Tuesday, August 03, 2004

New post to global guerrillas.  $100 OIL? 8:50:18 PM    Comment_ Trackback []

LOL ;->  Wild bodycounts.  US and Afghan forces are attacked by 50 Taliban guerrillas (an estimate provided by ground forces).  An estimated 70 Taliban are killed (the estimate is provided by the pilots).  Regardless of the exaggeration, it shows things are heating up. This is more serious because it nullifies air power: Abdul Rauf Akhund, former governor of Khost told Reuters that "A large number of Taliban are entering several Afghan cities including Kabul and planning new attacks on foreign occupying forces."  With the US caught in Iraq, it can't support a "hot" guerrilla war in Afghanistan. 2:26:09 PM    Comment_ Trackback []

Reuters.  An Irish engineer was killed in his office in the Saudi capital Riyadh Tuesday, diplomatic and police sources said. 2:14:29 PM    Comment_ Trackback []

Wired on HERFs for the military.  Beyond the article, I've heard that HERFs are already being used to pre-detonate/disable roadside bombs in Iraq.  It's only a matter of time before they make it to the opposition.  Once that happens, our asymmetric dependence on electronics will work against us.  Herfing, is on the way. Also, ranged stun guns are on the way: "You're dealing with the ability to pre-detonate the majority of improvised explosives that are used right now," said Pete Bitar, president of Xtreme Alternative Defense Systems, an Anderson, Indiana, company that is developing a rifle-size directed-energy gun for the Marines. More (also on Defensetech): DefRev spoke with Pete Bitar, President/CEO of Xtreme Alternative Defense Systems (XADS), on the phone, yesterday. Pete informed us that he's already received SBIR Phase 1 and Phase 2 R&D contracts from the U.S. Marine Corps (USMC). Right now, the range of the StunStrike CQSR (Close Quarters Shock Rifle) is very limited. The man-portable unit (CQSR), currently has a maximum range of roughly 10-12 feet. For the fixed-position model that can be structure-mounted, maximum range is around 70 feet. However, XADS is currently developing laser-based technology that will have much greater (somewhat indefinite) range. According to the company, operational laser-based, less-lethal/non-lethal electric shock weapons are still a couple of years away. While I was talking with Pete Bitar, yesterday, I told him that basically, with the XADS Stunstrike CQSR "you're shooting lightning at people", to which Pete said something to the effect of "yeah, that's pretty much it". What's interesting about the StunStrike is that the lightning bolt that comes out is visible (just like natural lightning), and has an ending point, like a light saber. Pete told me that the electrical "beam" is both visually and audibly intimidating, and should prove to have a profound psychological effect people. Basically, it looks and sounds scary, which is usually what you want with a less-lethal device. 12:53:13 PM    Comment_ Trackback []

David Stephenson is blogging Homeland Security topics. 12:34:33 PM    Comment_ Trackback []

Jay Rosen:  The real story about the DNC convention.  The security fiasco. 10:44:44 AM    Comment_ Trackback []

Global Guerrilla Journal:  Failed States vs. Rogue States. 10:41:34 AM    Comment_ Trackback []

LOL.  I get at least one e-mail a day from someone looking for work as a mercenary. 10:12:33 AM    Comment_ Trackback []

Telegraph.  Tracking al Qaeda in Sudan.  A ring of failed states is forming around Saudi Arabia.  The officer said it was proving difficult to pin the terrorists down. 'We have a read on the rat-lines and the wider camp areas, but these are shifting camps in a very spread out part of the country. Our job is to tie them down tighter and tighter. They are moving pretty easily from their base points to the Red Sea coast, and then back and forth to Saudi. The Saudis are pretty annoyed about it.'  Western diplomats in Saudi Arabia said that the new Sudanese camps, which were established in the last nine months, have become a vital staging ground for al-Qa'eda. 'There is significant traffic from these camps to the peninsula across the Red Sea,' one said.  A team of five special forces soldiers broke off from the Powell entourage for a week-long mission in the Kurush mountains, where aerial surveillance had established a list of villages where suspicious activity had been detected. 8:05:57 AM    Comment_ Trackback []