September 19, 2001

  • TWI (Terrorist War I)


    The attack upon the terrorist community must not be simply a military campaign. The “sponsor” states, of course, have been identified and have/will be given the opportunity to capitulate and discard the terrorists or face conventional assaults.  But beyond that, the terrorists’ organizations themselves must be effectively assailed. And there will be no “ground rules” –anymore. Behind the scenes, there will likely be assassination campaigns, kidnappings, stings, severe “off-the-record” interrogations of prisoners to garner more intelligence, heightened surveillance of all types including “hacking” terrorist internet accounts, etc.  This war will entail police actions (arrests), identifying and seizing the terrorists’ 'legitimate' financial market involvements, discovering and destroying their black market operations (this might be the toughest task), and conducting an artful  propaganda campaign to sway their sympathizers away.   Though there may be an initial conventional military response to take out "soft" targets, the eventual conduct of the war will be one of employing enhanced counter-guerrilla warfare tactics along with economic and technological "terror," or if you will, "counter-terror" techniques, some of which are doubtlessly now being improvised for just this occasion.


    Am I sounding like the Secretary of Defense yet?  Screw that. It's just the kid in me...


    When I was 10-15 years old, unbeknownst to practically anyone, I covertly steeped myself in knowledge of all forms of non-conventional warfare and guerrilla tactics.  I will not recite a litany of the topics I delved into lest I sound like a modern militia recruit!   But as part of my self-training, I also read books on the history of modern unconventional warfare, a history that is portrayed as beginning with Rogers Rangers.



    So who was Rogers?


    Robert Rogers was a colonial farmer recruited from New Hampshire in 1755 by the British for service in the French and Indian War (1754-63).


    He created a unit called Rogers' Rangers in 1756 (the first Rangers), and by 1758 the British placed him in charge of all colonial Ranger companies. The Rangers wore distinctive green outfits and developed tactics called "Rogers' Ranging Rules", which the British considered unconventional. These tactics are still in use by Rangers today, including the Green Berets.


    Rogers' Rangers were most famous for their engagement with the Abenaki St Francis Indians, who lived midway between Montreal and Quebec. These Abenaki were credited with the deaths of over 600 colonists during the duration of the war. After the Indians attacked a retreating British unit under a flag of truce, Rogers led a hand-picked force of 200 Rangers to destroy the Indian's village.*


    Now we are about to enter a new era of unconventional warfare.  Just as Rogers developed tactics, so too can we expect a fresh implementation of counter-terrorist tactics in our time.  But don't expect to immediately see more than the tip of this tactical iceberg. For just as with terrorists, secrecy and surprise will be essential to our success.


    In other words, what I'm suggesting is that "our need to know" as a free public citizenry should not descend to an investigative reporting attempt upon each and every tactic employed.  Even though that will be the mass media's instinct, and it is our healthy instinct generally to be sceptical of needless secrecy in government, much of this war must transpire "behind the scenes."


    In fact, I would be surprised if the terrorist death count, beyond those that committed suicide in the plane-bombs of 9-11, has not already climbed.


    * http://www.acidus.com/rogers.html

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