@BMVg_Bundeswehr) September 13, 2024

Before the confirmation from Pistorius, the German warships—frigate Baden-Württemberg and supply ship Frankfurt am Main—were trackable on an open-source website. They transited the 110-mile-wide waterway from the East China Sea and headed to the South China Sea.

This was also the first time the German navy sent its ships through the narrow strait since 2002. The strait is one of the major waterways in the Indo-Pacific region, separating China to the west and Taiwan to the east.

The Chinese foreign ministry on Friday claimed that Taiwan was related to China's sovereignty and territorial integrity. Beijing "oppose any act of provocation under the pretext of freedom of navigation that harms China's sovereignty and security," said the ministry spokesperson Mao Ning.

China has long claimed the strait is under its jurisdiction. It has also refused to renounce the use of force to resolve the cross-strait issue, sending military aircraft and warships near Taiwan daily.

According to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, or UNCLOS, all ships can exercise the right of transit passage that applies to straits that are used for international voyages. It grants all ships the right of innocent passage through the territorial waters of another state.

"We respect countries' right to navigation in relevant waters in accordance with China's laws and international law, including UNCLOS," the spokesperson said at a press conference in Beijing.

The German frigate Baden-Württemberg, front, sails in formation on July 22 off the coast of Hawaii during Exercise Rim of the Pacific 2024. It was one of two German ships that passed through the Taiwan... The German frigate Baden-Württemberg, front, sails in formation on July 22 off the coast of Hawaii during Exercise Rim of the Pacific 2024. It was one of two German ships that passed through the Taiwan Strait. Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class John Bellino/U.S. Navy

Reuters reported that the German warships "would likely fully clear the strait" on Saturday, citing a security source familiar with the situation. A spokesperson for Germany's foreign ministry said on Friday that Berlin was not obligated to notify other states, including China, of any such move.

There was no immediate response from the Chinese military at the time of writing. The country's Eastern Theater Command, which claimed to have jurisdiction over the Taiwan Strait, deployed air and naval forces to monitor a United States Navy destroyer when it was in the strait on August 22.

The Taiwanese defense ministry confirmed the German passage in the strait. It said the island's military forces maintained "full control" over the surrounding sea and airspace during the transit.

Canada, another NATO member, sent a frigate to the strait on July 31. The German warships were on a deployment in the Indo-Pacific region, aiming to show the country's commitment to free and safe shipping lanes, a rules-based international order, and enhanced maritime security cooperation.

Both the Baden-Württemberg and the Frankfurt am Main visited South Korea's northwestern city of Incheon on September 6 and departed on Tuesday. They were there to ensure the implementation of the United Nations sanctions against North Korea's ongoing nuclear and missile programs.

About the writer

Ryan Chan

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Ryan Chan is a Newsweek reporter based in Hong Kong, where he previously had over a decade of experience at a local newspaper, covering China and current events around the world. His focus is on security and defense issues in the Western Pacific region. He is a graduate of Hong Kong Baptist University.

You can get in touch with Ryan by emailing r.chan@newsweek.com.

Newsweek · by Ryan Chan · September 13, 2024

9. US targets China's Shein and Temu with new shipping rules

US targets China's Shein and Temu with new shipping rules

BBC

New US shipping rules target China's Shein and Temu

22 hours ago

Natalie Sherman

BBC News

Getty Images

The US has proposed rules that would hit many low-value shipments from China with new taxes - a measure aimed at curbing the flood of packages from shopping sites such as Shein and Temu.

The Biden administration said the plan was intended to stop "abuse" of an exemption that allowed packages worth less than $800 (£600) to enter the US without facing tariffs and other fees.

The US said the "de minimis" rule has helped firms such as Shein and Temu, which typically ship directly from the manufacturer to the customer, undercut competitors with lower prices.

In statements, the two companies defended their business models.

The US raised the exemption from tariffs and other fees for shipments from $200 to $800 in 2016 to facilitate trade and allow officials to focus on higher priority shipments.

But lawmakers have voiced increasing alarm about "exploitation" by firms such as Temu and Shein, as the two make rapid inroads in the US market.

The new rules would remove the exemption for Chinese goods that currently face tariffs from the US - a wide range of products including shoes, machinery and 70% of textiles and apparel.

They would also increase what information shippers must provide to authorities.

Temu said its success was due to an "efficient business model that cuts out unnecessary middlemen, allowing us to pass savings directly to our consumers".

It said it was reviewing the rules and remained committed to "delivering value to consumers".

"Temu's growth does not depend on the de minimis policy," it added.

Shein said its success came from its "on-demand business model" and that it supported reform of the de minimis exemption so that the rules were applied "evenly and equally".

The company said compliance was a priority and that it was already participating in a trial programme with US Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

"We want to disclose more of what’s in every package and are working closely with CBP," the company said.

'Exponential increase'

Since launching a few years ago, Temu and Shein have gained followers with flashy Super Bowl adverts and ultra-low prices.

The popularity has put such pressure on Amazon, the dominant e-commerce company in the US, that the firm is reportedly exploring its own discount unit focusing on direct-to-consumer shipments.

Their rise has also brought scrutiny from US politicians and regulators, who have raised questions about the safety of products on their sites and warned of a "high risk" that Temu was selling products made using forced labour.

Authorities have blamed their success for putting strains on US border and customs authorities, as the number of packages entering the US under the de minimis exemption has surged from 140 million in 2013 to more than 1 billion last year.

In announcing the action, the Biden administration said "several China-founded e-commerce platforms" now accounted for a "majority" of shipments under the $800 threshold.

It said its actions were a response to an "exponential increase in de minimis shipments" that had made it more difficult to identify and block illegal shipments.

It accused companies of looking to skirt consumer protection laws and avoid trade barriers.

"American workers and businesses can outcompete anyone on a level playing field, but for too long, Chinese e-commerce platforms have skirted tariffs by abusing the de minimis exemption,” said Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo.

The American Action Forum, a right-leaning policy group, has estimated that getting rid of the $800 exemption entirely would result in "$8bn to $30bn in additional annual costs that would eventually be passed on to consumers".

The proposal will go through a comment period before being finalised and taking effect.

Authorities in the European Union have been exploring similar measures aimed at low-value shipments, Bloomberg and the Financial Times reported earlier this year.

Shares in PDD Holdings, which owns Temu, fell more than 2% after the announcement.

BBC

10. House GOP rolling out bill to block China from accessing US ports

House GOP rolling out bill to block China from accessing US ports | Fox News

Bill would also block state-owned businesses in Russia, North Korea, Iran from operating at US ports

 By Brooke Singman  Fox News

Published September 13, 2024 4:00am EDT

foxnews.com · by Brooke Singman Fox News

FIRST ON FOX: GOP Rep. Michelle Steel is rolling out a bill to block China and other American adversaries from accessing U.S. ports.

Steel, R-Calif., a member of the House Select Committee on Communist China, created the Secure Our Ports Act, which would prohibit companies owned fully, or in-part, by state-owned enterprises in China, Russia, North Korea and Iran from operating or managing a U.S. port.

Steel told Fox News Digital that adversaries accessing U.S. ports can harm U.S. supply chains because it would enable them to access shipping infrastructure.

HOUSE CHINA COMMITTEE: CARGO CRANES GIVE CHINA A TOOL TO DISRUPT TRADE, MILITARY MOBILIZATION AT US PORTS

Steel said her bill "would shore up America’s economic and national security in the face of threats from Communist China and their like-minded allies."

Rep. Michelle Steel (File)

"Congress must protect America’s supply chains by restricting enemy governments from having high-level access to our ports," Steel told Fox News Digital. "Nations which threaten the very existence of the United States should not have easy access to our port infrastructure, a key lifeline of America’s supply chains."

Steel’s home region in Southern California is home to two of the largest ports in the country: the Port of Los Angeles and the Port of Long Beach.

GOP Rep. Michelle Steele has created a bill intended to block China and other American adversaries from accessing U.S. ports. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images/File)

ARE CHINESE CRANES BEING USED FOR SURVEILLANCE AT US PORTS? HOUSE GOP VISITS PORT OF MIAMI TO FIND OUT

Steel’s office told Fox News Digital that multiple China-owned conglomerates have an active presence in American ports, including on the West Coast. This includes the Chinese-Owned Shipping Company (COSCO) on the West Coast and China Oil and Foodstuffs Corp. (COFCO) on the Mississippi River.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, right, and Russian President Vladimir Putin (Sergei Bobylev/Sputnik/Kremlin Pool Photo via AP/File)

The legislation is co-sponsored by Reps. Stephanie Bice, Ken Calvert, Rick Crawford, Richard Hudson, Doug LaMalfa, Nicole Malliotakis, James Moylan, Aumua Amata Coleman Radewagen, John Rutherford and Randy Weber.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

The bill comes after national security and defense officials last year began viewing giant cargo cranes at U.S. ports as potential Chinese spying tools. Officials have suggested that Chinese equipment and cranes at ports could be used for surveillance.

foxnews.com · by Brooke Singman Fox News

11. Biden administration expected to unveil new evidence of RT’s key role in Russian intelligence operations globally

Excerpts:

RT’s embrace of covert activities is a response to the restrictions on the outlet’s presence in some Western countries, according to US officials. A separate scheme hatched by RT, US prosecutors said in July, involved running a network of over 1,000 social media accounts that posed as US residents to spread anti-Ukraine propaganda. The Kremlin financed the scheme and an officer of Russia’s FSB intelligence service helped run the operation, the Justice Department claimed.

It was not immediately clear on Friday whether the Russian intelligence unit embedded within RT described by State Department officials was still active. “I can’t answer that,” Rubin said.

The US led effort to target Huawei – a Chinese telecoms equipment maker – which began during the Trump administration and continued under President Joe Biden is viewed as a model for how US officials are currently looking at targeting RT globally. The US was able to push many countries not to use the Chinese company’s equipment after a global effort to making the case that the company was an instrument of the Chinese government.

Biden administration expected to unveil new evidence of RT’s key role in Russian intelligence operations globally | CNN Politics

CNN · by Kylie Atwood, Sean Lyngaas, Michael Conte · September 13, 2024

This 2018 photo shows unidentified directors of the Russia Today in Moscow.

Yuri Kadobnov/AFP/Getty Images

CNN —

The Biden administration on Friday announced a major effort to blunt the global influence of RT and expose what it says is the Russian state media network’s key role in the Kremlin’s global intelligence and influence operations.

The State Department revealed declassified US intelligence findings that suggest RT is fully integrated into Russia’s intelligence operations around the world and announced it is launching a diplomatic campaign to provide countries with information about the risks associated with RT activities.

“Thanks to new information, much of which originates from RT employees, we know that RT possessed cyber capabilities and engaged in covert information and influence operations and military procurement,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Friday.

A key finding from the new US intelligence is that, for more than a year, the Russian government quietly embedded an intelligence-gathering unit within RT focused on influence operations globally. That activity has been part of US officials described as a big expansion of RT’s role as an arm and mouthpiece of the Kremlin abroad. The activity goes beyond propaganda and covert influence operations to even include military procurement, according to US officials.

“Under the cover of RT, information produced through this unit flows to Russian intelligence services, Russian media outlets, Russian mercenary groups, and other state and proxy arms of the Russian government,” Blinken said.

In addition to its covert influence operations, the leaders of RT also administered an online crowdfunding effort to supply military equipment to Russian soldiers in Ukraine, Blinken alleged.

The crowdfunding effort supplied “sniper rifles, suppressors, body armor, night vision equipment, drones, radio equipment, personal weapon sights, diesel generators” to Russian soldiers fighting in Ukraine, according to Blinken.

The goal of the US announcement — and private discussions with allied diplomats — is to make sure that countries know that RT and Russian intelligence agencies are working together to sow division and harm democratic processes, while simultaneously making it much more difficult for RT to operate globally, a senior administration official said.

CNN first reported on the pending State Department announcement.

Asked for comment by CNN, RT responded with a mocking email that read in part: “We’ve been broadcasting straight out of the KGB headquarters all this time.”

CNN has requested comment from the Russian Embassy in Washington, DC.

Friday’s news is part of a full-fledged US government effort to curb RT’s global clout. It comes just a week after federal prosecutors announced criminal charges against two RT employees for covertly funneling nearly $10 million into a US company to create and amplify content that aligned with Russian interests. The covert influence campaign was aimed at the American public ahead of the 2024 US presidential election, US officials said.

US diplomats are looking to the coming days and weeks – including the UN General Assembly gathering – to build a coalition of countries willing to combat the threat that US officials see from RT.

Formerly known as Russia Today, RT runs television and online platforms around the world that advance the Kremlin’s agenda. The US Department of Justice forced RT America to register as a foreign agent in 2017 after US intelligence officials concluded that the media outlet contributed to Russian efforts to meddle in the 2016 election.

The US believes RT propaganda and disinformation has been key to generating pro-Russia reactions to the Ukraine war globally, a senior administration official told CNN.

When Russia invaded Ukraine, RT was banned in the European Union, and in the US the channel is not publicly broadcast. But in Latin American and Sub-Saharan Africa RT broadcasts have been expanding.

RT’s broadcasts have had a “deleterious effect on the views of the rest of the world about a war [in Ukraine] that should be an open-and-shut case,” James Rubin, the coordinator for the department’s Global Engagement Center, told reporters after Blinken’s remarks.

RT’s embrace of covert activities is a response to the restrictions on the outlet’s presence in some Western countries, according to US officials. A separate scheme hatched by RT, US prosecutors said in July, involved running a network of over 1,000 social media accounts that posed as US residents to spread anti-Ukraine propaganda. The Kremlin financed the scheme and an officer of Russia’s FSB intelligence service helped run the operation, the Justice Department claimed.

It was not immediately clear on Friday whether the Russian intelligence unit embedded within RT described by State Department officials was still active. “I can’t answer that,” Rubin said.

The US led effort to target Huawei – a Chinese telecoms equipment maker – which began during the Trump administration and continued under President Joe Biden is viewed as a model for how US officials are currently looking at targeting RT globally. The US was able to push many countries not to use the Chinese company’s equipment after a global effort to making the case that the company was an instrument of the Chinese government.

This story has been updated with additional details.

CNN · by Kylie Atwood, Sean Lyngaas, Michael Conte · September 13, 2024

12. Is US losing the AI arms race to China?

Excerpts:

The Pentagon has also established the Defense Innovation Unit, with permission to circumvent the cumbersome military purchasing process, to coordinate with Silicon Valley and bring new technologies into military use relatively quickly.

That unit has sparked discussions about the potential for the Chinese military to acquire and use US-designed technologies, which led to US bans on doing business with many Chinese technology firms.

Many experts consider it possible for China to surpass the US in the development and use of AI. However, China trails the US in several ways. The US has the world’s largest intelligence budget; the most popular hardware, software and technology companies; and the most advanced cyberwarfare capabilities, both offensive and defensive.

I and other experts expect these advantages to preserve US technological leadership for now, at least – but perhaps not forever.

Is US losing the AI arms race to China? - Asia Times

asiatimes.com · by James Johnson · September 12, 2024

The US government, long a proponent of advancing technology for military purposes, sees artificial intelligence as key to the next generation of fighting tools.

Several recent investments and Pentagon initiatives show that military leaders are concerned about keeping up with – and ahead of – China and Russia, two countries that have made big gains in developing artificial-intelligence systems.

AI-powered weapons include target recognition systems, weapons guided by AI, and cyberattack and cyber defense software that runs without human intervention.

The US defense community is coming to understand that AI will significantly transform, if not completely reinvent, the world’s military power balance. The concern is more than military.

As Chinese and Russian technologies become more sophisticated, they threaten US domination of technological innovation and development, as well as global economic power and influence.

Military leaders see the threat to US technological leadership coming from two main sources: a rising and ambitious China and a mischievous and declining Russia. Taken together, these forces challenge global stability.

The nature of the threat

A 2018 Pentagon report noted that technological developments could change the types of threats facing the US, which might include space-based weapons, long-range ballistic missiles and cyberweapons.

A February 2019 analysis warned that China’s investments in its military’s AI systems – in particular, those supporting robotics, autonomy, precision munitions and cyber warfare – threaten to overtake the US. Chinese government agencies are working closely with the country’s civilian businesses to keep on top of fast-changing technological developments.

In addition, some Chinese and Russian projects have developed military AI systems specifically aimed at what they perceive as US technological weaknesses. For instance, swarms of armed AI-enhanced drones might locate and attack the secure computer systems countries rely on to control and launch their nuclear weapons.

So far the Pentagon’s actions have been largely bureaucratic, rather than concrete. It has released a Defense Department-wide strategy document that articulates broad principles for the development and use of AI in future warfare. The military has established a Joint Artificial Intelligence Center, which is tasked with accelerating the delivery and adoption of AI.

But projects with names like “the Third Offset,” “Project Maven” and the “AI Next Campaign” have minimal funding. Leaders have released few details about what they will actually do.

Working with Silicon Valley

The Pentagon has also established the Defense Innovation Unit, with permission to circumvent the cumbersome military purchasing process, to coordinate with Silicon Valley and bring new technologies into military use relatively quickly.

That unit has sparked discussions about the potential for the Chinese military to acquire and use US-designed technologies, which led to US bans on doing business with many Chinese technology firms.

Many experts consider it possible for China to surpass the US in the development and use of AI. However, China trails the US in several ways. The US has the world’s largest intelligence budget; the most popular hardware, software and technology companies; and the most advanced cyberwarfare capabilities, both offensive and defensive.

I and other experts expect these advantages to preserve US technological leadership for now, at least – but perhaps not forever.

James Johnson is a lecturer at Middlebury

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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asiatimes.com · by James Johnson · September 12, 2024

13. Iran has cultivated ties with criminal networks in the West to carry out a recent wave of violent plots in the United States and Europe.

Not a story I expected to read.

A very long read (for a newspaper report).

Iran has cultivated ties with criminal networks in the West to carry out a recent wave of violent plots in the United States and Europe.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/09/12/iran-criminal-gangs-target-dissidents/?utm

24 min

886

(Rob Dobi for The Washington Post)

By Greg Miller, Souad Mekhennet and Cate Brown

September 12, 2024 at 5:00 a.m. EDT

LONDON — In the months before his attackers tracked him down, the exiled Iranian journalist had been moved in and out of safe houses by London’s Metropolitan Police, given a secret way to signal rescue units and had monitoring devices installed in his home.

British authorities had done even more to protect Iran International, the London-based satellite news channel that airs the weekly program of the journalist, Pouria Zeraati, and has built an audience of millions in Iran despite being outlawed by the Islamic republic.

Police assigned a team of undercover officers to safeguard the channel’s employees, arrested a suspect caught surveilling the station’s entrances, put armored cars outside its headquarters and, for one seven-month stretch last year, convinced the network to move temporarily to Washington.

None of these measures managed to protect Zeraati from the plot that Iran is suspected of setting in motion this year. On March 29, he was stabbed four times and left bleeding on the sidewalk outside his home in the London suburb of Wimbledon by assailants who were not from Iran and had no discernible connection to its security services, according to British investigators.

Instead, officials said, Iran hired criminals in Eastern Europe who encountered few obstacles as they cleared security checks at Heathrow Airport, spent days tracking Zeraati and then caught departing flights just hours after carrying out an ambush that their victim survived — perhaps intentionally, investigators said, to serve as a warning but not trigger the fallout that would come with the murder of a British citizen.

Iran’s alleged reliance on criminals rather than covert operatives underscored an alarming evolution in tactics by a nation that U.S. and Western security officials consider one of the world’s most determined and dangerous practitioners of “transnational repression,” a term for governments’ use of violence and intimidation in others’ sovereign territory to silence dissidents, journalists and others deemed disloyal.

Senior security officials said that the use of criminal proxies by governments has compounded the difficulty of protecting those who have sought refuge in the United States, Europe and elsewhere. Security services formerly focused on tracking operatives from Russia’s GRU spy agency or Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) now confront plots handed off — often through encrypted channels — to criminal networks deeply embedded in Western society.

Following World news

Following

In recent years, Iran has outsourced lethal operations and abductions to Hells Angels biker gangs, a notorious Russian mob network known as “Thieves in Law,” a heroin distribution syndicate led by an Iranian narco-trafficker and violent criminal groups from Scandinavia to South America.

This story reveals new details about how Iran has cultivated and exploited connections to criminal networks that are behind a recent wave of violent plots secretly orchestrated by elite units in the IRGC and Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence (MOIS). It is based on interviews with senior officials in more than a dozen countries, hundreds of pages of criminal court records in the United States and Europe, as well as additional investigative documents obtained by The Washington Post from security services.

With hit men it has hired in the criminal underworld, Iran has commissioned plots against a former Iranian military officer living under an assumed identity in Maryland, an exiled Iranian American journalist in Brooklyn, a women’s rights activist in Switzerland, LGBTQ+ activists in Germany and at least five journalists at Iran International, as well as dissidents and regime critics in a half dozen other countries, according to interviews and records.

Other nations have begun to embrace this strategy. India’s security services enlisted criminal groups to kill a Sikh activist in Canada last year and target another in New York, according to U.S. and Canadian officials. Russia, which has traditionally relied on its own agents for lethal operations, turned last year to mob elements in Spain to kill a military helicopter pilot who had defected to Ukraine and then resettled in the Mediterranean.

Iran’s turn to criminal proxies has in part been driven by necessity, officials said, reflecting the intense scrutiny that Iran’s own operatives face from Western governments. The attack on Zeraati avoided these Iran-focused defenses.

“We’re not dealing with the usual suspects,” said Matt Jukes, the head of counterterrorism policing in the United Kingdom and assistant commissioner for special operations with Scotland Yard. He acknowledged that Zeraati’s assailants remain at large more than five months after his stabbing. They have been identified and their travels traced to countries in Eastern Europe but have so far not been detained. Officials said the suspects remain in Eastern Europe and that other security services are cooperating with British authorities, but they declined to explain why the suspects have not been taken into custody.

“What we’ve got is a hostile state actor that sees the battlefield as being without border and individuals in London every bit as legitimate as targets as if [they were] in Iran,” said Jukes. Along with Britain’s domestic spy agency, MI5, the Metropolitan Police have tracked more than 16 plots from the Islamic republic over the past two years, according to British intelligence and security officials, many of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive and ongoing investigations.

The United States has faced a wave of similar threats, including several that have been detailed in criminal indictments connecting biker gangs in Canada and mob elements in Eastern Europe to planned assassinations commissioned by Iran.

Matthew G. Olsen, who heads the national security division at the Justice Department, said that “Iran is clearly at the top of the list” of states that year after year seek to kill or abduct dissidents and journalists outside their borders. Other nations, particularly China, seek to intimidate or repress diaspora populations, Olsen said, but Iran is consistently “focused on actions at the extreme end of [transnational repression] because of their lethal targeting.”

Iran dismissed the accusations as Western disinformation. “The Islamic Republic of Iran harbors neither the intent nor the plan to engage in assassination or abduction operations, whether in the West or any other country,” Iran’s mission to the United Nations said in a statement.

 “These fabrications are concoctions of the Zionist regime, the Albania-based Mujahedin-e Khalq terrorist cult, and certain Western intelligence services—including those of the United States—to divert attention from the atrocities committed by the Israeli regime.”

A surge in attacks

Iran’s overseas operations have intensified in response to a period of political upheaval driven by mass protests over economic conditions and the regime’s treatment of women.

The security services in Tehran are targeting those outside the country whom they accuse of stoking these internal divisions, Western officials and analysts said.

Amid worries that the conflict in Gaza might break out into a regional war, Tehran has also been linked to plots against U.S. and Israeli officials and members of Jewish communities in France and Germany.

The Justice Department filed charges last month against a Pakistani man with ties to Iran who was accused of seeking to hire a hit man to assassinate political figures in the United States, possibly including former president Donald Trump. It was the latest in a series of plots against members of his administration, including former secretary of state Mike Pompeo and former national security adviser John Bolton, in response to a 2020 U.S. drone strike in Iraq that killed IRGC leader Qasem Soleimani.

Security officials and experts said the pace of operations emanating from Iran is unprecedented. Data published by the Washington Institute in August listed 88 assassination, abduction and other violent plots linked to Iran over the past five years — exceeding the total for the preceding four decades following the 1979 revolution. At least 14 of those recent cases involved criminal organizations.

“We’re seeing a major escalation in lethal plotting from a government that has used this tactic from the outset,” said Matthew Levitt, a counterterrorism expert at the Washington Institute.

The results have been mixed.

For every plot that has succeeded, others have failed, often because of blunders committed by those hired. Iran appears to accept the downsides of the outsourcing model because of offsetting advantages.

 These include making it more difficult for authorities to attribute attacks to Tehran, an abundance of criminals willing to commit violence for relatively modest sums of money and a negligible price of failure.

Rather than putting Iran’s own agents at risk, a U.S. intelligence analyst said, “two guys they barely know will spend 20 years in jail.”

Pouria Zeraati at London-based Iran International's studios in June. (Tom Jamieson for The Washington Post)

Zeraati, 36, had faced threats since starting his program in 2022 at Iran International, a Saudi-funded satellite and online news platform that bypasses Iran’s censors and beams news and commentary to millions of viewers.

In November 2022, Zeraati’s wife, a real estate agent, was approached by two men on a motorcycle outside a London health club. “We know where you live,” one said, according to Zeraati. “We will kill your husband.”

Zeraati was one of five Iranian journalists whose pictures appeared on “Wanted, Dead or Alive” posters hung from signposts in Iran and circulated widely on social media outlets tied to the government.

A wanted poster distributed by Iranian state-backed media that shows photos of Iranian journalists including Zeraati, who was stabbed in London in March. (Obtained by The Washington Post)

Yet the stabbing took place at a time when the threat level facing Iran International was perceived to have declined. The channel had returned from its Washington relocation to new London studios ringed by blast walls, guard stations and surveillance cameras. After multiple stays at safe houses, Zeraati had returned to his residence, a flat in a four-story apartment building so close to the famed Wimbledon tennis complex that you can hear the thwack of balls being struck on practice courts.

The assailants appear to have taken advantage of security vulnerabilities. His home address could be found in online property records. His broadcast schedule — one weekly show airing Friday nights — pointed to a predictable commute pattern.

As Zeraati crossed the street to his car around 3 p.m. to head to work, he caught sight of a disheveled man approaching him. “Brother, can I have three pounds change,” the man said, Zeraati recalled in an interview.

While Zeraati continued toward his car, a second man emerged from a driveway obscured by foliage. The second seized Zeraati’s arms while the first, smiling broadly, plunged a blade into his leg repeatedly. The decision to stab his thigh rather than his heart or other vital organs led police to believe the attack was intended as a warning.

The assailants then raced up the street to meet an accomplice with a car. Zeraati’s first thought was that he had been mugged. But as he reached for his phone to call an ambulance, he realized that the attackers had not taken any of his belongings, including a wallet, a watch and a Montblanc pen.

“At that moment it clicked,” Zeraati said. “It had been related to my job.”

If the stabbing was meant to silence Zeraati and sow fear among the regime’s Western critics, it was only partially successful.

Zeraati returned to the airwaves after a brief hospital stay. “I wanted to send a message that the flow of information in the 21st century can’t be stopped,” he said.

Other journalists, dissidents and regime critics acknowledge that they remain deeply shaken.

“It sent a chill through my spine,” said Alireza Nader, an independent Iran analyst based in Washington. “I look over my shoulder now,” he said. “Everybody who is active against the regime, speaks publicly against the regime, felt that attack.”

Read more: Repression's long arm

Next

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British officials have not publicly accused Iran of responsibility. Security officials said they see no alternative explanation but are still gathering evidence.

Iranian officials have said the country was not involved in the stabbing. “We deny any link to this story of this so-called journalist,” the country’s ambassador to the United Kingdom said in a post on X the day after the attack.

Enlisting Hells Angels

Iran has outsourced assassinations and abductions to at least five criminal syndicates, officials said. At the center of this web is an alleged heroin trafficking kingpin based in Iran, Naji Sharifi Zindashti.

An undated photo of Naji Sharifi Zindashti released by the FBI. (FBI/Justice Department)

U.S. criminal charges made public earlier this year outline an alleged scheme in which Zindashti negotiated a $350,000 contract with two Hells Angels members in Canada to kill an Iranian defector and his wife living under false identities in Maryland.

In exchanges over encrypted texts, the would-be assassins discussed their client’s insistence that the slaying be symbolically vicious. One assured the other that he would “make sure I hit this guy in the head with ATLEAST half the clip,” according to the U.S. indictment, adding, “we gotta erase his head from his torso.”

The name of the targeted defector has not been disclosed, but U.S. officials said the individual had served as an officer in the IRGC, a powerful wing of Iran’s military created after the 1979 revolution, and become an informant for the CIA.

The incongruous partnership between an Islamic theocracy and a notorious biker gang was driven in part by necessity, officials said, given the resources U.S. security agencies devote to preventing Iran from deploying operatives to the United States.

The Hells Angels, however, has chapters across the country as well as a powerful grip on narcotics trafficking in Canadian provinces, officials said. And there were previous connections between Iran and Hells Angels. In another plot, Iran used a German member of the gang, Ramin Yektaparast, who had fled to Tehran to escape murder charges, to orchestrate the bombing of a synagogue in Essen. An alleged associate balked at bombing the synagogue but fired shots into its windows.

The point man in the Maryland plot was a “full patch” member named Damion Ryan, who has a string of convictions in Canada for crimes including drug trafficking, assault, robbery and home invasion, according to court records. Those documents list aliases for him including “Berserker” and “Mr. Wolf.”

Damion Ryan (Manitoba RCMP)

Ryan, 43, in turn enlisted a younger Hells Angels affiliate, Adam R. Pearson, 29, who was in hiding in Minneapolis to escape arrest on murder charges in Canada, according to U.S. and Canadian officials and court records.

An attorney representing Ryan declined to comment. Attorneys who have previously represented Pearson did not respond to requests for comment.

By March 2021, the Hells Angels pair had agreed on the six-figure price tag and Zindashti had sent photos and maps as well as an initial $20,000 payment to cover travel expenses, according to the U.S. indictment. It is unclear how Iran identified the location of the defector.

Then, just as it entered its final stage, the plot stalled. The indictment provides no explanation for why Pearson never made the trip to Maryland, but that same month security services in Europe achieved a breakthrough that rippled through criminal networks around the world.

Zindashti and the two Hells Angels members had been corresponding through an encrypted messaging service known as Sky ECC. Launched by a Vancouver-based company in 2008, the system became a mainstay among criminal syndicates by turning ordinary cellphones into seemingly impenetrable devices, disabling their cameras, microphones and GPS trackers while adding a “kill switch” to delete incriminating data.

By early 2021, however, Belgian and Dutch security services found a way to breach the network’s security. On March 9, Belgian police carried out hundreds of raids, arrested dozens of alleged traffickers and seized 17 tons of cocaine. Among those taken into custody in Belgium and the Netherlands were members of Hells Angels.

U.S. officials said the Maryland plot came to their attention as investigators sifted through the Sky ECC trove. Pearson was arrested by the FBI in Minnesota and extradited to Canada. In February 2022, Ryan was arrested following a raid on his house in Ottawa, where authorities found a cache of weapons, body armor and roughly $95,000 in cash.

A drug lord in Tehran

Zindashti has emerged as a linchpin in Iran’s operations.

A hulking figure who stands over 6 feet tall and weighs 250 pounds, Zindashti was described by one U.S. intelligence analyst as a “Pablo Escobar-type narco-trafficker.”

Now in his early 50s, Zindashti acquired that status after emerging triumphant from a bloody regional drug war touched off by one of the largest busts in European history. It involved a cargo ship named the Noor One that arrived at a Greek port in June 2014 carrying more than two tons of heroin.

Zindashti was accused by some of tipping off authorities to undercut rivals. He has survived several attempts on his life, but his daughter and a nephew were killed in 2014 by gunmen who pulled up alongside their Porsche Cayenne in Istanbul, mistakenly believing Zindashti was in the vehicle, according to Turkish court records obtained by The Post.

A brutal campaign of score-settling ensued in which more than a dozen people linked to the Noor One deal were killed. One of the murders had striking parallels to the Hells Angels plot that Zindashti is alleged to have later orchestrated on behalf of Iran’s MOIS.

In May 2016, a Turkish drug trafficker identified as Cetin Koc was gunned down in Dubai by two hit men who had traveled from Canada where they had links to local narcotics networks. The gunmen became targets themselves upon returning to Vancouver. The bullet-riddled body of one was found in a blueberry field and the remains of the other were recovered from a burned car, Canadian officials said.

In statements to Turkish investigators, Zindashti acknowledged that he had motive to kill Koc, saying that “he wrote me threatening messages about ten days before my daughter’s murder.” Still, Zindashti claimed to “have nothing to do with the murder” and dismissed the accusations as “a conspiracy.”

As the killings continued, the target list expanded to include dissidents and journalists branded disloyal by Tehran.

In 2017, Saeed Karimian, the founder of a Persian language television network, GEM TV, was killed in Istanbul by suspects including a man that Zindashti acknowledged had worked as his family’s driver, according to the Turkish court records.

In 2019, Masoud Molavi, a dissident who had created a popular Telegram channel that campaigned against corruption in Iran, was killed in Istanbul by an assailant who then hid in one of Zindashti’s apartments, according to the Turkish files, which refer to the drug lord as the “instigator” of multiple attacks.

In 2020, Habib Chaab, a political activist living in Sweden, was abducted during a visit to Turkey and smuggled by Zindashti operatives to Iran where he was tortured and, in 2023, executed, U.S., Western and Turkish security officials said.

Political activist Habib Chaab at a hearing in Tehran in January 2022. During a visit to Turkey, he was smuggled to Iran where he was later executed, officials said. (Majid Azad/AFP/Getty Images)

Zindashti’s ruthless effectiveness appears to have reignited Iran’s enthusiasm for working with criminal syndicates after experiments years earlier ended in failure, officials said. An attempt in 2011 to assassinate the Saudi ambassador at Café Milano, a Georgetown restaurant, unraveled when Iran enlisted a hapless used-car salesman from Texas — the cousin of an official in Tehran — to manage the plot.

Taking on these assignments may also have paved the way for Zindashti’s return several years ago to his native country after an arrest and other legal problems prompted him to abandon Istanbul. The apparent sanctuary provided Zindashti and Yektaparast suggests that Iran’s religious hard-liners are willing to accommodate criminals who are useful against their enemies, officials said. Yektaparast, who posted photos of his Lamborghini and other luxury trappings on an Instagram account, was killed by unknown assailants in Iran earlier this year.

“Café Milano was, in hindsight, a signifier of things to come,” said a U.S. intelligence analyst. But it was Zindashti, the analyst said, who brought a “significant shift in terms of realizing this is a lucrative tactic.”

Iran’s security services have poured additional resources into supporting such operations, officials said. The Quds Force, an elite paramilitary wing of the IRGC, established a special unit, Department 840, dedicated to assassination operations outside Iran, U.S. and other officials said.

Zindashti has been more closely aligned with the MOIS, which functions as Iran’s main domestic security service but also has its own assassination branch, U.S. officials said. Iranian nationals who oppose the government are considered “internal” adversaries, officials said, even when residing in others’ sovereign territory.

The U.S. Treasury Department and its U.K. equivalent imposed financial sanctions on Zindashti earlier this year, saying that he had conducted “assassinations and kidnappings under the direction of the MOIS across multiple continents.”

Even while taking advantage of Zindashti’s international reach, Iran has diversified.

Iranian American journalist Masih Alinejad, seen in June, was targeted in an assassination plot, U.S. officials said. (Jeenah Moon for The Washington Post)

A gunman who showed up at the Brooklyn doorstep of Iranian American journalist Masih Alinejad in July 2022 was a member of a sprawling criminal organization known as Thieves in Law. The phrase refers to a mafia-style honor code that sworn members are bound to follow.

The assailant, Khalid Mehdiyev, was arrested after being pulled over for a traffic violation near Alinejad’s residence. Police found an AK-47, 66 rounds of ammunition and a ski mask in his vehicle, according to a U.S. indictment.

Charges have also been filed against two other suspected Thieves in Law members alleged to have given Mehdiyev his orders. One was based in Iran but apprehended in Uzbekistan and turned over to the United States in 2023, officials said. The other was also extradited earlier this year after being arrested in the Czech Republic.

The assassination attempt marked at least the third plot targeting Alinejad, a prominent advocate for women’s rights in Iran. One centered on an elaborate scheme to abduct her, escape New York by boat and board a flight to Iran from Venezuela, according to details released by the U.S. Treasury Department when it imposed sanctions on security operatives in Iran.

Alinejad said she has spent time in more than a dozen safe houses and that Iran’s use of criminals has deepened her concern for her safety. “There are a lot of people in Eastern Europe and other places and it’s very easy for them to get a visa and come here to do the job,” she said.

‘We’re coming for you’

Iran has used that template repeatedly against Iran International, the satellite station whose journalists have been targets of at least five lethal plots.

Launched in 2017, the network has built gleaming studios in a London business park and hired hundreds of employees, including prominent broadcasters from BBC Persian and other platforms.

Despite negligible advertising revenue, the station spends lavishly on facilities and salaries, reporting losses totaling $569 million between 2017 and 2022, the latest year for which figures are available.

 Executives declined to provide details on the station’s funding except to acknowledge that much of it comes from sources in Saudi Arabia — one of Iran’s primary adversaries.

Viewership has surged, fueled by around-the-clock coverage of internal protests. During the 2022 uprisings that followed the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman beaten by police for alleged violations of the country’s religious dress code, the network aired coverage of the violent internal crackdown, showing videos of police beatings and other abuses submitted by activists and ordinary citizens.

Women hold up signs in Persian and English during a student-led anti-Britain demonstration outside the British Embassy in Tehran on Oct. 27, 2022. (Str/AFP/Getty Images)

As protests grew, IRGC commander Hossein Salami issued a thinly veiled threat to the network. “We warn those who manage these systems of spreading news and spreading lies for chaos inside our country to stop these behaviors,” he said. “You’ve tried us before. Watch out because we’re coming for you.”

A month later, in November 2022, the station issued a news release saying it had been warned of bomb and death threats against two of its senior managers. Other plots followed, aimed at on-air broadcasters Fardad Farahzad and Sima Sabet.

In February 2023, police arrested a suspected associate of the Thieves in Law who had arrived in London on a flight from Vienna, went straight to Iran International’s headquarters and begun taking videos of its perimeter security. That same month, the channel moved its production operations to an existing Iran International studio in Washington, considered safer because of the distance from Tehran and the capabilities of U.S. intelligence agencies.

British police arrest man outside Iran International

1:01

The Metropolitan Police released a video showing a man arrested outside Iran International's office in London on Feb. 11, 2023, under the state's terrorism act. (Video: Met Police via PA Media)

The Thieves in Law suspect, Magomed-Husejn Dovtaev, a 31-year-old native of Chechnya, was convicted in December of conducting surveillance for an act of terrorism and given a three-and-a-half-year prison sentence.

Three months later, a trio of alleged assailants arrived in London much as Dovtaev had — on flights from European countries that allow easy entry to Britain.

Zeraati considers himself more partisan commentator than impartial journalist, and the editorial tone of his weekly “Last Word” program may have made him a priority target.

Several weeks before the stabbing, he had aired an interview with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who used the appearance to denounce the IRGC as a “self-designated” terrorist organization.

Iran’s Fars News Agency responded by applying the same label to Iran International, calling it a “terrorist” channel that had “offered its antenna to the prime minister, murderer of children in Gaza.”

Despite efforts to protect Zeraati, the attack exposed security lapses. Police had removed monitoring devices from his home a year earlier and though London is saturated with police surveillance cameras, none had been installed on Zeraati’s street.

Alicia Kearns, a member of British Parliament who was chairwoman of the Foreign Affairs Committee at the time of the stabbing, said in an interview that she was troubled that police had failed to stop the assailants before they could flee the country.

“There are unfortunately going to be an increase in hostile states seeking to silence those who speak against them,” she said. “The U.K. can’t be a beacon of freedom and democracy if we can’t stop hostile states conducting acts of terrorism on our soil.”

Zeraati has pressed on with his program but his life has been altered. After additional stays in safe houses, he and his wife decided this summer to move away from England. They now reside in Jerusalem, a city where they believed they would be safer, close to the regional stories he covers and where the station also has a studio.

He no longer walks with a noticeable limp, he said, but bears scars that “will stay for a lifetime.”

Read more: Repression's long arm

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Iran turns to Hells Angels and other criminal gangs to target critics

How China extended its repression into an American city

An assassination plot on American soil reveals a darker side of Modi’s Indi...

About this story

Mekhennet and Brown reported from Washington. Amanda Coletta in Toronto and Kareem Fahim and Beril Eski in Istanbul contributed to this report.

Design and development by Andrew Bradford. Illustration by Rob Dobi. Graphics by Sam Granados and Cate Brown.

Photo editing by Olivier Laurent. Design editing by Joseph Moore.

Editing by Peter Finn. Project editing by Akilah Johnson. Copy editing by Feroze Dhanoa.

Additional support from Jordan Melendrez, Nina Zafar, Grace Moon, Joe Snell, Sarah Parnass and Sarah Murray.

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By Greg Miller

Greg Miller is an investigative foreign correspondent based in London for The Washington Post and a two-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize. He is the author of “The Apprentice,” a book on Russia’s interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential race and the fallout under the Trump administration.follow on X @gregpmiller

By Souad Mekhennet

Souad Mekhennet is a correspondent on the national security desk. She is the author of "I Was Told to Come Alone: My Journey Behind the Lines of Jihad," and she has reported on terrorism for the New York Times, the International Herald Tribune and NPR.follow on X @smekhennet

By Cate Brown

Cate Brown is a researcher for The Post's International Investigations team.follow on X @catebrown12

14. Biden, NATO effectively declaring war on Russia

​This is one interpretation. But it is this criticism that supports the "prevent escalation at all costs" type of thinking.

Biden, NATO effectively declaring war on Russia - Asia Times

Ukraine leader Zelensky off to Washington to discuss missile strike targets inside Russia, an escalation that could ignite World War III

asiatimes.com · by Stephen Bryen · September 14, 2024

There is no other way to interpret it: Washington and its client NATO members are declaring war on Russia.

That is the direct meaning of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s forthcoming visit to Washington, where the parties will agree on targets inside Russia.

To say this is an insane, reckless move is an understatement. This is the most dangerous step possible for the US and NATO – and it will likely lead to World War III.

Don’t believe any rhetoric “justifying” the use of long-range missiles on Russia. Putin has pointed out that while Ukraine will host the missiles, they will be fired by NATO personnel who will also insert the targeting data coming from overhead satellites covering Russian territory. Those satellites are American.

The upcoming Zelensky-Joe Biden meeting should also include Vice President Kamala Harris, so she takes full responsibility for starting a war.

No one can presume what the outcome will be. Will Russia unleash nuclear weapons and bring a definitive end to the Ukraine war? Will it shoot down American satellites? Will Russia send rockets to hit supply depots in Europe, especially in Poland, which is the jumping-off point for military supplies to Ukraine?

There are many other possibilities open to Russia. Russia could transfer nuclear weapons to Iran, for example, or to Syria.

The truth is Washington wants to take up Zelensky’s proposals for deep strikes on Russian territory because Ukraine is losing the war and could be defeated even before the presidential elections in November.

The Biden-Harris team will have to explain why they kept backing a loser, causing tens of thousands of casualties, instead of seeking a diplomatic settlement that was easily within their grasp.

Here again, Washington stopped a deal in the making between Ukraine and Russia, and Biden and Harris are directly responsible for that.

Zelensky’s strategy is easy to grasp. He knows everything is falling apart and Ukraine won’t be able to fight anymore by winter, as its infrastructure, especially electrical power but also fuel, dries up.

Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski says that Ukraine’s electrical power has been degraded by 70%, perhaps more. So Zelensky’s strategy is to bring NATO directly into the war. And, stupidly and arrogantly, Washington is playing the same game.

No one, other than the UK, wants to see a war in Europe. The UK is no longer an important European country and lacks a land army worth talking about.

Instead its government built a couple of massively expensive aircraft carriers that function poorly, if at all, instead of strengthening its military and rebuilding its defenses.

In any case, the UK dances to the US tune. The British are anxious to attack Russia but haven’t bothered to figure out what will happen when Russia blows up the UK.

The big question is why Washington wants to fire missiles into Russia. It means that Biden, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and Secretary of State Antony Blinken know that their Ukraine policy is a disaster.

Instead of trying to open communications with the Russians, they are upping the ante and taking huge risks, with little idea of how things will end up, unless they are really getting ready to send in NATO troops and use NATO airpower in the Ukraine war.

Russia may not match the US in many military categories but it occupies a large landmass and has strategic and tactical nuclear weapons.

For years, we have known that Russia’s military does not really differentiate between tactical and strategic nuclear systems; rather it sees them all along a continuum to be used as necessary.

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What this means is that Russia can launch ICBMs and submarine IRBMs against US continental targets. People in Washington should understand that the US has almost no continental air defenses capable of stopping a Russian nuclear attack.

For years, strategists have worried about a so-called “first strike” capability. I can’t say Russia really has that, but no one should want to find out.

The only hope is to persuade our current leaders, soon to be replaced, that they will be held accountable for starting a war without any grounds for doing so.

One of the features of government is that people make decisions without taking responsibility. In the case of World War III, no matter what soap opera propaganda flows into US newspapers, our leaders will have a lot of blood on their hands if they go ahead with bombing Russia.

Stephen Bryen is senior correspondent at Asia Times. He served as staff director of the Near East Subcommittee of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee and as a deputy undersecretary of defense for policy.

This article was originally published on his Weapons and Strategy Substack, and is republished with permission.

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asiatimes.com · by Stephen Bryen · September 14, 2024

​15. Stoltenberg says NATO could have done more to prevent Ukraine war, FAS reports

This is quite an admission. This calls for reflection by all NATO members.

Stoltenberg says NATO could have done more to prevent Ukraine war, FAS reports

https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/stoltenberg-says-nato-could-have-done-more-prevent-ukraine-war-fas-reports-2024-09-14/

By Reuters

September 14, 20245:07 AM EDTUpdated 6 hours ago

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg attend a press conference, during NATO's 75th anniversary summit, in Washington, U.S., July 11, 2024. REUTERS/Nathan Howard/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab

BERLIN, Sept 14 (Reuters) - NATO could have done more to arm Ukraine to try to prevent Russia's invasion in 2022, the outgoing head of the Western military alliance said in an interview released on Saturday.

"Now we provide military stuff to a war - then we could have provided military stuff to prevent the war," NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told German weekly newspaper FAS.

Stoltenberg pointed to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's reluctance to provide weapons that Kyiv had asked for before Russia's full-scale invasion because of fears that tensions with Russia would escalate.

After the war began, Kyiv, which is not a member of NATO, received one weapons system after another from its allies after initial hesitation.

Stoltenberg, a former prime minister of Norway, will step down in October from his role at NATO, which he has held since 2014. Dutch former Prime Minister Mark Rutte was announced in June as the organisation's next boss.

In the interview, Stoltenberg said an end to the war in Ukraine would be achieved only at the negotiating table.

"To end this war there will have to be again dialogue with Russia at a certain stage. But it has to be based on Ukrainian strength," he said.

Stoltenberg declined to confirm that he would take over from German diplomat Christoph Heusgen as chair of the Munich Security Conference after leaving NATO. He told FAS he had "many options" and would reside in Oslo.

Get the latest news and expert analysis about the state of the global economy with the Reuters Econ World newsletter. Sign up here.

Writing by Friederike Heine, Editing by Timothy Heritage

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

16. Meet Margarita Simonyan, queen of Russia’s covert information wars

If I were a journalist interviewing those who deny Russian (or any other country's attempt at) interference in our elections, I would ask them to comment on the following statement and ask them if they agree with it.

"A democracy is only as resilient as its people. An informed and engaged citizenry is the fundamental requirement for a free and resilient nation. For generations, our society has protected free press, free speech, and free thought. Today, actors such as Russia are using information tools in an attempt to undermine the legitimacy of democracies. Adversaries target media, political processes, financial networks, and personal data. The American public and private sectors must recognize this and work together to defend our way of life. No external threat can be allowed to shake our shared commitment to our values, undermine our system of government, or divide our Nation."

Access NSS HERE

If they discount or denounce or otherwise belittle this statement (such as saying we are a republic not a democracy) I would remind them that it was written in the 2017 National Security Strategy signed by former President Donald Trump. I do not mean this as a partisan statement. I think all Americans regardless of political affiliations should accept this statement as our common aspiration.

Meet Margarita Simonyan, queen of Russia’s covert information wars

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/09/11/russia-disinformation-margarita-simonyan/?utm

While the Kremlin has denied U.S. accusations of information operations, Simonyan proudly admits that her work is at the behest of the Russian government.

7 min

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Margarita Simonyan attends a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin and his confidants in Moscow on Jan. 31. (Natalia Kolesnikova/AFP/Getty Images)

By Robyn Dixon

September 11, 2024 at 10:00 a.m. EDT

The United States has accused the head of Russia’s state-owned RT television network of being a key player in Russian “malign influence operations.”

And she’s proud of it.

Margarita Simonyan says she takes her orders directly from the Kremlin in what she describes as a covert “guerrilla” information operation against the United States. Speaking on state television on Sunday night, she taunted Washington over its efforts to shut down RT’s campaign and contradicted previous Kremlin denials of foreign influence operations.

Simonyan, who lived with an American family in New Hampshire in her teens during the 1990s and speaks excellent English, is known for her biting rhetoric and effective propaganda. Recently she delighted in poking fun at U.S. law enforcement questioning RT employees to prove a link between its actions and the Kremlin.“What they were most interested in is whether I get my orders from the Kremlin. Listen, comrades,” she said, addressing U.S. authorities, “what do you think — that I get orders from the CIA? Where else would I get my orders from if I head a Russian state media outlet funded by the state?”

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“Write it down for yourself!” she said. “All the employees of RT and the editor in chief only obey the orders of the Kremlin! All other orders are toilet paper!”

Last week the Justice Department indicted two employees of RT — formerly Russia Today — accusing them of money laundering linked to an operation that allegedly involved paying American right-wing influencers nearly $10 million to parrot Kremlin propaganda — just one part of a broader Russian campaign to promote the election of the Kremlin’s preferred presidential candidate, Donald Trump, and to undermine American support for Ukraine.

In Western countries “including the United States, we started to work covertly,” Simonyan said. “We organized a number of guerrilla projects. I won’t say if these are the projects about which the United States is accusing us, or different ones.”

The Treasury Department last week placed sanctions on Simonyan, whom it said was “a central figure in Russian government malign influence efforts,” as well as eight other employees of RT, a former Kremlin official and two companies. U.S. authorities also shut down 32 internet domains, though hundreds more reportedly still operate.

The actions targeted several major influence operations including the RT project, and a project code-named the Good Old USA Project, part of a Russian operation, Doppelganger, previously reported in The Washington Post, that is coordinated with Kremlin first deputy chief of staff Sergei Kiriyenko.

Simonyan, who also heads the Rossiya Segodnya and Sputnik news agencies, is central to the Kremlin’s global disinformation operation, which is a crucial part of Russia’s hybrid confrontation with the West. According to the U.S. government, it is designed to sow divisions in the United States and its allies, undermine American democracy, damage U.S. interests, boost Trump and undermine Western support for Ukraine.

Simonyan was just 25 when she was appointed head of Russia Today, as it was then known, when it was launched in 2005. Previously she had been a Kremlin reporter at a local television station.

Her dizzying rise is remarkable in a nation where few women have gained such heights, particularly one who — according to Simonyan’s official biography — was the daughter of a refrigerator repairman in the southern city of Krasnodar. She grew up in a house plagued by rats, with one outdoor tap and toilet shared by five families, according to the account.

In this photo from the state-sponsored Sputnik news agency, Putin applauds Simonyan during a ceremony at the Kremlin in 2019. (Mikhail Klimentyev/Sputnik/Pool/AP)

At the age of 15 in 1995, she spent a year living with an American family: Andrew O’Hara, a plumber in Bristol, N.H., and his wife, Dorothy. (They died in 2022 and 2020, respectively.)

Simonyan draws on her time living in the O’Hara home in her frequent attacks on American education and what she portrays as an incurious, poorly educated nation. She said recently on state television that the O’Hara household did not contain a single book.

Speaking on Sunday night, she said that America’s education system was such a failure that citizens were ill-informed, portraying this as an intentional government policy “to completely deprive American citizens of it.”

“Because of all this there are some things they don’t understand. They still live with the red threat,” she said, and memories of the Iron Curtain.

Simonyan’s open admission on Sunday that RT runs covert information operations in the United States contradicted Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, who has frequently denied Russian foreign influence operations.

“Well of course it’s nonsense. We’re not interfering,” he said last week when the latest U.S. charges surfaced.

In April, Simonyan boasted about the “game” of whack-a-mole she makes the CIA play, creating hundreds of disinformation channels “not tied to us” that she claimed quickly built enormous audiences.

The CIA, playing catch-up, would shut down sometimes 600 channels at a time, she told state the television program “Fate of a Person,” “but while they’re closing them, we’ve already made new ones.” At one point she claimed her channel had amassed 14 billion views, a number that could not be independently verified.

In addition to her caustic remarks about U.S. foreign policy and fierce defense of Russian policy, Simonyan has made controversial comments about Ukrainians, accusing them of being irredeemable Nazis.

In April 2022, she said Ukrainians were suffering a kind of collective psychosis for resisting Russia’s invasion. “To my horror, to my regret, a considerable portion of the Ukrainian people have turned out to be engulfed in the madness of Nazism,” she said while speaking on pro-Kremlin NTV.

“It’s no accident we call them Nazis,” she said. “What makes you a Nazi is your bestial nature, your bestial hatred and your bestial willingness to tear out the eyes of children on the basis of nationality.”

In July 2022, she said Russia must build a future without Ukraine, “because Ukraine as it was can’t continue to exist. There will be no Ukraine as we’ve known it for many years past.”

Critics, including the late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, have accused her of amassing a fortune by overcharging the state for services and assailed her record of genocidal rhetoric against Ukraine on Russian television.

In a 2020 investigative film titled “Parasites,” Navalny said Simonyan and her husband had raked in massive sums by providing illusory services to multiple state-owned companies.

“No matter how mediocre they are, almost a million rubles was pumped to them out of our pockets,” Navalny said in the film. “All the relatives are feeding at the trough. All their clients are state-owned.”

Simonyan did not respond to questions about the RT interference campaign or the Navalny documentary.

Navalny lampooned her for years with the nickname “Beaver-eater” after a 2012 social media post where she outlined her plans to boil up a beaver head for broth as the base for a beaver stew.

But she eventually had her revenge. When he ended a hunger strike in prison in 2021 protesting a lack of medical treatment, Simonyan sent him a parcel of dried beaver meat salami in a box with an RT sticker.

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Understanding the Russia-Ukraine conflict

HAND CURATED

• What the Pentagon has learned from two years of war in Ukraine
• February 22, 2024
• Ukraine’s gamble in Russia has yet to slow Moscow’s eastern assault
• August 31, 2024
• Mapping Ukraine’s incursion in Russia
• August 12, 2024

View 3 more stories

By Robyn Dixon

Robyn Dixon is a foreign correspondent on her third stint in Russia, after almost a decade reporting there beginning in the early 1990s. In November 2019 she joined The Washington Post as Moscow bureau chief. follow on X @RobynDixon__

17. Local Government Is Key to the Fight Against Disinformation

Local Government Is Key to the Fight Against Disinformation

TIME · by Michael Vandergriff

Ideas

By Michael VandergriffSeptember 11, 2024 2:03 PM EDT

Vandergriff is a second-year student at the University of Michigan Law School. He previously worked with the United Nations and the U.S. federal government on international security policy issues

State governments, it is sometimes said, are the laboratories of democracy. If so, the rest of the world should make use of the new discoveries that are occurring there in the fight against election disinformation.

2024 is a pivotal year for democracies around the globe with more than half the world’s population going to the polls. However, the unprecedented threat of election-related disinformation looms large, particularly in the United States.

Authoritarian countries like Russia, China, and Iran are leading disinformation campaigns, enhanced by artificial intelligence, to push narratives that undermine democratic governance, exacerbate political divisions, and support strongman and populist leaders. It is also increasingly apparent that foreign actors are poised to ramp up influence operations as Americans head to the polls. While it’s not the only threat in the disinformation landscape, they are certainly ones to be taken seriously, especially as the U.S. prepares for a polarized and divisive presidential election.

With Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump locked in a competitive race for the White House, the contest to determine who will secure the presidency is likely be decided by a thin margin of voters in a handful of states. And any widespread disinformation campaign targeting battleground states has the potential to tip the scales or delegitimize election results. Down-ballot races are also at risk.

This comes at a time when the U.S. has also been experiencing a steady decline in local news sources since 2005. Instead, social media has become a crucial aspect of news consumption, and one that amplifies misinformation, leading to increased division, polarization on partisan grounds, and a loss of confidence in our institutions.

The terrain is becoming more treacherous as technology rapidly advances. From AI-generated robocalls that impersonated President Biden to discourage votes in New Hampshire to a manipulated campaign ad shared by Elon Musk on X which used AI to mimic Vice-President Harris.

So, what should we do to protect ourselves from falling victim to disinformation?

The most robust solutions may lie in the hands of states and local governments.

Traditionally, federal agencies take the lead, given their national security mandates, on countering foreign disinformation threats. However, states should not cede the battle on disinformation to federal agencies, but instead take a central role creating a great opportunity to inoculate individuals from falling victim to mistruths and conspiracy theories set loose online.

States and municipalities can complement and bolster national efforts to combat the spread of disinformation through the following measures:

Invest in local media

A number of state governments are taking measures to support local news outlets. Local news is essential to combatting disinformation because in the absence of community centered journalism, many seek information from social media, which has become a well-known vector for the spread of false claims and conspiracy theories. States such as New York have used tax incentives while others, like California, New Mexico, and Washington have established publicly funded fellowship programs for young and aspiring journalists. Illinois is one of the first states in the nation to mandate state agency spend on local news advertisement. While these are a great start, local news outlets are woefully underprepared for an information ecosystem where disinformation can so easily stifle and muddle the truth.

States should prioritize resources for local news organizations so that they can build the capacity to pre-bunk and de-bunk information that floods the online environment, especially when it comes to elections. Debunking claims takes a significant amount of time and resources, one even nationally syndicated news outlets have difficulty in keeping up with.

States can compensate for the stagnating momentum in the global fact-checking ecosystem. By building the capacity for de-bunking at the local level, this can begin to build a network of professionalized journalists dedicated to inundating their communities from being overwhelmed with fake news.

News literacy

Several states have implemented media literacy programs at the middle and high school levels. California, Delaware, and New Jersey have recently passed laws requiring K-12 students to learn media literacy skills— such as recognizing fake news and thinking critically about information they encounter online.

These steps can help prepare younger generations for a media environment where disinformation is constant. However, the same resources need to be made available to adults too, particularly those susceptible to fake news. As technology advances, even those with higher media literacy may even have difficulty distinguishing fact from fiction.

Election security response units

States should develop rapid response election security units within the state executive branch, that work with counties, in coordination with federal authorities, to monitor and detect state-sponsored disinformation campaigns leading up to the election, particularly those which violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. This strategy should include the creation of units that counter misinformation campaigns with facts. States could rely on the example set by New York City during the COVID-19 pandemic, for instance. The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene established a dedicated Misinformation Response Unit to focus on monitoring misinformation, rapidly responding by disseminating accurate information related to vaccine safety.

With the accelerated spread of disinformation supercharged by sophisticated artificial intelligence tools, the federal government is simply far too ill-equipped to tackle this challenge alone. Politics aside, it should be in every leader’s interest at the state and local level to ensure that our democratic process is decided by an informed electorate—free from the influence of foreign powers who wish us harm or to sow chaos and division. Nationwide efforts adopted by states can reduce the spread of misinformation and strengthen our democracy for the better

States have an opportunity to experiment with solutions. We should encourage them to use it.

TIME · by Michael Vandergriff

18. Send Us Back to Afghanistan

If only we had the political will. I know some people who could support such an effort. They would be able to determine if there is a sufficiently viable resistance capability that would serve US interests by answering the standard (mine) common UW/resistance PIR.

UW Standing “PIR” For Resistance

•Assessments – Special Forces Area Study/Area Assessment, PSYOP Target Audience Analysis, and Civil Affairs Civil Reconnaissance/Civil Information Management

•Who is the resistance?

–Leaders, groups, former military, in or out of government, etc.

•What are the objectives of the resistance?

–Do they align with US and friends, partners, and allies?

•Where is it operating?

–From where is it getting support?

•When did it begin?

–When will it/did it commence operations?

•Why is there a resistance or the potential for resistance?

–What are the underlying causes/drivers?

•How will it turn out?

–E.g., what is the assessment of success or failure of the resistance?

•Most important - An expert recommendation: Should the US support or counter the resistance and if so how?

Conclusion:

We in the Afghanistan United Front have the best leadership, combat leaders, young generation of Afghans, and tribal support across the country. Also, we have soldiers to fight. We know the Taliban; we know their weakness and furthermore we are motivated to fight them for they have invaded our country. In this new partnership we do not want U.S. boots with us on the ground; rather, we are asking for political and technical support which the U.S. can afford. The Taliban and Al-Qaida are your enemies—the most reliable friends the U.S. has in Afghanistan are its Afghan allies.

As an aside I saw the first two episodes of The Old Man on FX/Hulu. The situation depicted in the fictional story may actually be slightly illustrative of some of the possible trades in Afghanistan today (with some sentialization of course).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VulA48pFG9M

Send Us Back to Afghanistan

https://www.realcleardefense.com/articles/2024/09/11/send_us_back_to_afghanistan_1057624.html

By COL. Parwani

September 11, 2024

When Joe Biden pulled out of Afghanistan in 2021, he claimed that Al-Qaida had been defeated. But al-Qaida is back with a vengeance in Afghanistan and has a stronger footprint there than ever before.

“Remember why we went to Afghanistan in the first place? Because we were attacked by Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda on September 11th, 2001, and they were based in Afghanistan,” Biden said in his Aug. 31, 2024 remarks on the pullout from Afghanistan. “We delivered justice to bin Laden on May 2nd, 2011 — over a decade ago. Al Qaeda was decimated.”

That was wishful thinking, and that official narrative was a lie. Al-Qaida is stronger than ever on the 23rd anniversary of the September 11 attacks. Around 800 al-Qaida commanders and over 50,000 Al-Qaida members, along with their families, operate in Afghanistan.

This is a reminder of President Biden’s failure: he delivered a defeat to U.S. military and Afghanistan from the very White House where he was supposed to fight for it. Decisions made in Washington in 2021 helped the Taliban to win and for Al-Qaida to come back ever stronger.

The flight of President Ashraf Ghani and the collapse of the Afghan government in Kabul on Aug. 15, 2021 that returned the Taliban to power in Afghanistan underscores this failure.

After the U.S. and its NATO allies invaded Afghanistan with the goal of eradicating al-Qaida in retaliation for the September 11 attacks, they overthrew the Taliban regime led by Mullah Mohammad Omar. However, the signing of the Doha Agreement on Feb. 29, 2020, resulted in an increasing Taliban insurgency that culminated in the Taliban’s return.

American policymakers look the other way about al-Qaida’s resurgence due to their foolish belief that the Taliban is a counterterrorism partner against al-Qaida and other terrorist organizations.

Despite the Taliban’s denial of al-Qaida’s presence in Afghanistan, Ayman al-Zawahiri, the leader of al-Qaida, was killed on July 31, 2022 in a U.S. drone strike in the diplomatic district of Kabul, just 900 meters from the Afghan Presidential Palace.

The CIA knows al-Qaida is active in Afghanistan; however, higher-ups in the White House cover for the Taliban to preserve the narrative that it’s a partner against terrorism and that al-Qaida is dead.

It is worth noting that Saif al-Adel, the leader of al-Qaida, currently residing in Iran, has instructed all fighters and supporters of the group to travel to Afghanistan for military training.

The second generation of al-Qaida married Afghan wives and are building his local connections. Al-Qaida members currently receive military training in Taliban-run training centres across various provinces of Afghanistan, according to recent intelligence reports released by the Afghanistan United Front Intelligence Committee.

Al-Qaida operates freely in Afghanistan and has established 8 training centers in various regions, particularly in Ghazni, Parwan, Laghman, and Uruzgan provinces, with a weapons depot in Panjshir province, according to a June 2024 report by the United Nations Monitoring Team on Sanctions. This is a direct violation of the 2020 Doha Agreement and underscores its failure.

The Afghanistan United Front’s sources have identified the following senior Taliban leaders as key facilitators of al-Qaida:

• Fathullah Mansoor: The son of Akhtar Mansoor, a Taliban leader who was killed in a U.S. drone strike. Fathullah Mansoor, the head of the Taliban regime's Civil Aviation Authority, is one of the Taliban's senior leaders responsible for coordinating the travel and accommodation of Al-Qaida leaders in Afghanistan. He also oversees the security of al-Qaida leaders in southern Afghanistan, particularly in Kandahar province.
• Sadr Ibrahim: The deputy interior minister of the Taliban regime, responsible for providing training camps, accommodations, weapons, vehicles, and documents for Al-Qaida fighters and their families. Sadr Ibrahim is one of the Taliban’s closest associates with Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
• Qari Fasihuddin: The Taliban’s Chief of Staff, responsible for training, equipping, and integrating Al-Qaeda-affiliated groups, especially Ansarullah of Tajikistan; the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU); and the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM), which consists of Uyghur Muslims from China. These groups are focused on Central Asia and are linked to al-Qaida.
• Mullah Fazel: A former Guantanamo Bay detainee and currently the deputy defense minister of the Taliban. Under his direction, thousands of different types of weapons, vehicles, and resources have been provided to al-Qaida.

Given the close ties between the Taliban and the presence of al-Qaida's leadership in Afghanistan, it can be concluded that al-Qaida today has a fertile ground for planning, training, and executing attacks on U.S. interests and beyond. It is important to remember that the U.S. is once again overlooking the threat of terrorism, providing an opportunity for terrorist groups to plan and prepare their future operations with ease.

In 2023 the Taliban joined the nexus of resistance by Iran which aims to force U.S. troops and businesses out of the Middle East and Africa. Taliban, Al-Qaida and Iran are the new triangle of terror combining their efforts and resources to topple Arab regimes and wage a global war on the United States and its allies.

Looking to the future, there are three possibilities for the United States:

1. Do nothing and let the triangle grow in strength and fight them when they attack.
2. Start targeting their key personal and resource streams.
3. Support Afghan allies to pick up arms and go after them deep into Afghanistan.

We in the Afghanistan United Front have the best leadership, combat leaders, young generation of Afghans, and tribal support across the country. Also, we have soldiers to fight. We know the Taliban; we know their weakness and furthermore we are motivated to fight them for they have invaded our country. In this new partnership we do not want U.S. boots with us on the ground; rather, we are asking for political and technical support which the U.S. can afford. The Taliban and Al-Qaida are your enemies—the most reliable friends the U.S. has in Afghanistan are its Afghan allies.

COL. Parwani is an officer in the Afghan National Army and a member of the Afghanistan United Front, which seeks to return Afghanistan to constitutional order so that Afghans can enjoy freedom, peace and prosperity.

19. The Long-Range Weapons Ukraine Wants to Use on Russia, Explained

The Long-Range Weapons Ukraine Wants to Use on Russia, Explained

The United States and its allies are once again considering expanding the capabilities they provide to Ukraine in its fight against Russia’s invasion.

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/14/world/europe/ukraine-long-range-weapons-atacms.html

Army Tactical Missile Systems, known as ATACMS, have a range of 190 miles.Credit...John Hamilton/White Sands Missile Range, via Associated Press

By Eve Sampson and Lara Jakes

Sept. 14, 2024

Updated 5:01 a.m. ET

Want to stay updated on what’s happening in Ukraine? Sign up for Your Places: Global Update, and we’ll send our latest coverage to your inbox.

Ukraine has asked to use Western long-range weapons to strike deeper into Russia for months. It argues that it needs those weapons to hit military sites that house Russian warplanes and that launch missiles into Ukrainian cities.

Those entreaties were a major topic of discussion on Friday as President Biden met with Prime Minister Keir Starmer of Britain, who is trying to nudge the United States to give more latitude to the Ukrainians. Mr. Starmer would especially like Mr. Biden’s support for Britain to allow Ukraine to use British Storm Shadow missiles to fire farther into Russia.

Neither leader announced any policy changes after that meeting. Leaving the White House, Mr. Starmer told reporters, “We had a wide-ranging discussion about strategy,” and a White House summary of the meeting said that the two countries had “reaffirmed their unwavering support for Ukraine.”

Mr. Biden has been reluctant to approve deep strikes in the past, fearing escalation with Russia. But in May, he allowed Ukraine to fire a number of U.S.-supplied weapons just over the border to attack Russian military bases from which attacks into Ukraine have been launched, and he later expanded that permission.

Now, Ukraine wants long-range weapons. It is also seeking permission to use weapons it already has to hit targets deeper in Russia. President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia warned on Thursday that if the United States and its allies allowed that, they would put his country “at war” with NATO.

The debate in the U.S. administration centers, in large part, on these weapons.

Storm Shadows and SCALPs

Britain and France have already sent Ukraine air-launched cruise missiles that, so far, have struck Russian targets in Crimea and in the Black Sea. These missiles have a range of about 155 miles and have been fired from Ukraine’s aging fleet of Soviet-era and Russian-designed fighter jets.

They are known as Storm Shadows in Britain and SCALPs in France (and are virtually the same model).

Britain is eager to allow Ukraine to use the Storm Shadows to strike farther into Russia. Mr. Starmer was hoping to receive Mr. Biden’s approval of that plan so the allies could present a united front.

France has previously expressed support for Ukraine’s deep strikes into Russia, but only on military targets directly linked to Moscow’s war efforts in Ukraine.

Some analysts expect the United States to follow a pattern it established with Ukraine’s previous requests for weapons, like Abrams tanks, F-16 fighter jets and Patriot air defense systems: After long deliberations, Washington eventually allows its allies to move first in providing Ukraine with new capabilities or permissions, and then sometimes follows suit.Editors’ Picks

ATACMS

The Army Tactical Missile Systems, known as ATACMS (pronounced “attack ’ems”), are American-made long-range missiles that are filled with 375 pounds of explosives and, depending on the model, can strike targets up to 190 miles away. The United States supplied Ukraine with ATACMS last year, but the Biden administration has so far withheld its approval for their use across the border into Russia.

Russia has now moved 90 percent of its air bases that house bomber jets out of ATACMS range, U.S. and European military officials said, in anticipation that Ukraine could soon be allowed to fire the missiles across the border.

Originally developed in the 1980s to destroy Soviet targets far behind enemy lines, ATACMS could also strike Russian ground-based air-defense systems that target Ukraine’s newly furnished fleet of F-16s, experts said.

JASSMs

Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missiles, or JASSMs (pronounced “jazz ’ems”), are air-launched cruise missiles with a range of about 230 miles. These have not yet been provided to Ukraine, but a U.S. official said that the Biden administration was considering sending them.

The weapons carry 1,000-pound warheads and can be fired from F-16s. This means that with JASSMs, Ukraine could strike military targets well within Russian territory without leaving Ukrainian airspace.

Ukraine is believed to have received around a dozen American-made F-16s this summer, though officials have not said exactly how many.

The U.S. official said that even if Mr. Biden approved sending JASSMs to Ukraine, delivery might take months, and it is unclear whether Mr. Biden would allow Ukraine to fire these missiles into Russia.

Eric Schmitt and Aurelien Breeden contributed reporting.

Eve Sampson is a reporter covering international news and a member of the 2024-25 Times Fellowship class, a program for journalists early in their careers. More about Eve Sampson

Lara Jakes, based in Rome, reports on diplomatic and military efforts by the West to support Ukraine in its war with Russia. She has been a journalist for nearly 30 years. More about Lara Jakes

20. Sweeping Iraq Raid Killed 4 ISIS Leaders

Removing terrorists from the battlespace is always a good thing. We have to sustain our grass cutting capabilities. There is always more lawn to be mowed.

Sweeping Iraq Raid Killed 4 ISIS Leaders

The U.S. military said those killed in a joint assault by U.S. and Iraqi forces last month included the group’s top commander in Iraq and its leading bomb maker.

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/13/us/politics/iraq-raid-isis-leaders-killed.html

Members of an Iraqi counterterrorism force during a military exercise in Baghdad last year. The United States and other allied forces have helped Iraqi forces carry out more than 250 counterterrorism missions since October.Credit...Ahmad Al-Rubaye/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

By Eric Schmitt

Reporting from Washington

Published Sept. 13, 2024

Updated Sept. 14, 2024, 10:41 a.m. ET

One of the largest counterterrorism operations against the Islamic State in Iraq in recent years killed four top insurgent leaders last month, the U.S. military said on Friday, dealing the group a major blow at a time when its attacks in Iraq and Syria are on the rise.

The raid by American and Iraqi commandos against several Islamic State hide-outs in western Iraq on Aug. 29 killed at least 14 insurgents and devastated the group’s top leadership in the country, according to a statement from the Pentagon’s Central Command and U.S. counterterrorism officials.

Among the dead the military identified was Ahmad Hamid al-Ithawi, the top ISIS commander in Iraq and one of the group’s most well-established veterans. Two senior commanders for ISIS operations in western Iraq were also killed, the military’s statement said.

Another main target killed was Abu Ali al-Tunisi, a Tunisian national who was the subject of a $5 million reward from the U.S. government, the military revealed on Friday. Mr. al-Tunisi has been ISIS’s most significant designer, manufacturer and teacher in explosives — including improvised devices, suicide vests and car bombs, counterterrorism officials said.

“The raid appears to have effectively killed off ISIS’ entire command in Anbar,” Charles Lister, the director of the Middle East Institute’s Syria and counterterrorism programs, wrote in a Substack newsletter, “Syria Weekly,” on Friday. Anbar is a vast province in western Iraq that has been a locus for violent Sunni extremists for years.

Central Command and the Iraqi military offered scant details when they announced the raid on Aug. 30, even though it was one of the most sweeping counterterrorism missions in the country in years.

Seven U.S. soldiers were injured as more than 200 troops from both countries — including elite Army Rangers backing up the main assault force — hunted down fighters in bunkers over miles of remote terrain, U.S. and Iraqi officials said, adding that the size, scope and focus of the mission underscored the terrorist organization’s resurgence in recent months.

The joint operation in Anbar province came even as Iraq’s prime minister, Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, and Iraqi military commanders say they can keep ISIS under control without U.S.-led assistance. Iraq and the United States are negotiating an agreement that would wind down the U.S.-led military coalition in Iraq over the next two years. There are about 2,500 U.S. troops in Iraq and 900 in neighboring Syria.

Central Command, however, announced in July that the number of attacks claimed by ISIS in Iraq and Syria was on track to double this year from last year. ISIS asserted responsibility for 153 attacks in the two countries in the first six months of 2024, the command said, but the military has repeatedly refused to provide a country-by-country breakdown of the figures.

“With ISIS resurgent next door in Syria and U.S. troops now scheduled to depart Iraq by the end of 2026, degrading ISIS’s leadership and capabilities in Iraq is more vital than ever,” Mr. Lister wrote.

The United States and other allied forces have helped Iraqi forces carry out more than 250 counterterrorism missions since October, according to Pentagon officials.

But this operation was unusual in the heavy presence of American commandos leading the initial raid. More than 100 U.S. Special Operations forces and other troops joined a smaller number of Iraqi soldiers in the main helicopter-borne, predawn assault.

Central Command in its statement said the raids “served to disrupt and degrade ISIS’ ability to plan, organize and conduct attacks against Iraqi civilians, as well as U.S. citizens, allies and partners throughout the region and beyond.”

Besides killing the ISIS insurgents, the American and Iraqi commandos scooped up a trove of cellphones, computers and other sources of information from the raids, military officials said on Friday. U.S. analysts will first quickly assess the information to determine if it holds clues that commandos could use to carry out immediate attacks against other high-priority targets.

Counterterrorism analysts will then spend months poring over the data to learn more about the group’s leaders, finances, operations and planning.

Eric Schmitt is a national security correspondent for The Times, focusing on U.S. military affairs and counterterrorism issues overseas, topics he has reported on for more than three decades. More about Eric Schmitt

21. Watch: Freight train smashes into US Army howitzer gun at level crossing

See the incredible video at the link. I would think drivers would know about the dangers of crossing railroad tracks.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/us/news/2024/09/13/watch-freight-train-smashes-into-us-army-howitzer-gun-at-le/?utm

Watch: Freight train smashes into US Army howitzer gun at level crossing

The Telegraph · by Iona Cleave

The $1.5m artillery weapon was destroyed in the impact, after the lorry carrying it became stuck on the railway

13 September 2024 • 12:38pm

Related Topics

• US Army,
• Rail,
• North America

A train has smashed into a US Army vehicle which became stuck on a railway crossing in South Carolina.

In dramatic dashcam footage shared by witnesses, blaring horns and the screeching of brakes can be heard before a freight train comes into view.

The fast-moving locomotive ploughs into the stationary M109 Paladin howitzer, worth $1.5 million, which is being carried on a lorry.

The impact takes a chunk out of the howitzer – a large, self-propelled gun on tracks, which resembles a small tank.

The howitzer bounces and shakes before landing on the road, as its broken 155mm gun spins.

The incident took place at midday local time on Thursday at a level crossing in Goose Creek, Berkeley County. No injuries were reported.

Witnesses said the lorry driver managed to escape moments before the impact.

“He jumped out of the truck and the train was coming. And maybe five seconds later the train hit and destroyed everything,” Sonya Pitt told WCSC, a South Carolina news outlet.

Related Topics

• US Army,
• Rail,
• North America

License this content

More stories

The Telegraph · by Iona Cleave

22. This Army division just ran cybersecurity for a far-away brigade

The modern version of dispersion with the (global) battlespace.

This Army division just ran cybersecurity for a far-away brigade

c4isrnet.com · by Todd South · September 13, 2024

One of the Army’s most modernized armored brigades and its parent division recently conducted the service’s first long-range, fully remote cybersecurity operation at the division level.

The 3rd Infantry Division’s network operations and security cell remained at Fort Stewart, Georgia, in July, covering the first 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team’s cyber 6 as the Raider Brigade conducted a two-week rotation at the National Training Center, Fort Irwin, California.

Army officials believe that such remote cyber protection will be critical to units using cloud-dependent systems on missions, systems increasingly being fielded to the force.

The division cell’s oversight of Internet firewalls, sensors and scanners for a unit more than 2,300 miles away occurred during one of the brigade’s most demanding rotations to date.

Brigade soldiers fought across 120 miles during their time at the center, Maj. Gen. Chris Norrie, 3rd ID commander, said Wednesday at the Maneuver Warfighter Conference at Fort Moore, Georgia.

The brigade conducted five force-on-force operations, a full live-fire attack into a hasty defense and seized 20 objectives, Norrie said.

“That’s a really demanding pace and scale for an armor brigade, but it is consistent with what we might expect if we had to go fight large-scale ground formations,” Norrie said.

The cyber soldiers back in Georgia detected 17 million digital threats and manually investigated more than 3,000 alerts as they supported the brigade, according to a division statement.

“We took a capability that was being underutilized at the brigade level and brought up the ability to provide a cyber defense to any of our units,” said Chief Warrant Officer 2 Gregory Hazard, who heads the unit’s Cybersecurity Operations Center.

Hazard stressed that the remote cell was still in the “proof of concept stage” but the division has already heard from other divisions interested in how they can replicate the concept.

Brigade commander Col. Jim Armstrong spoke Thursday at the conference, noting how current adversary threats in cyber and other areas are forcing units to adapt.

“We must not cede this freedom of maneuver,” Armstrong said in a statement to Army Times. “We must re-create maneuver space in multiple domains to maintain our capacity to kill the enemy.”

The division was the first in the Army to receive a slew of upgrades in 2022, including new Joint Light Tactical Vehicles, new maintenance and diagnostic tools, the M109A7 Paladin howitzer, the M2A4 Bradley Fighting Vehicles and the M1A2 Sepv3 Abrams tank.

Soldiers with 3rd Infantry Division conduct assessments of simulated threats and vulnerabilities during a warfighter exercise on Fort Stewart, Georgia. (Spc. Duke Edwards/Army)

At the time, the division also tested the new Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle, which it has since fielded and it was the first brigade to deploy a full complement to the training center, Armstrong said.

Armstrong shared other highlights from the rotation.

The division conducted the first heavy Immediate Response Package since 2003, a scalable, combat-ready force ready for short or no-notice deployment, Armstrong said.

That package includes a company’s worth of Bradleys, JLTVs, tracked maintenance vehicles, fuelers, cargo trucks and about 60 soldiers.

Deploying the response package required C-17 Globemaster plane transports that landed at airstrips meant to replicate real-world remote locations rather than a standard airport.

The combination of new equipment and cyber protection helped the brigade conduct the first successful armored brigade combined arms breach of an urban site at nighttime in more than 20 years, Armstrong said.

About Todd South

Todd South has written about crime, courts, government and the military for multiple publications since 2004 and was named a 2014 Pulitzer finalist for a co-written project on witness intimidation. Todd is a Marine veteran of the Iraq War.

23. Night Stalkers - US special forces at a crossroads

Certainly one of the greatest aviation units ever created.

Night Stalkers - US special forces at a crossroads

aerosociety.com

What will the future airborne fleet of US Special Operations Command consist of? ANDREW WHITE reports.

Midway through 2024, the world’s geopolitical landscape continues to shift at pace, forcing governments to react to rapidly evolving operational requirements across all domains.

The wholesale withdrawal of coalition forces from Afghanistan, the ongoing support of Ukraine’s armed forces in the war against Russia, and the consideration of threats across the Indo-Pacific (specifically from the People’s Republic of China and Democratic People’s Republic of Korea) are just a few examples of the most recent and notable changes to the operating environment faced by Western militaries.

Special operations forces (SOF) are no exception to this trend as commanders seek to retain tactical and strategic advantage over well-equipped and highly capable adversaries.

As AEROSPACE goes to press, sizeable changes are being considered across the US Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) fleet of rotary and fixed-wing assets as its Tampa-based headquarters looks to both achieve value for money and optimise its operational effectiveness.

Rotary-wing assets

An MH-47G Chinook crew from the 160th SOAR and airmen from the 22nd Special Tactics Squadron conduct helocast alternate insertion and extraction training at American Lake on Joint Base Lewis-McChord. (USAF)

USSOCOM’s rotary-wing capability is predominantly provided by the US Army’s 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (SOAR) – nicknamed the Night Stalkers – which operates a range of platforms, including A/MH-6 Little Bird light attack/assault, MH-60 Black Hawk medium attack/assault and MH-47 Chinook heavy assault helicopters.

During the annual SOF Week conference in Tampa, Florida between 7-9 May, USSOCOM officials described how “near peer/greater power competition is driving a need for SOF aviation to evolve and provide value in contested and denied environments over potentially significantly longer distances in an environment of likely highly contested logistics.”

Key enablers being sought by the command in terms of rotary-wing capability include: assured position, navigation and timing (A-PNT); low probability of intercept/detection communications; sensor fusion; aircraft survivability equipment and cyber resiliency; enhanced data processing and common architectures; autonomy; and finally power, fuel and range improvements, command officials declared in a series of presentations.

The FARA way

The likely cancellation of FARA was announced in February 2024. (US Army)

According to USSOCOM’s future roadmap for its Program Executive Office (PEO) Rotary-Wing, the US Army’s Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft (FARA) had originally been scheduled to enter service with SOF in Fiscal Year 2034, alongside the Future Long- Range Assault Aircraft (FLRAA).

However, on 8 February, the US Army confirmed it would be restructuring its aviation programme and announced the likely cancellation of FARA. Army Chief of Staff, General Randy George, stated at the time: “We are learning from the battlefield, especially Ukraine, that aerial reconnaissance has fundamentally changed.”

Should the cancellation of FARA be confirmed (no date has yet been provided for such a decision), it will leave a critical capability gap for US SOF moving forward into a much more contested operating environment.

Little Birds

Members assigned to US Special Operations Command fire blank rounds from a helicopter during a Special Operations Forces demonstration in Downtown Tampa, Florida, 18 May, 2022. (USAF/Airman 1st Class Joshua Hastings)

As a result, USSOCOM appears likely to continue to sustain and further enhance its inventory of A/MH-6 airframes in Block 3.0 (designated A/MH-6R after the FARA decision) and Block 4.0 configurations to fill the gap.

Speaking at a breakout session at SOF Week, USSOCOM’s Program Executive Officer for Rotary- Wing, Dr Steve Smith confirmed how the US Army’s proposed cancellation of FARA had “…changed our equation,” given it had been destined to replace the A/MH-6 as the SOAR’s armed platform of choice.

“So now we don’t have that [FARA] solution available, we’re going to be sustaining those [A/MH- 6] aircraft for a long time. So that means there are going to be multiple modifications to that platform in the future,” he explained.

Modifications, according to the PEO, will be focused on improving the performance of the A/ MH-6 platforms, although Smith warned: “There’s not a tremendous amount of work that we can do with that platform, given the constraints of the size of its rotor disc. We have looked at doing some electrification work but, unfortunately, I just don’t think the funding’s there to support that. That could have brought some additional capability.”

However, he did suggest improvements could be made to the A/MH-6, particularly in terms of rotor blade upgrades: “We’re monitoring some commercial developments that we see out there. And we’ll probably be looking at those in the future. And we’re drivetrain limited so that would be a potential in the future. But nothing is currently planned or funded so if anybody has got other ideas of how we can improve the performance of that aircraft, come talk to us.”

FLRAA

Whereas most Night Stalkers MH-60Ms are painted in overall dark olive green, grey, or black, this example recently appeared in a multi-tone blue camouflage scheme, optimised for the Indo-Pacific. (Pryor Field Airport Authority)

Looking ahead to the proposed entry into service of the FLRAA, Smith conceded: “If you ask me right now what the [fleet] is going to look like in 2035 when those aircraft show up, I’m going to tell you that I don’t know. We’re doing the operational analysis now to be able to figure out what that’s going to look like because we still have to do strategic competition; we still have to do the counter-terrorism mission; and we still have to do crisis response. So all of those capabilities have to be within this portfolio.”

In terms of FLRAA, Smith confirmed USSOCOM remains “closely nested” with the US Army and warned the command is “not going to get in front of the army for qualification of [the] airframe.”

However, Smith did add that SOAR pilots are part of the test team and stated that all SOF-peculiar upgrades to the aircraft design had been adopted by the US Army as part of a preliminary design review process which will enable USSOCOM to “incorporate all the secret sauce and boxes that we need to put on the aircraft.”

Black Hawks & Chinooks

An MH-6 Little Bird helicopter flies over Tampa Bay, Florida on 8 May, 2024 during a capabilities demonstration at the Special Operations Forces Week. (US Army)

Elsewhere, USSOCOM expects to continue flying its fleet of MH-60 Black Hawks well into the 2050s, according to Smith, although the airframe will also be modified multiple times in the future.

“We had planned to do work on the ITEP [Improved Turbine Engine Program] engine but that was delayed by the army. So Block 2 configurations are going to shift out but the US Army is looking to modernise its ’60 fleet so we’ll be closely monitoring the army’s new rotor blades and common cockpit, etc to sustain the aircraft for a long time.”

Elsewhere, USSOCOM will continue to operate its fleet of MH-47Gs which Smith confirmed will be “around for a very long time.” Block X (US Army Capability Set 4) configurations are set to enter service in Fiscal Year 2030.

Finally, Smith also hinted at the integration of crewed-uncrewed teaming interfaces and specifically co-operation with ‘Launched Effects’ - part of the US Army’s Future Vertical Lift (FVL) roadmap moving forward.

“This is a focus area over the next several years and specifically investment in MOSA and launched effects over the next two years. Dollars will be carved out to go after those efforts,” he said, although no further details were provided.

Armed Overwatch

The OA-1K Sky Warden has been developed by L3Harris from the Air Tractor AT-802 crop duster. Modifications include an armoured cockpit and ten hardpoints for weapons. (L3Harris)

Consideration of future platform mixes is not just restricted to USSOCOM’s fleet of helicopters. Another major USSOCOM aircraft programme which could be affected by a change of direction is ‘Armed Overwatch’ which was designed to replace a variety of fixed-wing special mission aircraft, including the Pilatus PC-12-derived U-28A Dracos.

In August 2022, L3Harris Technologies was awarded an initial $170m contract (with a maximum ceiling of $3bn) to deliver 75 OA-1K Sky Warden aircraft by FY2029. Developed from the Air Tractor AT-802 crop duster, the Sky Warden benefits from an armoured cockpit and ten hardpoints for weapons. L3Harris describes the Sky Warden as an “affordable” multi-mission aircraft capable of providing “close air support, precision strike, armed intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR), strike co-ordination and forward air controller requirements for use in austere and permissive environments.”

They will be used to expand USSOCOM “irregular warfare capabilities,” according to a company statement issued at the time. However, in December 2023, the US Government Accountability Office (GAO) published a report which suggested USSOCOM “slow” its planned procurement of Armed Overwatch aircraft, ahead of an analysis of future requirements.

“Special operations forces are supposed to analyse their operational requirements to ensure that purchases, like these planes, meet mission needs. But this analysis wasn’t completed before DoD decided to buy the planes. DoD’s special operations mission requirements have also changed in recent years, and it hasn’t evaluated if it still needs all 75 planes,” the report warned.

“We recommended that DoD slow the acquisition of new planes until it analyses how many it needs to meet mission requirements,” the report continued to read before suggesting the total requirement of aircraft could be reduced to as few as 62 platforms.

According to USSOCOM’s Program Executive Officer for Fixed-Wing, Col T Justin Bronder, US SOF is “100% on board” with the GAO report, adding: “We’re working to answer those questions. We certainly owe that to our operators to make sure we’re getting them the platform they need and to engage and understand what their updated requirements are.”

“We’re going after that right now in close collaboration with our operational counterparts to understand the requirements as far as how to use it. The GAO report also had some comments on fleet size, and understanding how we use that platform will help us do an iterative approach and understand what is the day in the life of an OA-1K and what it will look like at that individual operator level and roll that back up into a fleet size,” he added.

Combat Talon III

MC-130J Command IIs fly in formation off the coast of Okinawa, Japan. (USAF/Senior Airman Peter Reft)

Elsewhere, USSOCOM continues to upgrade its fleet of Lockheed Martin MC-130 airframes with a view to undertaking special operations in the age of strategic competition. Specifically, the programme is designed to upgrade legacy MC-130J Commando II air frames currently in service with the US Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC).

The latest effort is the Combat Talon III upgrade which, according to Bronder, will enable the MC-130 to become more “networked” and capable of conducting “low-level infil/exfil, air refuelling and precision airdrop in contested environments.”

Efforts are focused on delivering an “innovative, agile construct to bring together capabilities to really transform the MC-130J into a true infiltration/ exfiltration platform that will have terrain following and will be networked,” Bronder added.

Specifically, upgrades will include “terrain following/avoidance with dynamic replanning and rerouting; networked data from aircraft systems across SATCOM, radio and datalinks; data fusion; joint common operational picture; upgraded radio frequency countermeasures; open mission systems; upgraded special mission processor; automated mission planning; variable speed drogue; and augmented training experience,” according to USSOCOM documentation provided by PEO Fixed-Wing.

Additionally, Bronder described how Talon III aircraft will have “upgraded countermeasures to ensure they’re more survivable in those contested denied environments; and upgraded special mission processors to make sure they can handle all the other new systems.”

“As we continue to evolve these capabilities, there’s the idea of opening up the architecture to enable even more agile integration of capabilities on what really is going to be a central piece of transforming the AFSOC enterprise in this new era of great power competition,” Bronder continued.

DARPA SPRINT

One of the proposed SPRINT entries into the DARPA X-Plane programme. (Bell Textron)

Finally, USSCOM continues to explore opportunities to enable its High Speed Vertical Take-Off/Launch (HSVTOL) concept in partnership with the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).

HSVTOL centres around DARPA’s Speed and Runway Independent Technologies (SPRINT) X-Plane demonstration programme which is working up plans to build a prototype expected to conduct its maiden test flight in 2027 or 2028.

The main effort of the HSVTOL concept is to deliver SOF operators across greater distances at increased speeds beyond 400kts, according to DARPA literature – a capability which could be particularly suited to supporting special operations across the Indo-Pacific region, defence sources suggested to AEROSPACE.

Additional requirements call for air-to-air refuelling in order to support a variety of mission sets, including insertion and extraction of small unit teams, as well as casualty evacuation scenarios and forward deployment of special operations vehicles.

Whether it is required to respond to a terror incident or wider crisis, US SOF must be suitably equipped to support the full range of mission sets. Yet platforms must also be future-proofed to be quickly and easily adaptable to respond to less visible, emerging threats anywhere in the world – an area which will call for open architecture and integration of artificial intelligence and machine learning, defence sources suggested to AEROSPACE.

Andrew White

13 September 2024

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24. A comprehensive guide to the shoulder tabs Army soldiers wear on their uniforms

For all of us "badgefinders" out there. (note attempt at humor). There are a few here I was unaware of and some that were not around during my time in the Army.

Photos at the link: https://taskandpurpose.com/military-life/army-tabs/?utm

A comprehensive guide to the shoulder tabs Army soldiers wear on their uniforms

Here's everything you need to know about the Army's tabs, from permanent ones, like Ranger and Special Forces, to unit tabs like Airborne, Jungle and Arctic.

Joshua Skovlund

Posted on Sep 13, 2024 11:24 AM EDT

taskandpurpose.com · by Joshua Skovlund

Soldiers spend their careers earning badges, medals and ranks for their uniforms. But few items jump out like the tabs some soldiers earn for their left shoulders. Some are specific to a unit they serve in — like Airborne, Jungle, or Arctic — while others are earned after graduating from some of the Army’s toughest training courses, like Ranger and Sapper schools.

Some can only be worn with certain assignments, while others signify sacred duties, like the Honor Guard. Tabs are worn above a soldier’s unit shoulder sleeve insignia on the left shoulder.

Some combinations of tabs can be worn together, stacked two or three high on the shoulder — an arrangement sometimes called a “tower of power.”

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Here are 16 types of tabs you may find throughout the Army, Army Reserve and Army National Guard.

Permanent Tabs

Special Forces

Only soldiers who graduate from either the Special Forces Qualification Course or the Special Forces Officer Course are authorized to wear the “long tab” of Special Forces. These are the Army’s well-known Green Berets who make up the special operations spearhead, serving as experts in unconventional and irregular warfare.

According to the U.S. Army Quartermaster Museum, the Special Forces tab was first authorized by the former Army Chief of Staff Gen. John Wickham on June 17, 1983, based on a request from the commander of the Army’s John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School at Fort Liberty, North Carolina.

Sgt. Maj. Tyr Symank has worked in special operations for over 20 years, most of that time as a Green Beret. He told Task & Purpose that the Special Forces tab was approved to distinguish actual frontline Special Forces soldiers from their support soldiers, who, at the time, were authorized to wear green berets regardless of their job.

“The tab sort of legitimizes and sums up the resume,” Symank said. “There are many SF guys, myself included, that do not wear all their awarded badges on their duty uniform, but we will always wear the tab.”

Colonel Kirk Brinker, 1st Special Forces Command, presents green berets to recently graduated Special Forces soldiers during a graduation and Regimental First Formation at Fort Liberty, North Carolina on June 6, 2024. Army photo by K. Kassens.

Ranger

Ranger School, which has three phases that take place at different locations, is considered among the most difficult Army training courses a soldier can attend. Sleep deprivation, little food, injuries and hallucinations are just a few of the things that can amplify the difficulty of attending the 62-day course.

Staff Sgt. Stephen Kimberly, currently serving as a drill sergeant, spent the first five years of his 12 years in the Army assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment. He attended Ranger School early on as a private.

“I wanted my Ranger tab because that is what’s expected of a private in Ranger Battalion. You could not be placed in a leadership position without a Ranger tab,” Kimberly said. “The Ranger tab stands for someone who is physically and mentally resilient and capable of leading operations in high-stress and non-permissive environments.”

Some attend Ranger School for the experience, others to meet a unit requirement, and many do so to increase their odds of rising up the chain of command and taking leadership positions.

According to the Institute of Heraldry, the Ranger tab was first authorized by former Army Chief of Staff Gen. George C. Marshall on Oct. 30, 1950.

Kimberly said that regardless of what unit you are in, a Ranger tab carries a certain amount of weight.

“Metaphorically, it is a symbol of a top performer, someone who will outperform anyone regardless of austere conditions or mental hardship,” Kimberly said. “They lead from the front and set the example for others to follow.”

2nd Lt. Jorge Ramirez, a member of Joint Task Force Domestic Support-Counterdrug, receives his Ranger tab after completing Ranger School July 16, 2010. Army National Guard photo by 2nd Lt. Kara Siepmann.

Sapper Tab

The Sapper tab is earned by soldiers who graduate from the demanding 28-day Sapper Leader Course held at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. While Ranger School focuses specifically on infantry skills, the Sapper Leader Course uses similarly fast-paced and grueling training to teach soldiers combat engineering tasks.

Like Ranger and Special Forces tabs, the Sapper tab is eligible to be worn throughout a soldier’s career, regardless of assignment, which leads to some soldiers earning all three and wearing them in a “tower of power” — though that label is hotly contested in the Army, with many soldiers believing the third “power” tab is the Airborne tab rather than Sapper.

According to the Institute of Heraldry, the Sapper tab was first approved by former Army Chief of Staff Gen. Peter Schoomaker on June 28, 2004.

Capt. Matthew Cushing and Capt. Joseph Palazini won a second straight Army-wide Best Sapper contest in April. Both are company commanders with the “Rakkasans” 3rd Brigade Combat Team of the 101st Airborne Division based out of Fort Campbell, Kentucky. Cushing said Sapper training spans a wide range of combat skills.

“It is the multi-tool of the Army. A problem comes up, everyone looks at the sapper to fix it and to solve it,” Cushing told Task & Purpose. “We can’t let anyone else do it. It’s only just us.”

Regardless of your opinion on what tab is more difficult, earning the Sapper tab is considered a challenging pursuit as it requires leadership excellence like Ranger School, but also, demolition and tactical expertise.

2nd Lt. Amanda Atkinson, assigned to 3rd Infantry Division, at Fort Stewart, Georgia, poses with her Ranger and Sapper tabs in front of Victory Pond following her graduation at the Ranger School, Fort Benning, Georgia, Dec. 10, 2021. Army photo by Sgt. Trenton Lowery.

President’s Hundred

The President’s Hundred tab is awarded to soldiers placing in the top 100 during the President’s Pistol and President’s Rifle Matches, which take place during the National Matches. The competition is hosted through the partnership of the Civilian Marksmanship Program and the Ohio National Guard. The history of the shooting competition dates back to the late 1800s.

According to the National Institute of Heraldry, the President’s Hundred tab was first authorized by the deputy chief of staff for personnel on March 3, 1958, after the National Rifle Association made the request on May 27, 1958. The first soldiers awarded the President’s Hundred tabs took part in a competition held at Camp Perry, Ohio, in early September 1958.

The shooting competition grills both military and civilian shooters on everything from a seated mag dump to long-range rifle shooting.

According to Army Regulation 670-1, the President’s Hundred is the fourth of the four tabs authorized for permanent wear on Army uniforms along with Sapper, Ranger and Special Forces.

Spc. Jonathon Wannemacher, a paratrooper assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division, poses with his President’s Hundred Tab. Army photo by Sgt. Brian Stephenson.

Unit Tabs

Airborne

The Airborne tab is a bit misleading. It is no longer worn just by paratroopers but is worn by all soldiers assigned to units that operate as Airborne-deployable formations. This includes the traditional paratroopers in the 82nd Airborne Division and the air assault-trained troops of the 101st Airborne Division.

Special Forces soldiers wear the Airborne tab when assigned to the traditional Special Forces group, but Rangers in the 75th Ranger Regiment — who are parachute-qualified — do not.

The unit patch and airborne tab, accompanied by the ARNG Honor Guard tab, worn by a soldier with the 1528th Forward Support Company, Special Operations (Airborne), West Virginia National Guard. Air National Guard photo by Senior Airman Edward Michon.

Honor Guard

Honor guard soldiers present and guard the colors at official functions, from change of commands and parades to the sacred duty of presenting arms, saluting, or playing Taps at military funerals or memorial services. Honor Guard members also render the 21-gun salute.

According to the Institute of Heraldry, the deputy chief of staff for personnel approved the Honor Guard tab on March 16, 1965, for soldiers selected for Honor Guard duty. Its design, with a white background and blue lettering, was authorized on April 19, 1965.

However, there is a different Honor Guard tab approved for those assigned to the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment, commonly referred to as The Old Guard. Their Honor Guard tab has a blue background with white lettering and was authorized on Oct. 14, 1959, though soldiers assigned to the Old Guard had been wearing it since 1950. These soldiers carry out the sacred duties of work at Arlington National Cemetary in Virginia.

The third Honor Guard tab is unique to the Army National Guard with a gold border and lettering on a blue background. It was first authorized on Dec. 31, 2012

Jungle

The Jungle tab is authorized for soldiers who graduate from the 25th Infantry Division’s Jungle Operations Training Course at U.S. Army Garrison Hawaii, known as the Lightning Academy. It is worn by 25th Infantry Division soldiers and others assigned to units in the Pacific.

The course includes team movement, medical considerations, water crossing, and other jungle-specific skills. To graduate the two-week course, soldiers must pass a jungle 5-kilometer run within 40 minutes, a land navigation assessment, tying five critical knots and two non-critical knots — a test of knot-tying skills needed in the operational environment — and build both a rope bridge and a line haul system. The course ends with a three-day culminating exercise and a physical endurance course called the Green Mile.

Lt. Col. John Stephenson, Tripler Army Medical Center, Hawaii, completed the five-day Jungle Operations Training Executive Course at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii. Army photo.

Mountain

The mountain tab is only authorized for those assigned to the 10th Mountain Division, based out of Fort Drum in northern New York and the Vermont National Guard’s 86th Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Mountain).

Though some soldiers assigned to the units complete mountaineering training, it is not a division-wide requirement. The basic requirement to wear the Mountain tab is to be assigned to the unit.

A soldier assigned to the 10th Mountain Division, newly arrived at Fort Drum, received the “Powder Keg” patch and Mountain tab from senior leaders during a patching ceremony at the Command Sgt. Maj. Southern “Buddy” Hewitt Noncommissioned Officer Academy. Army photo by Mike Strasser.

Arctic

The Arctic tab, like the Jungle and Mountain tabs, is specific to a unit designated for Arctic operations, primarily the 11th Airborne Division in Alaska. It was first authorized on Apr. 26, 2022.

Soldiers must graduate from the Army’s Northern Warfare Training Center’s Cold Weather Orientation Course or Cold Weather Leaders Course, both located at the Army Alaska’s Black Rapids Training Site.

An Eighth Army soldier wearing both the Arctic and Ranger tabs. Army photo by Dana Clarke.

Korean Combined Division

South Korean and American soldiers are authorized to wear the Combined Division tab while assigned to either the 2nd Infantry Division or the Republic of Korea Army 8th Infantry Division headquarters at Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek-si, Korea, about 40 miles south of Seoul. The tab is not worn by line soldiers outside the headquarters elements. The black and white tab features both English and Korean lettering to signify the combined mission of the two countries maintaining their side of the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea, commonly called the DMZ.

The 2nd Infantry Division/ROK-U.S. Combined Division held a change of command ceremony at Robertson Parade Field on Camp Humphreys, Republic of Korea. Army photo by Chin-U Pak.

National Guard Governor’s tabs

The Army National Guard has three different tabs that can be authorized for soldiers who compete in various state National Guard shooting competitions. The competition tests soldiers’ shooting capabilities with both the M4 rifle and the Beretta 9mm pistol. The three versions are:

• Governor’s Twenty tab
• Governor’s Twelve tab
• Governor’s X (ten) tab

The top twenty scorers from the Governor’s Twenty Match held at Fort Indiantown Gap are awarded the embroidered Governor’s Twenty tab and a certificate to identify them as being outstanding marksmen. Army National Guard photo by Lt. Col. Angela King-Sweigart.

Advisor

Soldiers assigned to one of the Army’s latest units, Security Force Assistance Brigades, are authorized to wear the Advisor tab. This, like the other unit tabs, is only for soldiers assigned to an SFAB. According to the Army, if they leave that unit, they are not authorized to wear the tab anymore.

A U.S. Army Advisor assigned to 1st Security Force Assistance Brigade configures communication equipment during the training readiness assessment program at Ft. Moore, Georgia. Army photo by Maj. Jason Elmore.

Southern European Task Force, Africa (SETAF)

Soldiers assigned to the Southern European Task Force are authorized to wear the SETAF tab, which replaced the airborne tab that was previously a part of the unit’s shoulder sleeve insignia in 2008.

Col. Keith A. McKinley, Chief of Staff of the Southern European Task Force, Africa (SETAF-AF), during the 247th birthday of the Army during the African Lion 22 exercise, in Agadir, Morocco on June 14, 2022. Army photo by Cpl. Keston Alonzo.

Band tabs

Each Army unit has a band and each one has its own tab designed by the Institute of Heraldry. There are several available, each with its own unique history. In order to wear the Band tab, soldiers must be assigned to their unit’s band. Once you leave the band, no more tab.

Ranger Challenge

This tab is only for college students who are in the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps, but it’s far from spring break. It is earned when cadets compete on their battalion’s team in a regional ROTC Ranger Challenge competition. The Ranger Challenge tab is the only Army individual qualification tab awarded to ROTC cadets.

The Ranger Challenge hits on basic infantry skills like marksmanship skills, timed 12-mile ruck marches, and patrolling. It’s geared to help ROTC cadets develop leadership qualities and skills.

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Joshua Skovlund

Staff Writer

Joshua Skovlund is a contributor for Task & Purpose. He has reported around the world, from Minneapolis to Ukraine, documenting some of the most important world events to happen over the past five years. He served as a forward observer in the US Army, and after leaving the service, he worked for five years in paramedicine before transitioning to a career in multimedia journalism.

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