Legitimate the Mercenarism - Proxies: The Geopolitical Projection and Stragegy - Large use by Covert Operations
Read the articles in the links, some of the articles has my opinions here in the blog.
Kremlin Watch Reading Suggestion
Russian Use of Private Military and Security Companies:
The Implications for European and Norwegian Security
The Norwegian Defence Research Establishment has published a report analysing the nature of Russian private military and security companies (PMSCs) and contrasting it to that of their Western counterparts.
According to western scholars, the PMCs industry in the West in heterogeneous, and serves to carry out support of logistics and fill the gaps in military organisations, like the outsourcing some military needs and support only the military personal. (It's idealistic promotion of happy propaganda, see that mercenarism in West supported war on terror and promoted new franchising and joint ventures on military and private security sector, promoting direct combat).
In 2003, the Western PMSC industry drew a lot of negative attention for its conduct in Iraq. As a consequence, many companies shied away from a military profile and rebranded themselves as ‘risk management companies’ or ‘risk consultancies’. These companies now responds as consulting or only private security, with basic services of identification and guard, and intelligence, turned to business risk on physical security and investigation.
The fact that Blackwater changed the capability on combat, makes enterprises as G4S promote the surveillance services as it's primal focus.
Although not officially legal, the Russian PMSC industry does not feel a need to disassociate itself from a military profile, keeping it still working at direct combat services. For example, RSB-Group has been engaged in the protection of naval vessels in African waters, mine clearance in Lybia, and was allegedly part of the annexation of Crimea in 2014.
Interestingly, the RSB-Group was the first Russian PMSC to open a cyber defence detachment in 2016. Russian PMSCs that have been reported to be involved in Donbass include the RSB-Group, MAR, ENOT Corp, and Wagner.
E.N.O.T. Corp promoted the national idealistic security, focused on direct combat and infiltration, promotion of Russian influence in direct small units armies and training for ultra-nationalist personal.
The scholars are in basis against the combat and focused in the promotion of society intelligence and indocrination, to promote an ecumenic felling, so the reports promotes some potential consequences of the use of the private forces from Russia.
The promotion of Russian PMCs for endangering the civilian lives, as the put mercenaries with no legal organ to inquiry their subjectives and actions.
They serve customers with questonable human rights records, like dictators can use them, if pay for the service, or local armies, requestint their services.
The large number of the capacity of the actors that militaries fighgt against.
The fight against pro-Russian fighters cannot evolve Russian government direct in conflict, and Russian regular military personal are not involved in small local conflicts, creating a global instable scenario of hybrid war, promoting military presence in some scenarios and mercenaries fighting with no legislation in small conflicts.
Actors that are the allies of European countries in non-European conflicts may still hire Russian PMSCs to boost their military capacities.
The promotion also of illegal operations to promote the destruction of leadership and ideologies in some places, to replace with interested influence or ideologies, like promotion of civil unrest and solution the problem.
Secret missions with no involvement of the government are important to promote the future legal influence and the use of Psyops to stablish the propaganda.
Covert Operations & Operators: What They Are and Aren't
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Covert_operation
https://www.globalsecurity.org/intell/ops/covert-ops.htm
The term, "covert operations" and all of its derivatives like "black ops", "secret missions"; captures the interest and fancy of many people from within and outside of the security/intelligence community. Awe inspiring worship is often attributed to successful covert operations when declassified or as well as condemnation and scorn when operations fail or are exposed too soon.
Espionage missions in general are covert in nature, the operations I am referring to fall into the "direct action" category for the most part. The chief nature of espionage is to secretly collect, analyze, produce, and disseminate information so that stake holders can take action; what I am discussing are more sensitive "offensive"operations. So, let's dive in to the basics of what makes an operation "covert".
Authorized by a government entity. Yes, there are many examples of private sector companies and security firms that engage in practices to steal proprietary information (which is outright illegal), to protect executives with undercover agents, or to launch misinformation campaigns to mislead competitors or even government auditors and investigators. Though some companies use covert means to track employees, customers, or users; these actions maybe on the fringes of business ethics but they aren't covert operations. The use of a plain clothes retail store detective may meet the definition of "covert" but I assure you Macy's isn't launching covert operations in their stores; it's a completely different paradigm but more on this later. Democratic governments for the most part are transparent institutions and this includes alerting citizens to the dispatching of government and security forces. For special cases and initiatives, governments have to launch certain actions which have to be hidden from the public's purview and even that of elected and appointed government officials in order to ensure a positive end result for the country. A covert action is generally small in scope (but not always), with an even smaller circle of officials involved in oversight, because with more moving parts comes the risk of discovery.
Deniability - A covert action may take place resulting in the theft of sensitive information, exfiltration of a high placed intelligence asset, death of a wanted terrorist, or an act of sabotage; when the smoke clears the host country or regional authority is none the wiser as to whom perpetrated the action. If any of the people involved in conducting covert operations were to be caught, or their communications were to be intercepted - nothing would betray the country or countries who initiated the action (if done correctly). Covert operations snowball into international incidents when an exposed action is attributed toward a particular country.
Operational Security (OPSEC) - To ensure deniability, a number of measures are needed to be put in action so as not to alert friends or foes that an action is underway. OPSEC is not only for covert operations as many of you know, but for any endeavor whose actions require secrecy. OPSEC measures can include the need for compartmentalizing information so only a few know the whole scope of the operation. Predetermined times to communicate, train for a mission, and travel are some of the practices applied to hide the true nature of an action. The mission to kill Usama Bin Laden, a special operation (see below) employed OPSEC on a number of fronts; two such examples: - sequestering the special operators chosen for the mission from their other team mates within their unit during the training phase, and on the night of the raid, staff at the White House ordered take out/delivery pizza from a number of different restaurants so as not to alert employees at any one restaurant that something big was underway (an order of 50 pizzas from one place will be a giveaway that something is going on). Applying tradecraft - techniques, tools, and methods used in espionage operations in general are essential to ensure OPSEC. Some tradecraft practices include the use of false travel documents and identification, shell companies to provide cover for the operators purpose in a country(ies), encrypted communications, and in select cases the uniforms, weapons, and munitions belonging to a different country or militia.
Examples of Covert Operations:
Terrorist group A attacks and kills members of terrorist group B, leading to reprisal raids against terrorist group A. The truth in fact is that a nation state who is the enemy of both terrorist groups launched a covert action by pretending to be terrorist group A in the hope that a cycle of violence between both groups will diminish and degrade the capabilities of each.
A rogue nation is intent on producing a long range ballistic missile thereby having leverage to threaten democratic countries on a large scale. A joint covert operation is initiated between two -three democratic nation states to subvert the production of such a missile. Using their resources, the aligned countries establish a phony ironworks company and win a bid to supply the rogue nation state with critical parts necessary for the construction of the missile, often done on the gray and black markets. Once inside the supply chain, the joint covert operation allows for the democratic countries to gain further information about the critical figures, financiers, and collaborators of the rogue nation as well as the ability to deliver faulty parts, malicious code, and other elements to sabotage the efforts of the rogue nation.
The strife in Syria has displaced millions and driven citizens to set up refugee camps in areas of their own country outside the heavy fighting. The government of Israel launched a covert humanitarian aid initiative to clothe, feed, and treat the Syrian civilians. All Hebrew markings of clothes, food, and supplies were removed prior to the delivery to the civilians. Because many civilians in the Arab and Muslim countries that surround Israel were brought up to think negatively of Israel, an overt offering of aid would have been rejected out of principle. If a young Syrian child were to be found in school wearing shoes or clothes with Hebrew markings, he or she would most likely be beaten and their family would be accused of being spies. So by using proxies and aid organizations, Israel helped the Syrians covertly. At certain junctures, Israel did allow for the media to broadcast and document the existence of such aid operations as well as admit to treating Syrians in Israeli hospitals.
Covert Operations vs Special Operations
Yes, there is a difference. As described above, covert operations are conducted with deniability of the sanctioning government. Though there can be special missions and operations that are indeed covert, not always is this the case. Hostage rescue missions, direct actions against terrorist bases are often undertaken by special military units and are often claimed by the country who sent them on the mission. Behind the scenes of a hostage rescue for example, there can be a host of covert actions undertaken to deliver the proper actionable intelligence or to incapacitate the response of forces aligned with the hostage takers, so that the rescue can be launched and ultimately succeed. A number of countries deploy operators, (some from the military and some from intelligence services) whose function is to collect the tactical intelligence needed prior to a raid or special operation and they do so in the most covert of ways.
So Who the Heck is a Covert Operator?
In regards to a job title or professional identifier, in these days of social media, folks do take it upon themselves to promote some type of badassery existence but there are indeed select few who were covert operators (and those that are still, are quiet about it). Lets look into the requirements of the covert part of the title.
Like I explained above, someone who is engaged in covert activities does so in the shadows and is in noway connected to anything overtly related to the organization or entity he or she is associated with for reasons of (OPSEC) and or mission success. Where the term "covert" gets used a lot these days is in the function and nature of the task that requires varying levels of secrecy and cover. I may ruffle some feathers here but lets dive into the different applications of "covert".
Undercover Store Detective - Dresses in plain clothes as opposed to a uniform and acts as shopper with the intent of identifying a shop lifter and to facilitate the capture of the shop lifter. The chances are that the store detective was not furnished with a fake driver's license, shall he or she be outed. The worst case scenario if a store detective is discovered is actually a good thing, the bad guys will leave the store.
Covert Protectors (Private Sector Contracts)- extremely well trained individuals whose job it is do identify potential threats to a client and even facility. Like the store detective, it is their job to alert others like the close protection team that hostile surveillance is underway or that there are pre-attack indicators at hand. These protectors themselves are extremely sharp with OPSEC though the chances are high that they are not issued "cover identities" like phony passports or driver's licenses but may have covert job titles like "personal assistant". Discovery of covert protectors by bad actors, will like the undercover store detective, cause the bad guys to change their plans. Of course, using the same covert protectors for a client who engages in the same routine day to day will be moot unless the protectors change up their appearance with high frequency.
Undercover law enforcement officer/agent/official. - So in many ways the nature of undercover operations is similar to covert operations but in the United States, such missions are called "undercover" because a "covert" operation done unto the citizens sounds a bit harsh. The covert nature of undercover law enforcement operations varies in the depth and length of the mission required. We have seen buy/busts on shows like COPS, a plain clothes officer pretending to be a drug addict buys illegal drugs from a dealer and then an arrest is executed. Though the police officer may dress and act the part for a buy/bust, the depth of his or her cover is perhaps just that for this type of mission. I managed fraud investigations and collected intelligence for the NYC Dept. of Investigations, I was furnished with an undercover car, driver's license, listening equipment, and a phony work ID for certain investigations. I ran informants, conducted static and mobile surveillances, and applied a fair amount of tradecraft while in the field to blend in to my environment and avoid detection yet was I a covert operator in this role? Deeper investigations may require a law enforcement officer to assume a new identity, residence, car, and made up life story so as to penetrate a criminal organization - which can take months or years (Donnie Brasco). Undercover operations can be quite covert in the tactics, yet the outcome of the operation will be attributed to the arresting agency(ies).
Do You Even Operate?
Above, I addressed the covert nature of certain jobs, now I will describe the elements of what makes a covert operator.
Mission - you are part of secret unit, team, task force and have been given cover identities, or work titles geared to throw off suspicion or deflect the true nation of your mission on behalf of your country or government contacting agency. Keep in mind that there also a host of support staff - IT/Logistics, that can be assigned to a covert mission yet they may not possess all of the hard skill sets written below.
The Capability to Operate with Expert Precision - multiple tactical skill sets to include weapons, armament systems, defensive tactics, tactical medical, surveillance detection, deployment of tactical/espionage communications, evasive driving, etc. The reason one is an operator is because he or she can operate a vast and intricate number of tools with high functionality.
The Ability to Infiltrate and Exfiltrate Hostile populations while maintaining cover as an individual or part of a team; which implies foreign language skills to some degree and cultural understanding. If your cover or that of your mission is blown, you have the skills (see above bullet point) to fight and even bribe your way out to safety. We have all seen special operators with "tactical beards", worn to show favor with locals, despite the overt nature of some of their missions. Yes the beard goes well with blending in, but if you are a 6'5 blond strapping guy from Minnesota, you might have a challenge if you are supposed to be on an extended covert operation in a land where most people have dark complexions and average about 5'7" in height (not saying that it can't happen successfully).
Hostile Area of Operations - a sensitive topic for some. Let's say that you are a private sector covert protector assigned to safeguard a VIP in the US; be it in Santa Barbara, Nantucket, or Los Altos, CA. You are highly trained, and in most cases unarmed but ready for anything. Perhaps your client is iconic and controversial. You are there to detect a myriad of threats - hostile surveillance, a coordinated protest, a violent action, or some endeavor that can embarrass your principle (egging/pie in the face). Yet, in most cases you have to contend with one or by some remote chance multiple attackers in a relative safe environment. If as a covert protector stateside you are "exposed", perhaps your picture makes the rounds in paparazzi magazines and websites and perhaps you will be re-assigned if you weren't wearing a disguise of some sort. Imagine doing a covert protection job in Aden, Yemen, where if you are compromised you are not dealing with a handful of protestors or paparazzi but a whole village or militia. That being said, mass shootings and the chaos that ensues can happen anywhere in the US, where one will need to operate some skills to survive.
Operating Under Crisis - this goes without saying, but the "Operator" part of covert operator is a master of critical thinking, mental resiliency, and possesses a commitment to winning. One doesn't have to be an alpha dog per se but can elevate him or herself to be the type of person needed when a crisis is underway and lives are at stake. To remain highly functional while danger is imminent or chaos is exploding around you takes a very special breed of person.
I look at the covert mission/role under taken by members of the Annex team in Benghazi as an example of true covert operators. Highlighted in the book and movie 13 Hours, these operators were part of Global Response Staff, a contracted division of the CIA of former special operators and SWAT team members tasked to chiefly provide covert protection to CIA case officers in the field, often in hostile countries like Libya. Though covert protection is preventative in nature, when a response was needed Mark "Oz" Geist, John "Tig" Teigen, Kris "Tanto" Paronto, Dave "Boone" Benton, Jack Silva (not his real name), and the fallen Tyrone 'Rone" Woods, and Glen "Bub" Doherty exhibited true operator skill sets to ensure the survival of 36 US government employees at the outpost and annex. Had the coordinated terror attack on the diplomatic outpost and Annex in Benghazi not happen, the public would have never known that such a covert group or operation existed.
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