Nearby farming and mining mean easy access to explosive components Islamic State builds its improvised explosive devices using components from 51 different companies in 20 countries. That’s the startling conclusion of a new report from Conflict Armament Research. “These findings support growing international awareness that [Islamic State] forces in Iraq and Syria are very…
Category: Guerilla Warfare
Is Putin Really Dr. Moriarty?
An excellent article on understanding how Russian Hybrid Warfare manipulates the current geo-political spectrum. -SF We know ISIS is bad because it killed people in San Bernardino and Paris. We know Iran is bad because it’s still developing nuclear weapons. We know Russia is bad…because…well, didn’t Charlie Rose once say something about that? Or was…
Espionage Files: Richard Sakakida Spied on the Imperial Japanese Right Under Their Noses
The Nisei war hero endured torture and near-starvation, yet passed valuable intelligence to the U.S. Army It was 1942, not long after the fall of the American stronghold of Corregidor that guarded Manila Bay in The Philippines. U.S. Army Sgt. Richard Sakakida was in the hands of the dreaded Kempeitai, the Imperial Japanese military…
Matthew Bracken Talks SHTF and Dirty Civil War
MATTHEW BRACKEN is a former Navy SEAL (BUD/S Class 105), a Constitutionalist, and a self-described “freedomista”. This interview was first published in the Fall 2014 issue of Forward Observer. You might think that the most courageous thing Matt Bracken’s ever done is taking a SEAL team to Beirut, Lebanon in 1983, the same year of…
What is the Best Method of Rebellion Against Tyranny?
This article was written by Brandon Smith and originally published at Alt-Market.com I have heard it often said that there is no one right way to accomplish a goal. I agree. However, I would add that while there is no such thing as “one right way” to achieve an objective, this does not mean there…
Quick Facts: Iran is Waging Textbook 4th Generation Warfare Against Israel
At this moment Iran is waging a clinic on 21st Century 4th Generation Warfare against Israel. Consider the facts: Israeli Infrastructure such as Electrical Power Grid and Water Supply has had repeated hacker attacks Hezbollah has launched a HUGE Cyber-Attack on Israel to include hacking a Former IDF Army Chief of Staff Computer Social and Political Unrest…
Paradoxes of the “Gray Zone”
Gray, it seems, is the new black. The concept of “gray zone” conflict has generated significant attention and controversy recently, within both the U.S. government and the broader strategic studies community. Some analysts have identified gray zone conflict as a new phenomenon that will increasingly characterize, and challenge, the international system in the years…
Espionage Files: The CIA’s Phoenix Program in Vietnam and the “War on Terror”
The Phoenix Program in Vietnam in many ways provides a blue print for our own times. Assassinations and torture are the essence of the war on terror. As are death squads and false flag terror attacks. As are mass surveillance of the populace. Thanks to the work of Douglas Valentine in his classic book “The Phoenix…
Defeating Al-Qaeda’s Nodes
Al Qaeda and the Islamic State thrive in lawless and ungoverned spaces where there is no rule of law to keep them in check. Al Qaeda’s home base in Pakistan’s Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) is the epitome of such a place, but the tide there has been turning against them over the last decade,…
Studies in Terrorism: Hamas The “Merchants of War” Who Seek to Destroy Israel
In the words of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, the tunnels are being dug not only to “defend the Gaza Strip, but to serve as a launching pad to reach all of Palestine.” As one can see from any map of Palestine, “all of Palestine” does not mean living in peace alongside Israel; it means supplanting…