Monday, August 30, 2010
Louisiana: Hurricane Katrina Anniversary–Why Security Contractors Were Called Upon
Monday, August 9, 2010
Industry Talk: New Century Security Contractor Shot Dead In Afghanistan By Prisoner
Rest in peace to the fallen, and my heart goes out to the family and friends. I don’t know much about the company New Century, but it sounds like it is one of the many companies out there involved with training Afghans. Tim Collins is the CEO and he has definitely been busy with TV shows and books after his career in the military.
If anyone else has something to add about this incident, please feel free to post in the comments section. –Matt
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Ex-Northern Ireland policeman shot dead in Afghanistan by prisoner
10 August 2010
A former Northern Ireland police officer working as a security contractor for Nato in Afghanistan has been shot dead by an escaped insurgent prisoner.
Ken McGonigle, 51, from Co Derry, died on Saturday night when the prisoner in Musa Qala, northern Helmand province, overpowered his guards when being taken to pray. He seized his captors’ weapons and shot McGonigle before killing two US marines as they followed him into nearby buildings. The prisoner was eventually shot and killed.
McGonigle was working for the Nato training mission as part of a group supplied by a private security firm to mentor and train the Afghan police force.
“Our hearts are broken,” said McGonigle’s father, Joe, speaking from Trillick, Co Tyrone. “It is an awful thing to happen but there’s nothing we could do about it … Kenneth was the first man [the insurgent] saw – he opened [fire] and Kenneth hit the ground.”
Ken McGonigle was working for New Century. The firm is based in Guernsey and is led by the former British colonel Tim Collins.
The company yesterday offered its condolences to his family after the “tragic but isolated incident”.
In a statement, it said: “His presence and contribution will be sorely missed by everyone in the company and at the Nato training mission. Ken was a highly professional, deeply competent, well-admired and thoroughly committed colleague who made a material difference through his work.”
Monday, August 2, 2010
Afghanistan: DynCorp Contractors Cleared By Kabul Police In Auto Crash
The question I have now is who was in the crowd that helped to create this riot? Because it wouldn’t take much to bring a crowd to that point, and especially if they had experience doing such a thing in past riots. –Matt
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U.S. Cleared in Afghan Crash That Led to Rioting
August 1, 2010
By RICHARD A. OPPEL Jr. and MUJIB MASHAL
KABUL, Afghanistan — The Kabul police have cleared a United States Embassy vehicle of fault for a deadly collision on Friday that set off anti-American rioting near the embassy, a senior police official said Sunday.
After the crash, hundreds of enraged onlookers threw rocks, chanted “Death to America” and set ablaze two American vehicles.
The intensity of the response revealed the deep-seated hostility toward Americans and raised fears of a repeat of the pandemonium that swept the city and left 14 people dead after a fatal crash in May 2006. In that case, a truck in an American convoy plowed into a dozen Afghan cars and killed at least five people.
On Sunday morning, several hundred Afghans marched peacefully through central Kabul to protest both Friday’s collision and the deaths of other civilians caused by American and other Western military forces. Escorted by Afghan police officers, they chanted slogans against the United States, as well as against Iran and Pakistan.
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Mexico: Police Forces Are Resigning In Small Towns Due To Cartel Violence And Threats
Boy, the war on Mexico’s authorities is only getting worse. I expect that as more police forces resign, you will see more private security increase. Worse yet, you will see more businesses being forced to kiss the ring of the cartels, because there is no one to protect them.
Another idea is that Mexico is not a signatory of the Declaration of Paris. Although they did remove the Amendment in their constitution that allowed their congress to issue Letters of Marque and Reprisal(I think in the 1960’s). Regardless, a sovereign nation should be able to do anything they can to defend themselves against all threats, both foreign and domestic. Mexico could use the LoM to enlist the help of private industry in their war. The cartels are pretty rich, and they are the kind of big fish that could make the business of killing or capturing these thugs pretty profitable for a privateering company. Mexico would also have to attach a bounty to those they would want killed or captured.
Personally, I think there should be more value to a living cartel member, as opposed to a dead one. The reason for that is then Mexico could identify more cartel members that are threats, and thus increase the bounty roster. They can also get more money out of a living guy, because you can get more information out of them(secret bank accounts, hidden cash, etc.).
Also, with this kind of industry, companies would want to interrogate their captures so they can build their own files. That information is gold to a company that is in the business of ‘finding’ people and things, and that intel should be part of the prize when going after these thugs. –Matt
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Mexican Town’s Police Force Quits After Ambush
May 18, 2010
Most of a small Mexican town’s police force has quit after armed men ambushed and wounded two of their officers.
The resignation of six of the 11 municipal officers in La Union Monday evening comes after several other Mexican towns have seen mass police resignations because of cartel violence or threats.
State police in Guerrero, which La Union is located, said Tuesday that it has deployed 20 of its officers to patrol La Union until further notice.
The resignations came two days after their colleagues were ambushed and left La Union’s police force with five members: the chief, the deputy chief, an officer in charge of weapons logistics and the two wounded officers who are hospitalized.
Meanwhile, people in some Mexican towns have begun taking the law into their own hands.
In Mexico State, on the outskirts of Mexico City, authorities said Tuesday that residents of a town beat a man death on suspicion of robbing a young couple of 200 pesos (about $16) and a cell phone Monday.
The suspect and an accomplice allegedly held up the couple with a knife and what later was found to be a toy gun.
About 300 people pursued the two men, caught one and beat him so badly with sticks and fists that he died in an ambulance, officials said.
Also Tuesday, the federal police announced the capture of an alleged member of the La Linea gang in the border city of Ciudad Juarez who allegedly participated in the killing of 10 people.
Juan Padilla Juarez, 28, allegedly targeted rivals of the La Linea gang, which is allied with the Juarez drug cartel. He was captured Monday in Ciudad Juarez.
The Attorney General’s Office announced that a judge handed down a prison sentence of almost 22 years against Jaime Gonzalez Duran, also known as ”The Hummer,” for money laundering and weapons possession. He had previously been sentenced to 16 1/2 years on similar charges by another court. The sentences will not be served concurrently.
Gonzalez Duran is an army deserter who was arrested in the northern border city of Reynosa. He is allegedly one of the founding members of the Zetas, a band of cartel hit men believed responsible for massacres and beheadings.
Story here.
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Strategy: Suicide Assaulters, Swarming, And Toyotas–The Taliban And The New Rules Of War
Rule 1: “Many and Small” Beats “Few and Large.”
Rule 2: Finding Matters More Than Flanking.
Rule 3: Swarming Is the New Surging.
*****
This latest suicide assaulter attack in Afghanistan is important to look at and study, and this post is dedicated to ‘knowing your enemy’. Tim over at Free Range International just posted an excellent run down of this latest attack in Nimroz at the governor’s compound, and Bill Roggio over at Long Wars Journal has some excellent stuff on this incident as well. I highly advise reading Tim’s post, because it comes with pictures and diagrams of the assault, along with Tim’s commentary on the whole thing.
As you can see, these guys are following a path that John Arquilla and others have laid out with the ‘new rules of war’. They are continuing to use this same type of attack, just because it is so hard to defend against and it causes so much chaos and confusion. The only thing working against the enemy is their ability to be organized and plan this stuff better. But some attacks have been successful, and they are learning. What I wanted to do in this post is match up what the enemy is doing with these three new rules I listed up top, and discuss their effectiveness.
Multiple assaulters armed with AK’s and suicide vests, are the many and small. Plus, with the suicide vest and AK, the assaulter has multiple options for killing. They can fight their way into concentrations of enemies, and blow up when close enough (finding). The human bomb can also identify specific targets, and detonate just close enough to kill them. They can also use their suicide vest to clear obstacles so other assaulters can punch in and shoot at people or detonate(swarming). But as Tim has pointed out in his post about the subject, these latest assaulters were not that organized or effective. My guess is that they were poorly trained and prepared for the mission at hand, which is a good thing for us. And of course they are poor shots, as Tim and others have pointed out, which is also a good thing.
But the next angle of this attack is the idea of using Toyota pickups and swarming, in order to arrive on target and overwhelm the defenders. This is exactly how the Taliban was operating and it deserves closer inspection. Tim mentioned in his write up that large vehicles really cannot move around in Nimroz, just because of the small streets and power lines all over the place. You either have to have a small truck, motorcycle, or be walking in order to get around in places like this. And as the Toyota Horde paper pointed out, small pickups can be a tactical advantage for attackers who are swarming or preparing a battlefield for the defense. They are cheap, you can use many of them, and they are great for all types of utilitarian activities for hybrid warfare. The Taliban continue to use these small pickup in places that MRAPs cannot go, and they can also use those pickups or motorcycles to outrun our large lumbering vehicles and forces. They can also blend in with the local population, because they all use pickups.
Further more, small pickups are essential for swarming operations. If you want to get a truck load of assaulters into position, and not cause too much attention, the pickup is perfect because it is low profile (meaning there are many of these in the attack area). Or they could use taxis, cop cars and ambulances as delivery vehicles. The key here is just getting into position so the assaulters can pour out and attack the target from multiple angles. Small vehicles that blend in are the perfect tool for delivery in this case.
What further adds to the attack, chaos, and blending in factor, is assaulters wearing police or soldier uniforms. These types of attacks can be extremely confusing, and they work great for the assaulter. They can also do secondary attacks as the real police and military show up, and it is all about blending into that chaotic environment to create as much chaos as possible. That is another reason why it is essential for defenders to get to know the local police and army stations really well, so they can recognize who should be on scene and shouldn’t. Still, this is very tough to defend against, and the enemy knows this. ‘Finding’ in this case, is extremely critical if we want to succeed in the defense, because combatants that look like cops or soldiers could be causing a whole slew of problems.
The swarming attack, coupled with the population camouflage I mentioned, is one of those deals that works well because it confuses the defender and brings a whole lot of chaos in a short period of time. And with assaulters that double as human breachers that blow apart gates (with their bodies strapped with bombs), the swarming attack becomes even more feasible and more lethal. It just takes really good planning and rehearsal for the enemy to accomplish the mission.
Finally, I want to give solutions to countering these types of attacks. The one thing that really screws up planning for these attacks, is the unexpected. Being random and doing things that no one expected, is definitely one way to counter these types of attacks. Also having excellent SOP’s to cover these types of swarming attacks is highly advisable, along with drilling over and over again to get proficient. To also war game all and any scenarios in your head, and talking it up with your fellow guards is another way to keep sharp. You should have answers in your head for all types of scenarios. Red teams are great tools to find out how an enemy might attack a facility, and those red teams should do all they can to mimic what the enemy is doing today.
For simmunitions developers out there, maybe building a paintball suicide vest for red teams would be a good product to sell? (it could already be out there for sale?) Red teams could simulate fighting their way into your position, and detonate the suicide vest as part of the assault. We have to start thinking about enemy assaulters as dual weapon systems–they shoot, fight their way in, and are seeking human pockets or obstacles to blow up. We also have to expect that suicide vests will also have plates in them, in order to make the assaulter tougher to kill. The plates also help to focus the blast outward, and further turn the assaulter into a human claymore. Stuff to think about, and our enemy’s tactics and strategy are definitely evolving–Joker eat your heart out. –Matt
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Taliban hits government compound
May 05, 2010
At least eight attempted suicide bombers have been killed during a gun battle with police in southwestern Afghanistan, the interior ministry said.
Ministry officials said at least two Afghan policemen were also killed and five others wounded before the fighting ended in Nimroz province on Wednesday.
One witness said a female local council member was also killed in the attack.
Musa Rasooli, a senior police official in Nimroz, said the fighters were targeting the provincial governor’s compound and had entered the governor’s office.
He said two suicide bombers had blown themselves up outside the compound.
‘Taliban responsible’
The interior ministry said the fighters had also targeted civilian buildings in Zaranj, the provincial capital.
“A group of terrorists attacked some civilian and government buildings this morning in Zaranj,” Zemarai Bashary, an interior ministry spokesman, said.