"Better to own networks than destroy them"
Author: Clint Watts
Article: Countering Terrorism from the Second Foreign Fighter Glut
Source: The smoking hot Small Wars Journal
Extended quote:
Destroying smuggling networks in the short-run has short-run benefits and is needed at times. But, new smuggling networks are likely to emerge and replace those that are destroyed. Instead, CT efforts could own networks and use them to control and reduce the supply of foreign fighters (Own-and-Exploit) or use them to reduce the demand for jihad in source countries and flashpoint cities (Own-and-Taint). Owning networks will also be beneficial in the long run as the same networks that support foreign fighter flow often support other nefarious activities that can be penetrated through successful monitoring.a) Own-and-Exploit: This strategy focuses on the fighter in the network and not the network itself. If there is clarity on the foreign fighter flow through a smuggling network, then Western efforts could monitor foreign fighters to a place and time of their choosing where they can use military and law enforcement assets to eliminate them from the foreign fighter pool. This process will likely generate better intelligence about the sources of foreign fighters, allowing further refinement of counter radicalization strategies in flashpoint cities.
b) Own-and-Taint: A second advantage to network ownership is the ability to influence its quality. Diminishing the reception of new recruits may be one of the best methods for reducing the demand for jihad in source countries. By 2006, foreign fighter recruits were crossing the Iraqi border to find no mission waiting for them. They were also given suicide operations designed to settle local Iraqi disputes rather than achieve AQ’s global agenda. The disappointment found by these new foreign fighter recruits was communicated back to flashpoint cities, which likely hurt recruitment.
Applications of this approach to other networks should be obvious. Posted on 29 May 2009 @ 16:58
