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| Iraq |
| How Small Raids Net Big Gains |
| 2007-10-12 |
| The commander in charge of helping local Iraqis organize and fight al Qaeda and other anti-coalition forces said Wednesday that a raid last month netted a treasure trove of information that could spell the doom of al Qaeda terrorist smuggling operations in Iraq and, potentially, worldwide. The description of the find exemplifies the kind of intelligence American and Iraqi forces are gaining, with the help of local tipsters, and provides a window into how commanders speak with such authority on insurgent ties to Iran and al Qaeda activity in Iraq. The raid, conducted Sept. 11 in the town of Sinjar near the Syrian border, targeted what Maj. Gen. Kevin Bergner called “a foreign terrorist facilitation cell.” As coalition forces busted in on the seven-man AQ team, one of them detonated a suicide vest, killing himself and one of his companions, while the U.S. team made short work of the rest. Aside from disrupting the small smuggling team, coalition forces found “literally terabytes of electronic files,” Bergner said, including 800 names of al Qaeda terrorists – 143 of those either “en route or already delivered” to Iraq. The intel included the terrorists’ names, passport numbers, home addresses and “their transit routes that were involved in getting them here,” Bergner said in an interview with military bloggers Oct. 10. The computer files included documents on logistics and administrative activities, “we saw how they spend their money on everything from food, fuel and weapons … and even allocation of money to support some of their families,” Bergner added. In one macabre find, Bergner said troops obtained copies of suicide pledges “that al Qaeda is using to help lead these individuals towards the performance of a suicide mission.” Though the raid netted only seven dead AQ terrorists, the information gleaned from it could cripple the group’s operations in Iraq. Home addresses, phone numbers, transit routes, money information, food procurement, ammo, guns…think how many strands of the web were picked up and the down-stream effects those have to the entire AQ network. I wonder if AQ cells are going to change their record keeping after this. And it also makes me wonder why they keep such detailed operational records. I thought we were being led to believe these groups were “loosely affiliated cells.” Only someone that was being held to strict account would keep such detailed records. |
| Posted by:Delphi |
| #18 It is interesting, how a good intell wonk can take a terabyte here and a gigabyte there and unravel the whole shebang. I just hope we can make some use of this fun stuff before the NYT sends a love note to OBL and let's him know whats been found. I think our guys in the back room are putting together a pretty good mosaic of AQ operations and I expect the rate of attrition of that organization in Iraq to accellerate. Gosh I hope so, my driver and his family want to know when I can come back for a visit. |
| Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom 2007-10-12 23:40 |
| #17 Bobby, JFM has been using steganography in all his comments. Yesterday, he reminded me that I haven't had a good boef tartare in a while. And a few days ago he reminded me to drink a bottle of claret (Vieux Chateau Certan) every day for month. All of this appeared as he was commenting on Algerian unrest. Go figure. |
| Posted by: Jack is Back! 2007-10-12 16:30 |
| #16 Bobby, you left out "peppermill". |
| Posted by: Zenster 2007-10-12 14:58 |
| #15 The Curta Calculator - an advanced mechanical calculator and fishing reel, all rolled up into one! |
| Posted by: Bobby 2007-10-12 14:54 |
| #14 For an interesting fictional read that covers steganography very nicely, consider perusing William Gibson's "Pattern Recognition". As a tasty side-dish, he serves up some historical insight about how the Curta calculator narrowly escaped stillbirth at the Buchenwald concentration camp. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2007-10-12 14:24 |
| #13 JFM - that's a pretty big english word for a Frenchman. I'm impressed! In French it is steganographie. In fact it is a Greek word who has been adapted to other languages. Did I mention I work in IT? Also in the vein of the old commercials for French Navy: "Enlist and you will visit countries" I envision the following slogan for Al Queda: "Enlist and you will get all the p0rn you can watch". |
| Posted by: JFM 2007-10-12 14:14 |
| #12 The documentation was for filling out expense reports... Those basturds in accounting won't pay anything without a receipt. |
| Posted by: Capsu78 2007-10-12 13:53 |
| #11 Like all fascists, they just can't resist the urge to document every little thing. That's what bit the Stasi too. |
| Posted by: mojo 2007-10-12 11:18 |
| #10 Back to Sylwester's points; You never get a peek into the organization if you stay on defense, but by kicking in a door or two, you get at the bookkeeping and phone banks and contact numbers and locations. A great deal at any rate. |
| Posted by: wxjames 2007-10-12 10:55 |
| #9 It sounds too good to be true, which means it probably is. More likely this group are like a motor pool file, in which after the fact, dozens of vehicles and mountains of equipment just happened to be parked there when the fire broke out. That is, they are good cover for where we really got the info. Think about it. Terabytes of data? *A* terabyte of data would take over 200 DVDs. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2007-10-12 10:38 |
| #8 Good point, Mike. I would characterize one point differently, however: The people who oppose our invasion of Iraq underestimate the many advantages of going onto the offensive. I don't think they oppose it because of any military strategic considerations. They oppose it because in their world view, war is always wrong, regardless of it's causes, it's goals, or it's outcome. The concept that there are evil people in the world, and that you don't reason with evil, but rather, you crush it, never enters their minds. It's the antithesis of Americanism. "War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself." --John Stuart Mill |
| Posted by: mcsegeek1 2007-10-12 09:00 |
| #7 . This is a good example of the advantages of fighting offensively. When we go into our enemy's territory and attack them in their bases, then there will be many advantages for our side. Whenever we disperse the enemy, especially when we do so unexpectedly and violently, then we cause a lot of confusion, loss of information, loss of secrecy and loss of initiative. This is true at the tactical level and also at the strategic level. When the USA invaded Afghantistan and also when the USA invaded Iraq, we shook up huge regions, dislodged large organizations and disrupted broad networks. We created chaos that enabled new forces to stand up and eventually to ally themselves with us. These new forces are the oppressed majorities, the religious and ethnic minorities, the proponents for modernization, and multitudes of individuals looking for personal vengeances and opportunities. The people who oppose our invasion of Iraq underestimate the many advantages of going onto the offensive. They argue that we would have been wiser to limit our strategy to strengthening our defenses, strengthening our alliances and strengthening our moral reputation. Certainly there are many disadvantages to going on the offensive. Let's do recognize, however, the many advantages of being able to attack and to seize people, equipment, documents and information and to chase people from their bases and to scatter them far and wide. |
| Posted by: Mike Sylwester 2007-10-12 07:06 |
| #6 JFM - that's a pretty big english word for a Frenchman. I'm impressed! steganography |
| Posted by: Bobby 2007-10-12 06:21 |
| #5 Budda-boom, budda-bing, it's a beautiful thing. Go team! |
| Posted by: Zenster 2007-10-12 05:48 |
| #4 Ah. So the poor terrorists are forced to have to use pr0n images to broadcast their messages. It's probably allowed in the name of taquiyya. Where can I sign up? :-) |
| Posted by: gorb 2007-10-12 05:46 |
| #3 Terabytes? Hmm. I'm going to start a betting pool on how much of that is pr0n. I'll take 99%. Inserting messsages in images through steganography and then putting those images in a website is a good way to unconspicuously brodcast information specially if website gets a lot of visits. |
| Posted by: JFM 2007-10-12 05:05 |
| #2 *ding, dong* "Avon calling!" |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2007-10-12 03:17 |
| #1 As coalition forces busted in on the seven-man AQ team, one of them detonated a suicide vest, killing himself and one of his companions, while the U.S. team made short work of the rest. Even AQ is helping out the Coalition these days! :-) Aside from disrupting the small smuggling team, coalition forces found “literally terabytes of electronic files,” Bergner said, including 800 names of al Qaeda terrorists – 143 of those either “en route or already delivered” to Iraq. Terabytes? Hmm. I'm going to start a betting pool on how much of that is pr0n. I'll take 99%. |
| Posted by: gorb 2007-10-12 02:19 |