Here are some lessons on fighting drones

The sound of drones sent men into a panic. If they heard them, they’d hit the ground, or crawl under a humvee. The drones weren’t only dropping grenades, this one had an unknown white powder as its payload, “don’t go near that” Major Salam warned me. it lay outside for weeks.

And there wasn’t much they could do to stop the drones. Jamming rifles made an appearance but they weren’t terribly effective. The drones kept coming. Iraqi forces even began to improvise their own killer drones, with shuttle-cock ordinance.

Iraq discovered that the best way to counteract the threat from drones - be it surveillance, attacks, or intereference - is simple: Kill the drone operator.

Recruitment Processes in Clandestine Political Organizations

My data reveal some qualitative characteristics of these ties. They show, for example, that they were both multiple and strong. Decisions to join underground organizations were taken by clusers or cliques of people connected to each other by joint involvements of more than one activity. For example, quite frequently new recruits were next-door neighbors who worked in the same department of a big factory; school friends who used to spend their vacation together; cousins who belonged to the same voluntary association.

Counterinsurgency and Lone Wolf Terrorism

This essay examines strategies to counter the threat of lone wolf terrorism. Lone wolves implement a tactical approach dubbed “leaderless resistance,” which has become popular in several extremist subcultures. Although most episodes of lone wolf terrorism have not been highly destructive, there are notable exceptions that have claimed a substantial number of victims. The lone wolf trend should be contextualized in the evolution of conflict and strategy in which smaller and smaller entities figure prominently. Elements of the counterinsurgency doctrine can be applied to lone wolf terrorism. A comprehensive counterterrorism strategy must prepare for the prospect of lone wolf terrorism because of the increasing number of small-scale attacks, the large number of soft targets in contemporary society, and the potential damage that individuals can cause with the use of weapons of mass destruction.

Leaderless Resistance, Networked Organization, and Ideological Hegemony

This article examines various forms of “new terrorism,” specifically the structure of “leaderless resistance,” in connection with Robert Michels’ idea of the “iron law of oligarchy.” It is usually argued that “leaderless resistance” movements lack some of the typical obstacles of terrorist (and other) organizations, given their non-hierarchical and comparatively fluid natures. However, a new form of oligarchy develops in this type of movement, located in the propagation of key ideological concepts/arguments/symbols, the assigning of target preferences, and the elevation or demotion of others within the movement broadly. Rather than oligarchy forming via the material assets of organizations, an “ideational” oligarchy is created that shapes the goals of leaderless resistance movements: those leaders who are already established, and who control the means of communicating the movement’s ideas to the widest audience, will impede the growth of groups and individuals within the movement that attempt to supplant their role. This article will use the examples of certain eco-terror groups (the Animal Liberation Front and the Earth Liberation Front) to explicate this development.

Notes to the Underground: Credit Claiming and Organizing in the Earth Liberation Front

This paper presents a case study of the Earth Liberation Front (ELF), based on interviews of the group’s former affiliates. It examines the role of credit claims in organizing this underground leaderless resistance group’s activity. In addition to the external signaling functions of credit claims—demonstrating capability, issuing demands, and soliciting public support—credit claims serve a movement-building role in the ELF. By issuing credit claims in “aboveground” fora that other cells are known to read, ELF cells with no direct links are able to communicate information to one another. Credit-claiming communiqués serve four organizing functions for the ELF. They constitute the ELF underground as an imagined community, recruit new cells, set agendas for future actions, and enforce operational standards of behavior via an informal “peer review” process. This study of the ELF suggests broader insights, including possible organizing techniques that may be observed in white supremacist and Islamist cases.

How an Explosion (Not Aliens) Turned New York’s Night Sky an Electric Blue

The bizarre illumination was sparked by an “electric arc flash” tied to faulty equipment at a Con Edison substation, a spokesman for the utility, Bob McGee, said early Friday.

A voltage detector at the substation failed, which led to the electrical fault that caused the arc, Con Ed’s chairman, John McAvoy, said at a news conference Friday.

The fault went on for longer than would normally be expected, he added, because a protective device did not work as quickly as it normally would.