Feral Jundi

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Maritime Security: UN Reports That Piracy Ransoms Are Being Funnelled To Islamist Militants

Filed under: Al Qaeda,Kidnap And Ransom,Maritime Security,Somalia — Tags: , , , , — Matt @ 9:55 PM

C-level Maritime’s Frodl said the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) carried out reviews of all potential ransom payments to determine if the pirate group in question had ever handed over part of a ransom to al Shabaab.
“Most times OFAC has authorized payment because it has found no link,” Frodl said. “But if there is indeed a 20% ’tax’ being applied by Shabaab against pirate ransoms in Haradhere, a major pirate hub it now controls, then things could change.”

Boy, this is very interesting if true. The consequences could mean that the payment of ransoms would be illegal, because that money would be funding terrorism. Although I have already talked about the jihadist privateer concept awhile back, so it does not surprise me that there would be a connection between Al Shabab and pirates.

It is just one way to fund their jihad, and it also helps the pirates be effective by supplying weapons and safe haven. 20 % is also a pretty sizable chunk.  Eventually I would imagine that the pirates would port somewhere else to avoid this jihad tax, or that Al Shabab would get into the business to cut out the non-affiliated pirate middle men. Interesting stuff. –Matt

Piracy ransoms funnelled to Islamist militants: U.N.

Jul 6, 2011
By Richard Lough funnelled
Ransoms paid to Somali pirates to free merchant vessels are ending up in the hands of Islamist militants, laying shipping groups open to accusations of breaching international sanctions, U.N. officials told Reuters.
John Steed, the principal military adviser to the U.N. special envoy to Somalia and head of the envoy’s counter-piracy unit, said links between armed pirate gangs and Somalia’s al Qaeda-affiliated rebels were gradually firming.
“The payment of ransoms just like any other funding activity, illegal or otherwise, is technically in breach of the Somalia sanctions regime if it makes the security situation in Somalia worse,” said Steed.
“Especially if it is ending up in the hands of terrorists or militia leaders — and we believe it is, some directly, some more indirectly,” said Steed, a retired military officer.

(more…)

Industry Talk: A Review Of ‘States Of Security’

Filed under: Industry Talk,Weapons — Tags: , , , , , — Matt @ 1:06 PM

Or at least a review of the PSC part of this survey. Although I did find it disconcerting that they talked with several ‘private security commentators’ and industry professionals, but made no effort to contact this blog. I mean there are only a handful of us folks who actually work in this industry, and write about it on a day to day basis. To not recognize the significance of such a resource, tells me that perhaps they were lazy or did not care to gain that kind of insight? Such information would have made a better product, and all it would have taken is an email….Oh what a burden? lol  With that said, let me highlight some of the pros and cons of this survey.

The lack of information about PSC’s and their weapons use in the maritime security market is disappointing. These figures would have been very useful for pointing out deficiencies or strengths in this part of the industry. And if you were to make the connection between the statistic of low rates of armed PSC’s and Western Europe, and the fact that most of today’s maritime security PSC usage comes from this region, then you can see exactly what I am getting at here. If these countries are adverse to arming PSC’s, and yet those same PSC’s are the majority of security out there protecting vessels from heavily armed pirates, then that is not a good ratio.

Furthermore, their data on the types of weapons contractors are using out there is off. The type of weapons that contractors are using and have available to them, is far more varied than what they listed. I will leave it at that.

I would have also liked some more statistics and focus on homemade weaponry. With the internet and the availability of opensource information about the proper construction of weapons, I would be very curious as to the state of DIY weapons manufacturing out there. It would have also brought more attention to the concept of Opensource Military Hardware.

I do want to give praise for the effort, and it was very informative.  It was very interesting to know that there are more PSC’s than police, and yet the police and the militaries of the world have far more weapons.  To me, this is shocking. PSC’s are increasingly becoming the front line troops when it comes to terrorism, drug wars, pirates, etc., and yet here we are throwing guards into harms way without these very basic tools of defense and self protection.

I have not been able to read the rest of the survey, but I would be interested to hear about the small arms usage of terrorists, pirates, drug cartels, etc. if such a statistic could be formulated. I imagine this figure would be pretty startling. But the most disturbing aspect of such a statistic, is the idea that we are using all of these unarmed private security forces to defend against these heavily armed malcontents. I am already seeing this with the maritime security industry, and that alone has been a battle to promote the idea of putting armed guards on boats. And not just armed, but armed with sufficient firepower to deal with the potential threats.

To me, it is an issue of safety for the guard and an issue of actually providing ‘real security’ services to the client, as opposed to providing security theater. Every guard out there should be able to look their client in the eye and say ‘I am ready to take on any and all threats, in the defense of you and your property’. Guards that are unarmed or poorly trained will contribute to failure–which equates to more industry scrutiny and consternation.

The survey noted this, and also noted the important efforts of this industry to get squared away.  Things like signing the ICoC or rallying around the Montreux Document are all signs that the industry wants accountability, and they want to give the client the confidence to use their services.

But as the survey has noted, time and time again, it is the governments of the world who have dropped the ball when it comes to regulating or coming up with the laws to properly manage this industry. I have done much to highlight these deficiencies in the past on this blog, and will continue to do so. I will also continue to provide solutions for countries and clients, to help them get the best service and contract they can get out of their PSC’s and PMC’s. I will also continue to do my part to promote a business/warrior ethos called Jundism amongst my peers, as well as promote real security solutions to the world’s complex security environments.

It is also very interesting to me that the Police and Military forces of the world get far more respect than PSC’s, and yet here we are, taking on more and more responsibilities and dealing with more complex threats. Everything a cop or soldier might encounter, PSC’s could encounter as well. And yet PSC’s continue to do what they do with less arms, less legal authority, less regulation, less training, less accountability and all because we are less cost. We have ‘cheaper’ down, we have ‘faster’ down, but we still have a ways to go when it comes to ‘better’. But I am optimistic, because we are slowly evolving, learning, improving our standing as ‘better’, despite the nation state’s inability to keep up with regulations/management/accountability. –Matt

On Growth

The private security sector has been booming since the mid-1980s and continues to grow steadily (van Dijk, 2008,
p. 217). Recent estimates show that the security market is worth about USD 100–165 billion per year, and that it has
been growing at an annual rate of 7–8 per cent.4 The scale of growth is further illustrated by significant increases in
the number of personnel employed over time and across regions:

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Publications: Small Arms Survey 2011, Chapter 4–Private Security And Small Arms

Filed under: Industry Talk,Publications,Weapons Stuff — Tags: , , , , , — Matt @ 10:25 AM

Small Arms Survey 2011 Chapter 4: Private Security And Small Arms

Monday, July 4, 2011

Letter Of Marque: Privateer Days…..A Canadian Holiday

Filed under: Canada,History,Letter Of Marque — Tags: , , , — Matt @ 4:32 PM

What I wanted to do here is show a little history that folks in the US were probably not aware of. Especially during our celebration of Independence Day. In this town in Canada, they still celebrate the authorization (Letter of Marque) by the British to attack American privateers. To them, American privateers and the Continental Navy were the enemy and this was that town’s solution and savior. The Americans were also pirates in their eyes, and they felt totally justified to use their legalized privateers to attack and defend against such an enemy. (the Continental Navy could take prizes as well)

But it also indicates the effectiveness of privateering back then. This type of warfare did extreme damage on British related commerce, and to anyone that was an ally of the British, and privateering was a means of attacking the enemy’s pocketbook. It also had a great impact on the logistics of the British war machine. This artificially created offense industry, authorized via the Letter of Marque and Reprisal, is an industry that certainly left it’s ‘Marque’. lol

Cool stuff and check it out. –Matt

History: Von Steuben’s Continentals

Filed under: Film,History — Tags: , , , , , , — Matt @ 1:47 PM

In honor of this year’s 4th of July or Independence Day, I wanted to point to a very significant part of that victory and history during the Revolutionary War. A document like the Declaration of Independence is nice and all, but it takes brute force and actually winning in order to make that Independence a reality. For that, I choose to celebrate the leaders and warriors, who got us to that point that made independence a reality.

I want to emphasize how important ‘organized violence’ was to the success of the Continental Army. Thanks to General Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben and his focus on organizing and training the Continental Army, we could field an army that could compete with the British on the field of battle. He was able to give Washington an effective and organized army to use.  Such an army gives leaders the kind of confidence they need to implement more effective strategies as well.

That we also used a Prussian officer/ mercenary that was contracted by the Continental Army to train and organize their ragtag military is significant as well. An equal comparison would be Sir John Hawkwood and his significance to the defense of the Venetians in 14th century Italy. Or how American Mickey Marcus helped to stand up the Israeli Defense Force in their early days.  Steuben had brought with him a method forged in the battles of Europe, and literally ‘wrote the book’ on war fighting for the Continental Army.

We also had a massive naval effort that included the Continental Navy and Privateers, all hammering away on British logistics. All of these public/private actions, along with a dedicated leadership, helped to bring about victory.

The quality of the film below is a little rough, but still is a great reminder of how significant General Steuben was to the war effort. Below I have posted a clip of the film, and here is an entry from wikipedia about Friederich Wilhelm von Steuben’s training program. Pretty cool. –Matt

Training program

Steuben’s training technique was to create a “model company”, a group of 120 chosen men who in turn successively trained other personnel at Regimental and Brigade levels. Steuben’s eccentric personality greatly enhanced his mystique. He trained the soldiers, who at this point were greatly lacking in proper clothing themselves, in full military dress uniform, swearing and yelling at them up and down in German and French. When that was no longer successful, he recruited Captain Benjamin Walker, his French-speaking aide, to curse at them for him in English. Steuben introduced a system of progressive training, beginning with the school of the soldier, with and without arms, and going through the school of the regiment. This corrected the previous policy of simply assigning personnel to regiments. Each company commander was made responsible for the training of new men, but actual instruction was done by selected sergeants, the best obtainable.

Another program developed by Steuben was camp sanitation. He established standards of sanitation and camp layouts that would still be standard a century and a half later. There had previously been no set arrangement of tents and huts. Men relieved themselves where they wished and when an animal died, it was stripped of its meat and the rest was left to rot where it lay. Steuben laid out a plan to have rows for command, officers and enlisted men. Kitchens and latrines were on opposite sides of the camp, with latrines on the downhill side. There was the familiar arrangement of company and regimental streets.

Perhaps Steuben’s biggest contribution to the American Revolution was training in the use of the bayonet. Since the Battle of Bunker Hill, Americans had been mainly dependent upon using their ammunition to win battles. Throughout the early course of the war, Americans used the bayonet mostly as a cooking skewer or tool rather than as a fighting instrument. Steuben’s introduction of effective bayonet charges became crucial. In the Battle of Stony Point, American soldiers attacked with unloaded muskets and won the battle solely on Steuben’s bayonet training.

The first results of Steuben’s training were in evidence at the Battle of Barren Hill, 20 May 1778 and then again at the Battle of Monmouth in June 1778. Steuben, by then serving in Washington’s Headquarters, was the first to determine the enemy was heading for Monmouth. Washington recommended appointment of Steuben as Inspector General on April 30; Congress approved it on May 5. During the winter of 1778-1779, Steuben prepared Regulations for the Order and Discipline of the Troops of the United States, commonly known as the “Blue Book.” Its basis was the training plan he had devised at Valley Forge.

 

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