Is The White House Outsourcing It's Kill And Capture Operations Against Certain Terror Groups?

U.S. soldiers train their counterparts in Ghana, 2011. The next leader of U.S. Africa Command emphasized such training as a fixture for confronting terrorist groups in Africa. Photo: U.S. Army

Outsourcing Lethality -- Micah Zenko, Foreign Policy

When there's a foreign finger on the trigger, is Washington still accountable when innocents die?

"Outsourcing" is a dirty word in Washington these days. But officials are strangely silent when it involves targeted killings. This column has repeatedly focused on the scope, distinction, legality, and strategic effectiveness of America's Third War of non-battlefield targeted killings in Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia, and the Philippines. Among the most widely promulgated criticisms of U.S. drone strikes is the absence of any transparency in decision making, limited congressional and judicial oversight, and the potential for civilian harm without any apparent corrective action. Policymakers and analysts have offered suggestions for how -- over 10 years after they began -- the Obama administration could comprehensively reform its targeted killing policies. Finally, President Barack Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder promised some reforms related to transparency "in the months ahead." That was several months ago. Given the Obama administration's refusal to provide witnesses to recent congressional hearings on drones -- or answer clarifying questions posed by journalists and policymakers -- it is likely that forthcoming announcements will fall short of the president's repeated goal of making his, "the most transparent administration in history."

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My Comment: The U.S. outsources some of it's arms deals through third parties .... so why not outsource kill or capture squads. Not surprisingly .... there is zero debate in Congress on this policy, and little if any coverage in the main stream media.

Update: A special thanks to Instapundit for the link. For new visitors to this blog, War News Updates is always updated with a new post on the hour.

How The United States Is Blowing The War On Terror In Waziristan

A map showing Pakistan's tribal areas, where the drone attacks have been concentrated. The Guardian

Wayward In Waziristan -- Akbar Ahmed And Harrison Akins, Foreign Affairs

How the United States is blowing the war on terror in the most dangerous place in the world.

It's possibly the most ominous-sounding region on the planet: Waziristan -- the name alone evokes al Qaeda, the Taliban, and Islamic militancy. These menaces have brought the world's focus to this small mountainous border region of northwest Pakistan, a part of the country's Federally Administered Tribal Areas, which U.S. President Barack Obama referred to as "the most dangerous place in the world."

The combined might of the U.S. and Pakistani militaries has been pounding on this impoverished region, which is about the size of Connecticut, for over a decade. Waziristan is the heart of the U.S. drone campaign in Pakistan: Out of 351 strikes, 333 of them have occurred there.

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My Comment: With no boots on the ground and zero influence there is no possibility of stopping these terror groups. And as to having their top leaders and commanders killed in drone strikes .... if recent reports of civilian casualties are true .... blow-back will probably be the end result of that strategy. I guess the best that we can do is to contain them in that part of Pakistan .... but with U.S. forces now leaving .... even that course of action is probably not going to happen.

Using Local Armies To Fight Against U.S. Enemies

Outsourcing the Fight Against Terrorism -- James Kitfield, National Journal

The United States is using local soldiers to fight al-Qaida allies in East Africa.

MANDA BAY NAVAL BASE, Kenya—The C-12 twin-engine turboprop drops through a break in the clouds, and Kenya’s tropical Lamu Archipelago, surrounded by coral-green waters, emerges like a lost continent. Cuticles of virgin white beach line a jungle that stretches back into the country’s interior. Banking, the pilot spots a short airstrip cut out of the foliage. The station below is one of the remotest outposts in an expanding U.S. network of staging bases in Africa. The clouds close when the rainy season arrives in mid-March, and Manda Bay can go for weeks, even months, without so much as a mail drop. The C-12 touches down on an unlit runway and stops.

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My Comment: Historically speaking this is nothing new .... the Romans used local armies to fight their battles and to enforce their empire. The U.S. does not have an empire in East Africa, but there are Al Qaeda affiliated threats located in the region that can easily metastasized into something that can become a serious problem in the future. What better way to contend with them than by using local soldiers who are familiar with the culture and geography and will not be constrained by U.S. rules of engagement. The only drawback .... these local soldiers may operate under rules of engagement that are totally unacceptable to the U.S..

If You Are A Terrorist, This Is How The U.S. Determines Your Fate

How Obama Decides Your Fate If He Thinks You're a Terrorist -- Daniel Byman and Benjamin Wittes, The Atlantic

A look inside the "disposition matrix" that determines when -- or if -- the administration will pursue a suspected militant.

Over the past two years, the Obama administration has begun to formalize a so-called "disposition matrix" for suspected terrorists abroad: a continuously evolving database that spells out the intelligence on targets and various strategies, including contingencies, for handling them. Although the government has not spelled out the steps involved in deciding how to treat various terrorists, a look at U.S. actions in the past makes evident a rough decision tree.

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My Comment: The complete flowchart that is used to determine the status of a terror suspect is here. It appears that #13 (lethal force) is the most popular one for this administration.

How America's War Against Terror Groups Is Undermining NATO

U.S. Tactics Threaten NATO -- Tom Parker, National Interest

A growing chasm in operational practice is opening up between the United States and its allies in NATO. This rift is putting the Atlantic alliance at risk. Yet no one in Washington seems to be paying attention.

The escalating use of unmanned aerial vehicles to strike terrorist suspects in an increasing number of operational environments from the Arabian Peninsula to Southeast Asia, coupled with the continued use of military commissions and indefinite detention, is driving a wedge between the United States and its allies.

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My Comment: If NATO has an alternative plan to the present operational war against Al Qaeda and it's affiliated .... I am all ears. But NATO does not, and the legal barriers that it is setting up will only benefit terror groups and their sympathizers.

Doubts On The U.S. Counterterrorism Mission In Yemen Are Being Raised

American Drones Will Not Save Yemen -- Joshua Foust, The Atlantic

An attempted terrorist attack this week has been bookended by U.S. drone strikes in Yemen. Do we know they're effective?

The first half of May has seen significant levels of violence in Yemen. On May 3, a drone strike killed 13 suspected militants in southern Yemen. On May 6, a drone strike killed Fahd al-Quso, one of the al-Qaeda operatives behind the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole. On May 10, another drone strike killed 8 more suspected militants.

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My Comment: Stories like this one reminds me of what former US Defense Secretary Rumsfeld once said .... are we eliminating Al Qaeda's forces faster than they can replenish their ranks. If the above post is to be believed .... the answer is no.