Folks,I remember when System of a Down released, “B.Y.OB.” I remember driving along the Pacific Coast Highway, tanned from a day at the beach and a belly full of surf and turf while Serge Tankian screamed, “And we all live in a fascist nation!” That was 2006. I remember thinking I liked SOAD more for their music than for their astute grasp of political philosophy. On that … [Read more...]
The Ugly Truth About Torture
Morals are a construct. We are not born with them, we learn them based on societal agreed upon rules. We evaluate our standards against what is common. Morals change; what is acceptable today is unacceptable or not tomorrow and so forth.Before you get all riled up about whether or not someone was bent around the edges a bit in order to coerce information from … [Read more...]
A Green Beret “Red Teams” A Terrorist Attack on America (Part 3)
Editor's Note: This is the third of a three-part series on this subject. Make sure to check out Part 1 and Part 2 in order to have a full sense of this story. _____ Most Dangerous Course of Action (MDCOA) Take Out the Power GridIs it a realistic and legitimate threat, or conspiracy nut's unrealistic pipe dream? A report in 2012 from the National Research Council's: … [Read more...]
A Green Beret “Red Teams” A Terrorist Attack On America (Part 2)
Editor's Note: This is the second of a three-part series. Be sure to check out Part 1 and Part 3 in order to have a full sense of this article. _____Type of Attack: Organized State/Non-State Sponsored AttackThe list of enemies of the United States is a long one, and many, if the right opportunity presented itself, would not hesitate to attempt to do us harm. From … [Read more...]
A Green Beret “Red Teams” a Terrorist Attack on the US (Part 1)
This is Part 1 of a three-part series by former Special Forces soldier Loren Schofield. _____ As a Special Forces Intelligence Sergeant (18 Fox), it is part of the job to understand the enemy and learn everything you can about him so you can try to predict what they will do. Part of this is playing Red Team during Course of Action (COA) development, and some of it comes into … [Read more...]
National Security: Americans Can’t Handle the Truth?
American citizens do not have an inherent, unrestricted right to know what the government does in the shadows on their behalf, and no amount of fist-shaking will grant them access to classified information without a bona fide need to know. The government has a responsibility to safeguard secrets; if the American public knows something, then the enemy knows it. The importance of … [Read more...]
Know Your Role: 7 Rules For Supporting Special Operations
Know Your Role: 7 Rules For Supporting Special Operations by Michael KaneWhile I still have a few years left, I am on the tail end of my military career. I have been fortunate enough to spend most of my time in uniform supporting Special Operations Forces (SOF). I have done a wide range of work. I've done everything from working out of safe houses to sitting behind a desk … [Read more...]
Harvard, Chelsea Manning, and the Crisis of Misinformation
By Lana DuffyIf there is one thing of which we can be sure, it is that Chelsea Manning is out of prison and attempting to start making the Controversial Public Speaker rounds.If there is one other thing of which we can be sure, it is that no one is quite sure what to do about Chelsea Manning being out of prison and making the Controversial Public Speaker rounds.Case … [Read more...]
Special Forces, Entrepreneurship: The P.A.C.E. Business Plan
To quote one of my more colorful and influential Special Forces instructors during the train up for SF selection, who we will call ‘Mike’, “Have a plan. And have a plan for your plan... because you are ignorant and your first plan sucks.”In the old days of Silicon Valley it was required to have a detailed business plan before pursuing external investment. However, in … [Read more...]
Jihadi Novels: Same Story, Different Medium, Wave of the Future?
In reading “A Guest on This Earth: Humam al-Balawi and the Birth of Jihadist Fiction” by Nadav Samin, the content struck me as both contemporary and historical. On one hand, the subject of the story, doctor and author turned suicide bomber, Humam al-Balawi is now known as a trailblazer likely to be the first to pen a jihadi novel titled “Take Me to Jihad,” written and posted … [Read more...]