Iran

US Shoots Down Iranian Drone Flying Over Base In Southern Syria: Will The US Retaliate?

The U.S. military intercepted and shot down a small drone that was believed to be threatening a U.S. base in southern Syria Tuesday, just weeks after the same base was attacked by drones and rocket fire. It is believed to have been launched by Iranian proxy militias in the region.

Capt. Bill Urban, the spokesman for U.S. Central Command, said that two drones or unmanned aerial systems (UAS) were tracked entering the airspace around Al-Tanf Garrison on Tuesday evening. “As one of the UAS continued its course deeper into the Al-Tanf Deconfliction Zone, it was assessed as demonstrating hostile intent and was shot down,” Urban said.

The drone was taken down by an air-to-air defense system. The second small drone turned and left the area. No casualties or damage to the facilities were reported.

The al-Tanf base is in a strategic area near the Iraqi and Jordanian borders that includes the strategic M2 highway that enables Iranian-backed militias to travel all the way from Tehran to southern Lebanon. The U.S. troops at the base train Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) to fight against ISIS fighters in the region.

Now the question remains, will the U.S. respond to this latest threat to U.S. troops and facilities in the region, or will there be more of the threats of retaliation with little action taken?

Iranian drone during an army exercise dubbed ‘Zulfiqar 1400’, in the coastal area of the Gulf of Oman, Iran, in November. Iranian military photo-release

This is the second attack in weeks at al-Tanf. In an October 20 attack, five so-called “suicide drones” attacked the base, followed by rocket fire that damaged facilities at the base but resulted in no casualties among the U.S. troops. Thanks to a timely warning by Israeli intelligence, American troops were able to take cover, a big reason why there were no casualties.

In that attack, the five drones crashed into the base. However, only two of the drones carrying a mixture of high explosives, shrapnel, and ball bearings exploded. The other three drones were examined and identified as being made in Iran. There was no doubt regardless of who was behind the attack when Iran proclaimed the attack as “a major success” and threatened more attacks would follow.

The Iranian government denied any involvement, claiming that there was no proof of Iranian involvement. However, a site run by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) said the strike was a response to the U.S. allowing Israeli attacks on “resistance” forces in eastern Syria. Militia commanders, it said, concluded that they “must pull the teeth of the snake.”

American officials were reluctant to disclose further details of the attack. The Pentagon carefully worded the report as to not specifically accuse Iran, which may be due in part to politics. Direct accusations against Iran could derail talks to restart The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) nuclear deal with Iran, which the Biden administration has made a priority.

After the October 20 attack, Captain Urban characterized it as “coordinated and deliberate” and threatened that the U.S. would respond “at a time and place of our choosing.” Now, nearly two months later, more threatening actions have occurred, and U.S. lives were at risk.

Damage to U.S. al-Tanf base in Syria after drone/rocket attack on October 20. Aurora Intel photo

American officials told the New York Times a month ago that Iran attacked al-Tanf as a result of Israeli missile attacks on weapons warehouses in Syria but was reluctant to attack Israel for fear of retaliation. So, they did the next best thing — conduct a drone and rocket strike against the Americans. That is the part of the situation that Washington needs to examine much more closely.

The Iranian proxy militias, now calling themselves the “Allies of Syria,” were reluctant to respond to Israel directly. They knew that the Israeli response would come quickly and be massive. That is what deterrence is all about. So they attacked an American base. Why? Because they didn’t fear any retaliation because the current administration is dead set on getting the JCPOA reinstated, even though Iran has long since exceeded the nuclear limits set by the agreement.

That isn’t deterrence but shows what adversaries perceive as weakness. And that perceived weakness can result in more attacks on U.S. bases and personnel. Washington ignored the October 20 attack to entice Iran back to the negotiating table. This latest air incursion on al-Tanf will only embolden our adversaries further.

After the chaotic and horribly conducted withdrawal from Afghanistan, the U.S. resolve has been called into question. And this is just another test of the American resolve or lack of it.

What Would ARSOF’s Role Be in Near-Peer Conflict With Russia?

The Army’s Special Operations Forces (ARSOF) are in transition. With the end of the 20-year war in Afghanistan and the slow winding down of combat operations in Iraq, ARSOF units are moving from an emphasis to a door-kicking counter-terrorism role to a more traditional role of countering near-peer adversaries such as Russia or China.

ARSOF’s operators spent 40 years working against Russia during the Cold War. Many of the concepts remain the same, but warfare has changed since then, and there are more domains to be studied and targeted.

The U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM), funded the Rand Corporation to conduct research on how ARSOF and SOCOM would best be utilized in a near-peer conflict with Russia. The report, which was released earlier this week, took a detailed look at how ARSOF units should be used. It concluded that the units need better and more detailed direction.

The Rand Corporation report recommends a return to ARSOF’s roots to combat neer-peer adversaries. Pictured above is the 7th SFG A-Team in El Salvador. (U.S. Army)

The report highlighted ARSOF’s history in countering Russia. “Long before ARSOF were used for counterterrorism missions, these forces were created for combat and competition with other great powers. Many of the U.S. antecedents of contemporary ARSOF arose in response to the exigencies of World War II, and they provided perhaps the preeminent military tools for competition with the Soviet Union in the Cold War.”

The RAND report calls for a return to ARSOF’s roots, which center around developing a physical presence in friendly countries and engaging in activities that the U.S. has frequently used to strengthen partnerships. These include subject-matter expert exchanges, intelligence gathering, and sharing operations. They also include the core SOF activities of Unconventional Warfare (UW), Foreign Internal Defense (FID), Security Force Assistance (SFA), Military Information Support Operations (MISO), and Civil Affairs Operations (CAO).

In studying how best to use ARSOF in a near-peer environment against Russia, it is also important to study the Russians’ doctrine in asymmetric warfare. A report by the Joint Special Operations University highlights the Eight Phases of New Russian Generation Warfare.

eight phases of Russian new generation warfare — The Eight Phases of Russian New Generation Warfare. (Joint Special Operations University)

Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, all NATO members, are the most vulnerable to Russian aggression. While ARSOF units won’t have any influence in countering a conventional military invasion, they can be used very effectively against the Russian “little green men,” or proxy forces.

According to RAND,

“In conditions of more intensified competition, when the risk of armed conflict is high, ARSOF can help to defend against proxy forces used by U.S. adversaries.”
“ARSOF can also be used to disrupt adversary operations in denied environments or to impose costs on adversaries, although the most aggressive uses of ARSOF — unconventional warfare intended to overthrow adversary governments—have traditionally been high-risk activities with relatively low rates of success. It may be more successful when used for less ambitious goals, such as disrupting adversary lines of communication in denied environments where reasonably effective and politically acceptable local surrogates exist.”

In the report, RAND Corporation recommended the following:

The U.S. Army needs to revise its multi-domain operations (MDO) concepts and provide better and more specific guidance for the employment of ARSOF;
SOCOM, the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations and Low-Intensity Conflict, and other key stakeholders need to periodically review allocations of ARSOF to ensure that they are optimally utilized in near-peer power competition;
Given the high levels of risk, ARSOF should only engage Russia in UW or information warfare in rare circumstances;
Because the benefits of ARSOF tend to be incremental and best measured by partner nation successes, Special Operations troops should be embedded with partner nations for long-term strategy.

Despite the lip service given to the new near-peer competition, the U.S. is lacking direction for its ARSOF units according to the RAND report. “Although U.S. strategic guidance proclaims that the United States has entered a new era of great-power competition, concepts for succeeding in that competition remain underdeveloped.”

IDF West Bank Units Using New Intelligence Methods To Combat Terror Attacks

After several attacks on Israeli soldiers and civilians in the West Bank where the attackers were able to get away in the crowds, the IDF is revamping the way they do business to alert their troops to any suspicious activity by Palestinians in the West Bank.

There have been 16 Israeli soldiers or citizens killed in shooting or stabbing attacks in the West Bank during the past year but the IDF has also been able to stop other attacks before they occur.

This new system relies on both increased visual surveillance as well as analytics which will be connected in an operations control room. The information will then warn soldiers on the ground before a terror attack begins. The system is already being tested in the West Bank by the Samaria Regional Brigade.

The IDF is placing more surveillance cameras and other sensors around the West Bank, around areas of increased traffic like road junctions. The operations room personnel will use advanced computer algorithms to review the camera’s footage to identify any imminent threats. Soldiers will be alerted to risks through smartwatches and other wearable devices according to the IDF.

The Israelis are calling this development the “Digital Regional Brigade” and was a combined effort of the military’s intelligence, technology and ground forces units. In a released statement, the IDF said, “the system knows to identify… and prevent violent terrorist activities. In this way, it provides soldiers with a quick warning of an impending threat.”

In another development, the Israelis are putting together “mixed combat teams” during terrorist attacks in scenarios where the attackers flee and attempt to blend into the crowds, “which will help oversee large swaths of land during a manhunt.” These composite teams will consist of infantry, field intelligence, special forces, and other security services during terrorist incidents.

The Israelis are also beefing up their individual training before troops move into the West Bank. The training is designed to ensure that every combat soldier is able to make correct decisions under pressure and in a short period of time, such as overpowering an attacker at maximum speed. The infantry troops are getting advanced training in five areas that the IDF has identified as needing work:

improving shooting skills and hand-to-hand combat skills
“mentally” preparing troops for the types of threats they face in the West Bank,
Create a unified set of techniques that is most suited for operating in the region
improving training facilities
establishing division-wide standards and measurements to accurately assess effectiveness and success.

During the training, the soldiers will utilize virtual reality headsets to better simulate actual combat and terrorist situations that they’ll encounter including stabbing and shooting attacks, as well as Krav Maga and shooting courses. This is designed to speed up the response time for Israeli Defense Forces when they face an incident which will also not allow terrorists to get away.

The Israelis, in an attempt to diffuse other situations before they occur, have arrested 1000 Palestinians and confiscated 270 weapons this year. Security forces, including the IDF, police and Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency), carry out nightly raids in the West Bank to arrest Palestinians suspected of violence against Israelis.

The Palestine Liberation Organization’s Department of Public Diplomacy and Policy stated that the numbers are even higher with 1,600 Palestinians, including 230 children and 40 women, have been arrested since the start of 2019.

By using intelligence gathering, the IDF has been monitoring social media activity, and have arrested individuals who openly state their desire to carry out attacks and monitor social media networks especially like Facebook.

They’ve targeted underground weapons and bombmaking workshops, greatly reducing the number of weapons and illegal explosive devices that could end up in terrorist hands.

In related news, Israel keeps getting sporadic rocket fire aimed at it from Syria. Thus far, no one knows for sure if it is Syrian troops or Iranian proxies. But with each attack, the Israeli Defense Forces have been hitting back and hard with airstrikes. In a statement released by defense officials, the IDF stated the following:

“Last night, two rockets were launched from Syria to Israel, one landing within Israeli territory,” the IDF said. “In response, we struck a number of Syrian Armed Forces military targets. We hold the Syrian regime accountable and will firmly operate against any attempt to harm Israeli civilians.”

The Israeli counterstrike hit the area of the launches outside of Damascus and targeted a training facility for Iranian and Hezbollah forces, and an arms depot in the area of al-Kiswah.

The US to Label Iran Revolutionary Guard a Terrorist Organization

Iran Threatens Tit-for-Tat

In a slightly surprising move, the United States is for the first time labeling the military of a foreign power as a terrorist organization. Possibly as early as today, the U.S. State Department may label Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organization.

While the U.S. has frequently stated that Iran is the world’s leading sponsor of terrorism, it was only a matter of time before it went after the IRGC since the Guards, as well as the Quds forces, are the major players in Iran’s support for terrorist organizations around the globe. They provide training, logistical support, and direction for Iran’s proxies. They have aided in assassinations, bombings, cyber warfare and have funded missile development in the Third World.

Last week, the State Department’s Brian Hook made an announcement that the Iranians were responsible for the deaths of 603 U.S. troops from improvised explosive devices (IEDs), rockets, mortars, rocket-propelled grenades, and small-arms and sniper attacks by Iranian-backed proxies.

However, critics of the administration believe that this opens the door for unfriendly governments to do the same to U.S. intelligence and military assets abroad.

Since he became the U.S. Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo has strongly advocated a change in labeling the IRGC as a terrorist organization. He stated, “the Islamic Republic of Iran is not a normal state” because “normal states do not support terrorism within their armed forces” like Iran does with the Revolutionary Guard.”

This expected move isn’t without precedent. Back in 2007, the U.S. Treasury Department designated the IRGC’s Quds Force, at that time the unit in charge of operations abroad, “for its support of terrorism,” and has described it as Iran’s “primary arm for executing its policy of supporting terrorist and insurgent groups.”

The Treasury Department began to move against the IRGC in 2017 when it labeled the Guards as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist, which made it a target for the U.S. to combat Iran’s terrorism funding by targeting its financing and imposing more sanctions. In their statement at the time, Treasury said this:

“The IRGC has played a central role to Iran becoming the world’s foremost state sponsor of terror. Iran’s pursuit of power comes at the cost of regional stability, and Treasury will continue using its authorities to disrupt the IRGC’s destructive activities,” said Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin. “We are designating the IRGC for providing support to the IRGC-QF, the key Iranian entity enabling Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s relentless campaign of brutal violence against his own people, as well as the lethal activities of Hizballah, Hamas, and other terrorist groups. We urge the private sector to recognize that the IRGC permeates much of the Iranian economy, and those who transact with IRGC-controlled companies do so at great risk.”

Republican Senator Ted Cruz from Texas has been pushing for the IRGC to be designated a terrorist organization since 2015. When the Obama Administration entered into the nuclear deal, Cruz among other Republicans were against the deal, which the U.S. withdrew from last year. Cruz was outspoken about the revelation about the U.S. troops’ deaths as well.

“The Obama administration downplayed the scope and nature of these murders in the interest of promoting its diplomacy with Iran, including the Obama nuclear deal.”

Republican Senator Ben Sasse approved of this latest move to go against Tehran. “A formal designation and its consequences may be new, but these IRGC butchers have been terrorists for a long time,” Sasser released in a statement.

Back in 2017 as well, IRGC commander Mohammad Ali Jafari warned that if Trump and the United States went ahead with the move “then the Revolutionary Guards will consider the American army to be like Islamic State all around the world.”

Just on Saturday, the Iranians took to Twitter to utter a tit-for-tat designation. “If the Revolutionary Guards are placed on America’s list of terrorist groups, we will put that country’s military on the terror blacklist next to Daesh (Islamic State),” Heshmatollah Falahatpisheh, head of parliament’s national security committee, said in a Twitter post.

Former Under-Secretary of State and lead Iran negotiator under the Obama administration, Wendy Sherman, said she worried about what this means for U.S. forces in the region and hinted that this may have been the rationale behind the move..

“One might even suggest, since it’s hard to see why this is in our interest, if the president isn’t looking for a basis for a conflict,” said Sherman, who is now the director of the Center for Public Leadership at the Harvard Kennedy School. “The IRGC is already fully sanctioned and this escalation absolutely endangers our troops in the region.”

What does that mean for U.S. troops abroad? Things could get more dangerous for U.S. troops in Iraq. Several of Iran’s proxies, Shi’ite militias are located in close proximity to U.S. forces. If they are taking Jafari’s comments to heart, then they may decide to test the water and try to attack U.S. troops there.

During the latest fighting in Iraq to rid the country of Islamic State fighters, a coalition of U.S. Special Operations troops and air assets, Shi’ite militias, and the IRGC have formed an unlikely, uneasy coalition in ridding Iraq of ISIS. The Iraqi military has done a good job of holding it together and keeping the IRGC and the U.S. apart and on target during this time.

This move may not result in open fighting, however, any kind of confrontation, open or non-confrontational will ultimately benefit ISIS and will undermine the efforts of the U.S. troops in the area. That in itself can be a more dangerous environment for them.

IRGC Commander Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari said on Sunday that if the U.S. takes such does make the announcement, its forces in western Asia “will lose peace and quiet”.

“If the U.S. takes this step and endangers our national security we will take reciprocal measures, based on the policies of the Islamic Republic,” Jafari said.

On Sunday, Iranian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mohammad Javad Zarif tweeted the accusation that he believes the #NetanyahuFirsters of pulling Washington’s strings in the decision to designate IRGC as a foreign terrorist organization.

“#NetanyahuFirsters who have long agitated for FTO designation of the IRGC fully understand its consequences for US forces in the region. In fact, they seek to drag the US into a quagmire on his behalf,” Zarif tweeted. He added, “DonaldTrump should know better than to be conned into another US disaster.”

On Sunday, 255 out of 290 Iranian lawmakers have decided to take reciprocal action. “So the leaders of America, who themselves are the creators and supporters of terrorists in the (Middle East) region, will regret this inappropriate and idiotic action,” they said in a released statement.

Photo: Wikipedia

With ISIS Routed in Syria, Assad Is the Big Winner in the Civil War

Opinion: The US-led coalition which supported the SDF (Syrian Democratic Forces) have routed the Islamic State’s (ISIS) fighters out of Baghouz which was the last bastion of their self-proclaimed “caliphate” in Syria and Iraq.

And while the SDF, supported by U.S. airstrikes continues to pound the remnants of the ISIS fighters in the tunnels and caves along the eastern Euphrates River as SDF technicians remove mines and booby traps from the liberated areas, the question remains, is Syria any better off now?

Removing ISIS is a plus anywhere in the world but the eight-year bloody civil war will go down as a resounding victory for the oppressive regime of Bashar Assad.

When in 2011 the civil war started, many both in the West and in the Arab world were looking for a change from the authoritarian brutal rule of the government of Assad. But as events played out, everything worked in favor of Assad.

As the civil war began by rebels in Idlib province, springing out of the Arab Spring protests, calls for Assad’s removal were met with violent suppression. There were several factions involved in the very confused fighting. Facing the forces of Assad were a loose alliance of Sunni opposition groups (including the Free Syrian Army), Salafi jihadist groups (including al-Nusra Front), the mostly Kurdish-Arab Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), and the Islamic State.

The Islamic State saw an opening and poured fighters in and began to seize territory in both Syria and Iraq to proclaim its own caliphate. The fighting spilled over into Lebanon with fighters from ISIS and al-Nusra battling Lebanese Army units.

The morass got worse with several other countries entering into the fray. Russia, a long-time ally of the Assad regime conducted airstrikes on the rebel-held areas. Iran saw an opening to make itself a bigger power player in the region and poured troops and money into the support also for Assad. They also saw an opening to establish bases on the border with Israel which they quickly have set up.

This prompted air strikes from the Israelis who vowed never to allow Iranian troops on their border. The Israelis ravaged Iranian, their puppet Hezbollah as well as Syrian government bases with heavy airstrikes.

The United States and a coalition led by them entered the fray on the side of the Democratic Federation of Northern Syria, which the SDF fights for both militarily and logistically. They set up bases inside of Syria for the sole purpose of fighting ISIS and removing them from Syrian territory. Therefore, the U.S. coalition, enemies of Assad was actually helping the government by helping to rid them of the ISIS threat, which is a friend to no one in the region. The Americans and Russians worked out an agreement not to fly or operate in each other’s areas.

That arrangement was tested when Russian “contractors” attacked a U.S. base with armored vehicles reportedly by mistake and were savaged by U.S. airstrikes and artillery fire.

The situation took on an even more twisted perspective when Turkey became embroiled in it. The Turks supported the rebels battling the Assad government and attacked ISIS as well, but they also consider the SDF and the Kurds terrorists. They’ve moved into the northwestern part of Syria and have threatened an offensive against the Kurdish SDF. Like Israel with Iran, they won’t accept an armed Kurdish faction on their border.

The refugee crisis has become a world-wide problem. And no place that is more keenly felt right now than in Idlib province. With the ISIS threat removed and the US-led coalition scaling back their troop levels, the threat to Assad’s power is basically gone.

And in Idlib, which is still a rebel stronghold, Assad is targeting civilian infrastructure with his airstrikes. News reports had Syrians bombing a hospital, other medical facilities, and a bakery. Idlib is currently home to three million people. Two million of them are from there and a million are refugees fleeing from the fighting elsewhere.

Assad has shown in the past and currently that the ends justify the means. Therefore, his government forces along with Russia are conducting airstrikes with impunity, forcing the civilians to flee while he exerts control once again over the area.

“The ongoing attacks in Idlib fit the same pattern we’ve seen before, in Aleppo, Daraa, Damascus Countryside, whereby Syrian government forces hit hospitals, medical facilities, emergency responders, bakeries, schools, leaving people no choice but to flee,” Lynn Maalouf, Middle East Research Director at Amnesty International said.

The rebel forces in Idlib are no match for the government forces of Assad and although the fighting may become protracted like in other large population areas, the outcome is not in doubt. Assad has one and the other countries in the region have already come to grips with it.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain and other countries are reestablishing diplomatic relations with Syria. The country is in shambles and despite Russia and Iran pumping a lot of cash into reconstruction, Assad will need money from the West to aid there.

Will the West and the U.S. see the overwhelming need to aid in a humanitarian crisis and offer their help to a government that caused it all in the first place? The lack of help from the West, should they refuse would be to set the stage for another civil war and even more bloodshed. And worse, set the stage for ISIS to return.

The European Union and Washington will ask for political reforms before they agree to commit billions to rebuild Syria. However, Assad, Russia, and Iran are hardly the players who give that any semblance of succeeding.

There are estimates that state that Syria needs $400 Billion to rebuild. Those estimates sadly may be smaller than what will actually be needed.

Syria is a mess and it isn’t getting better anytime soon, but in Damascus, Assad is happy…he won. With the help of his enemies.

Photo: Wikipedia

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Tunnel-mapping tech may be the most important special operations gear of the 21st century

Recently, NEWSREP Editor-in-chief Jack Murphy reported on the U.S. military’s standing plan to infiltrate Iranian underground bunkers housing integral elements of the nation’s nuclear apparatus. If war between the United States and Iran were ever to come to fruition, these facilities (commonly referred to as hardened and deeply buried targets, or HDBTs) would be among America’s top priorities. But taking them out of commission would require a more dramatic approach than America’s preferred method of warfare by ballistic missile.

Many of these HDBTs are constructed deep underground, often by tunneling into mountains. The natural barrier provided by 2,000 feet of rock would, in some cases, render even America’s bunker-busting munitions useless. Instead, infiltrating and destroying these facilities would fall to America’s elite counterterrorism unit, the 1^st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta, or Delta Force.

Although Delta has been training for these potential underground combat operations in Iran for years, the risks associated with such an operation have grown in tandem with the increasing number of potential enemy states—including North Korea, China, and Russia—all of which maintain (or are rumored to maintain) sizable underground facilities meant to shield against weapons of mass destruction and potentially afford protection to command and control elements from surveillance or engagement.

Soldiers of 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, prepare to clear a corridor during subterranean operations training. (U.S. Army)

As Jack Murphy pointed out in his NITRO ZEUS piece, “Numerous countries have sought to conceal and protect vulnerable military resources underground inside facilities hardened with reinforced concrete, vault doors, internal environmental systems, and more, such as the United States has done at the Cheyenne Mountain Complex.”

Put simply, fighting in enclosed spaces deep underground, where communications are limited and the stakes are at their highest, isn’t just a tactical nightmare, it may also become a pervasive part of what nation-level warfare looks like in the 21st century.

It’s likely with this concern in mind that America’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA, has issued a request for information regarding advanced technologies and methodologies that can be employed for the “3D mapping and surveying of underground environments.”

“What makes subterranean areas challenging for precision mapping and surveying, such as lack of GPS, constrained passages, dark or dust-filled air, is similar to what inhibits safe and speedy underground operations for our warfighters,” said DARPA Tactical Technology Office (TTO) Program Manager Timothy Chung. “Building an accurate three-dimensional picture is a key enabler to rapidly and remotely exploring and searching subterranean spaces.”

If you’ve seen the film “Prometheus,” this effort may seem familiar. In the movie, crew members deploy floating drones that use lasers to quickly map out the subterranean cave complex they’re exploring.

It doesn’t seem likely that DARPA’s cave-mapping drones will defy gravity like those depicted in “Prometheus,” but with small drone technology rapidly advancing, a “floating” mapping device doesn’t seem entirely out of the question. Of course, propulsion is far from the only technical hurdle faced in this initiative. Maintaining connectivity to the operator, processing the data captured and rendering it in a usable manner, and even concerns about battery life versus added weight are among the litany of hurdles developers will need to either mitigate or eliminate in order to make such a device a reality.

A soldier assigned to 2nd Battalion, 1st Infantry Regiment, 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, provides security during subterranean operations training. (U.S. Army)

In many ways, special operations war-fighters operating in these tunnels will be doing so without any access to external digital or communications infrastructure, meaning the mapping system will need to be entirely self-contained between the probe and the operator’s gear. Cloud computing or outsourcing any of the computational work via any sort of network simply won’t work beneath 2,000 feet of rock

The challenges DARPA faces in this endeavor are not insignificant by any stretch of the imagination, but a breakthrough in this sort of technology could provide American and allied forces with a much-needed advantage in what would be sure to be brutal fighting inside confined spaces. America’s special operations troops may be the best trained in the world, but training doesn’t stop bullets. In tunnel warfare, a defender’s familiarity with the space, the terrain, and any potential hazards can offset a significant training advantage had by the attackers.

Despite not quite garnering the same sort of attention as programs like the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter or new hypersonic missiles, tunnel-mapping technology may prove to be the most valuable tech in America’s war-fighting arsenal. After all, fast-moving missiles may help win a conventional war, but the only way to win a nuclear one is to prevent it from starting in the first place.

Feature image courtesy of the U.S. Army

Dunford Shoots Down WSJ Report of US Troops Remaining in Syria

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, General Joseph Dunford is denying an earlier Wall St. Journal report that the United States is planning on leaving 1000 U.S. troops in Syria, which is more than double what was initially reported. “A claim reported this evening by a major U.S. newspaper that the U.S. military is developing plans to keep nearly 1,000 U.S. troops in Syria is factually incorrect,” he said.

On Sunday, Dunford shot down the WSJ’s story, stating, “There has been no change to the plan announced in February and we continue to implement the President’s direction to draw down U.S. forces to a residual presence,” he said.

The White House said in February that about 200 troops would remain in Syria, on what was termed as a “peace-keeping mission”, something the Department of Defense has pushed back on as too definitive for stabilization operations. DOD’s plan would be for there to be a separate 200 troops at the Al-Tanf airbase. However, they know that President Trump has been adamant about wanting to pull all of the troops out of Syria.

The initial report of U.S. troops remaining quoted sources inside the American government as stating that American troops will continue working with Kurdish fighters in Syria who face threats from Turkey. The Turks regard the Kurdish SDF as terrorists. American troops, mainly Special Operations Forces would provide a buffer between the Kurds and Turks.

This story comes on the heels of thus far fruitless talks between the U.S.-led coalition, the Kurds and the Turks for a safe zone for the Kurdish people. Al-Tanf also runs along a supply route the Iranians use to supply their proxy forces in Syria. There are currently about 2000 U.S. troops inside Syria.

Despite Dunford’s denial, the WSJ stated that they were standing by their story and their reporting. The rest of Dunford’s statement below spells out the difficulty in trying to pigeon-hole an exact number of troops.

“Further, we continue to conduct detailed military planning with the Turkish General Staff to address Turkish security concerns along the Turkey-Syria border. Planning to date has been productive and we have an initial concept that will be refined in the coming days,” he added.

“We are also conducting planning with other members of the Coalition who have indicated an intent to support the transition phase of operations into Syria.”

As the US-led coalition is working with the Kurdish SDF on eliminating the last small ISIS bastion, the United States was planning on withdrawing several hundred troops. But even the 1500 troops that the Pentagon was citing in the interim is not a given. Those numbers were based on having enough troops to ensure a Kurdish safe zone in the north which will be part of a “multinational observer force” numbering between 800 and 1,500, mostly European NATO allies, including France and Britain. But with our European allies not committing any troop numbers, U.S. troop numbers will remain high…for now.

The Europeans have stated that they will not remain if the U.S. completely withdraws, fearing it will already strengthen Russia and Iran’s position there. German Chancellor Angela Merkel criticized theTrump withdrawal plan. “Is it a good thing to immediately remove American troops from Syria, or will it not strengthen Russia and Iran’s hand?” she asked.

Meanwhile, in the fighting in the last Islamic state stronghold in Syria, the progress has been slowed by the presence of mines, tunnels and an increasing amount of women and children refugees streaming out of Baghouz. Most of them, families of ISIS fighters, and an increasing amount of fighters trying to sneak out with them.

Dozens of militants surrendered on Monday night, some of whom the SDF identified as part of the suicide bombing that killed 4 US troops in January. And ISIS fighters are now confined to a 200 x 200-meter perimeter. They are trapped between the Euphrates River and the encampment just captured by the SDF.

Photo: DOD

SAS Commandos Wounded in Yemen, Highlight Humanitarian Crisis

Last week, as many of our readers know, two SAS operators were wounded in an IED blast in Yemen. The covert operation was a combined UK/US operation where the SAS along with a U.S. Special Forces A-Team were scouting out potential drop zones in the country.

But what the drop zones were for highlights just how bad the humanitarian crisis has gotten in Yemen. The combined Green Beret/SAS unit was scouting drop zones for the dropping of relief supplies for the starving people.

The combined team flew into Aden from Djibouti aboard a UAE-supplied Chinook helicopter and once on the ground met with UAE commanders before undertaking their mission. To lower the team’s footprint and their presence on the ground, the Special Operations troops dressed in Arabic clothing and drove in unmarked pickup trucks.

The eastern part of Yemen is largely under the control of the Houthi rebels including the port of Hudaydah. Because of this, Saudi Arabia, a US ally in the region has prevented humanitarian vessels from landing supplies there.

The Houthis began as a moderate theological movement that preached tolerance and held a broad-minded view of all the Yemeni peoples. That changed in the mid-1990s when they began publishing the readings of Hassan Nasrallah, the Lebanese head of Hezbollah, the Iranian-funded radicalized hater of all things American and Israeli.

The men were operating in the vicinity of the town of Marib, about 500 miles north of Aden when one of the pickup trucks they were traveling in was caught in an IED blast, which was triggered when the vehicle in front drove over it.

About a month ago, five engineers from various countries were killed and another Briton injured in an IED attack around Marib. The explosives were both planted by Houthi rebels.

The men were from the 21st SAS, not the famed 22nd SAS from Hereford, which is a Territorial unit. Both men suffered serious but non-life-threatening injuries. They were flown by medevac helicopters, first to the U.S. base in Djibouti and then back to the UK via Cypress. Both are expected to recover.

The British Foreign Office arranged a small $3 million dollar aid package that was to stabilize a ceasefire in the port city of Hodeida. The hope was to stabilize and pacify Hodeida and then further outlying areas would follow suit.

This operation is a tricky situation where the Special Operations forces are running a strictly humanitarian assistance mission, and while they’re plotting drop zones for food and medical supplies, the fact they are even there runs contrary to the objectives of both the Sunni government and the Saudis who support them.

The civil war that began in 2015 between the government of Yemen and the Houthi rebels is, in essence, a war of proxies and the civilian populace which is caught in the middle. On one side is the Yemeni government, heavily influenced and supported by the Saudis. The Yemenis also have the support of Egypt, Jordan, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Morocco, Qatar, and Sudan have also contributed support to the Saudi coalition.

On the other side, the Houthi rebels are financed and supported by Iran. The Iranian presence is the reason for the Saudi intervention. Two years ago, the Houthis fired missiles at US Navy warships. The US military retaliated by striking three coastal missile batteries with cruise missiles.

As usual, the U.N. has said that Iranian support is “alleged”, despite having the U.S. display a surface-to-air missile that was seized by the Saudi-led coalition en route to Yemen. The missile had Farsi writing and US spokesmen told the media that there was a logo from an Iranian arms maker in the warhead.

The Iranians are barred from selling or transferring any weapons without the express approval of the UN Security Council. The United States, which has lent logistical and intelligence support to the Saudis are vowing to pull their support over the plight of the civilian populace and the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Ahmad Khashoggi.

The humanitarian crisis has reached epic proportions. Over 10,000 civilians have been killed in the fighting which has taken on a “no-quarter-given” type of conflict. Estimates put the number of children who have starved to death at 84,000 with upwards of 22,000,000 people who need assistance. A total of 8.4 million people are on the verge of famine.

The UK is designated by the UN as a “pen-holder” to Yemen – meaning it is in charge of drafting and tabling Security Council resolutions – because of its historical links with the country. Because of their aid package, both the Houthi rebels and the Yemeni forces have agreed to pull out from the port city of Hodeida which it is hoped that now aid in terms of food and medicine can now reach one of the poorest countries on the planet.

The UN is going to hold another multinational meeting in Geneva on February 26 to determine how the next batch of aid is to be distributed. However, the Houthis, who are now losing the war, are targeting and harassing aid workers. The next card to play is the taking of aid workers as hostages, to use as a bargaining chip in future negotiations.

Meanwhile British and American Special Operators continue to put their lives on the line in a humanitarian mission.

Photo: UK Ministry of Defense

Hamas Offering $1 Million Dollar Bounty For Israeli Identities in Nov. Raid

The botched special operation conducted by the Israelis in Gaza back in November was widely publicized at the time and spurred the response of Hamas, which launched nearly 500 rockets at Israel in the aftermath. It is proof, that even excellently produced plans, conducted by seasoned, tried and true professionals can go awry.

Hamas is now offering a $1 million dollar bounty to anyone who can identify the Israeli operatives who they claim were the ones involved in the operation. They posted pictures of the operatives on social media, the IDF (Israeli Defense Forces) censors blurred the images on Israeli social media and television.

During this operation which took place on November 11, several Israeli Special Operations operatives from Sayeret Matkal, the elite special operations unit had crossed into Gaza and were operating near Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip.

According to Hamas, the team members entered Gaza from Israel through an opening in the fence on a foggy night in an undisclosed area covered with woods in October of 2018. They allegedly used fake Gazan IDs and had forged documents of humanitarian workers. They were on an intelligence gathering operation where they were planting eavesdropping devices to monitor Hamas communications. Things began to go awry when the Israeli unit was stopped by Hamas security forces, who believed them at the time to be a criminal gang and not Israeli operatives.

When their cover was blown, the Israeli and Hamas forces began to shoot it out. A senior Hamas security officer and the commander of the Israeli team were killed. Another Israeli operative was seriously wounded. The team raced to a prearranged exfiltration point where IDF helicopters picked up the remaining members of the team.

IDF Air Force planes then bombed the vehicles that the team had used to stop any intelligence gathering attempt by Hamas inside the vehicles and provide close air support for the team against quick reaction forces of Hamas. The Israelis claim that “between 16 and 20 Hamas members were killed and another 40 to 60 were wounded.” IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot said the special forces “completed many operations in recent years that benefit Israel’s security.”

Israeli vehicle destroyed by the IDF after the team of operatives left Gaza to prevent intelligence gathering from the vehicle.

Speaking to Israeli television news on Saturday, Eisenkot said “there were mistakes made” in that operation as well as “heroic actions.”

The Israelis are conducting an internal investigation on the mission which according to Hamas, involved 12-15 operatives who had been crossing the border frequently in the months leading up to the mission. They apparently possessed falsified documents and had posed as employees of an aid agency.

In the immediate aftermath of the operation, Hamas began to round up anyone suspected of helping the Israeli team. They arrested “45 agents after the security incident east of Khan Younis last November and they are under investigation.”

They then responded with rocket and mortar attacks that targeted Israel. They fired about 460 projectiles in Israeli territory. One man, a Palestinian laborer was killed when a rocket hit a building was working at in the city of Ashkelon and 27 people were wounded. They also published a video where they launched an anti-tank missile at a bus that they claimed was used by the IDF to shuttle troops.

The IDF Air Force responded with massive air strikes inside the Gaza Strip. At least seven more Palestinians were killed. Then Egypt brokered a cease-fire that stopped the bombing and rocket fire …for now.

On Saturday, Hamas released a video that shows surveillance footage taken from cameras located on the road near Khan Younis. The video, which aired on Hamas TV and by the Hamas-affiliated news agency Shehab, is made up of surveillance footage and animated reenactment of the operation. It is typical of the Hamas production with dramatic music interspersed with bold graphics.

In the compilation shown, there are two commercial vehicles which Hamas says was used by the Israeli team can be seen driving around Khan Younis. The footage also allegedly shows two Israeli operatives, a man and a woman, in what appears to be a grocery store.

The vehicles had been spotted by Hamas security forces but they believed they were dealing initially with a criminal gang and resultant gang activity.

Hamas spokesman Abu Obaida, from their military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, gave the brief presentation complete with military fatigues and his head wrapped in a scarf. He said the terror group was offering “a pardon to any possible collaborators” who assisted the Israeli teams and would help in identifying them. He said Hamas would also offer $1 million for information about the Israeli special forces.

Hamas had already published photos of eight people and two vehicles it said were linked to the operation immediately after the operation. This action prompted the Israeli army censor to appeal to the public and media not to republish any of the images. (Which are blurred here)

Hamas published photos of alleged Israeli operatives in Gaza, that have been blurred by Israeli army censors.

“Israel should be concerned about the trove of information we have,” Abu Obaida said, warning Palestinians “who collaborate with Israel and assist the Israeli forces’ infiltration, we’ll get to them.” He claimed that they tracked the Israeli team, not only in Gaza but in other countries in the Middle East. One member of the team allegedly rented a beachfront property in Khan Yunis in southern Gaza which the team used as an assembly point.

Hamas also released photos of the weapons and other equipment, including saws, drills and two pistols with silencers, that were allegedly left behind from the Israeli team. The Hamas video can be seen here:

Photos: Screenshots from Hamas video

Mission Accomplished 2 for US SOF? No Easy Answers in Syria

President Trump ruffled quite a few feathers both here in the United States and abroad when he tweeted out a few days ago that our troops were being pulled out of Syria. The President said, “We have defeated ISIS in Syria, my only reason for being there during the Trump Presidency,” which he said during the Presidential campaign of 2016 that he would pull us out of there once elected.

We currently have about 2000 troops, mostly Special Operations forces in Syria. They were initially sent there in 2015 by then-President Obama as the civil war in Syria reached a point where the Islamic State (ISIS) had taken advantage of the chaos and carved out a huge swath of Syrian territory as their own, calling it a “caliphate.”

Now the civil war is approaching its 8th year. ISIS is on the run definitely, now controlling just 1 percent of the territory they possessed a few years ago. They are locked into a small enclave around the town of Hanin where they have endured airstrikes from coalition partners.

Part of Trump’s reasoning is that he doesn’t want to help the Syrians (not a US friend in the region), stabilize their own country. While true, the situation remains much deeper than that. There are so many other players involved, it is an extremely fluid situation. Number 1 on the US agenda should be the Kurds.

The Kurds (Syrian Democratic Forces, SDF) were the Americans’ best allies inside the country. The U.S. Special Operations Forces inside Syria have provided training, advising and equipment to fight ISIS and they’ve (with massive US air support) made significant gains against the ISIS forces there. The SOF troops are the only buffer between the Kurds and the Turkish forces that have invaded from the north.

A rapid pullout of U.S. forces sends a bad message to any would-be ally in the region. The French, who worked with the Kurds in Iraq several years ago during the first Gulf War have said that they’ll step up and take the place of our SOF with the Kurdish people.

The Turks, while still technically a member of NATO are growing increasingly anti-West in their sentiments. They pushed into northern Syria because they feel that the Kurds are terrorists. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has promised to launch a new offensive against the U.S.’s Kurdish allies unless the U.S. promises to cut off aid to them.

The Turks have supported non-Kurdish Syrian opposition groups, such as the Free Syrian Army (FSA) since the civil war began. Their biggest worry remains that gains made by Kurds in Syria would embolden the Kurdish population in Turkey to seek independence. Turkey has already launched two operations to help Syrian rebels capture territory from ISIS and the Kurds. And they are threatening more.

Russia has been a longtime Syrian and Assad ally. They provided the regime with air support, as well as troops on the ground. President Putin is trying to keep his biggest foothold in the region and at the same time spread their influence in the region.

The Russian air support which initially targeted ISIS has now spread to targeting other resistance groups including the FSA of Kurdish forces. This past winter a group of Russian mercenaries and Syrian troops attacked a joint US-Kurdish base in a “mistaken” operation and were decimated by airstrikes.

The Iranians, intent on spreading their influence in the region began by offering military advisory assistance to the Assad regime. But now they have several thousand troops in the area and are building bases close to the border with Israel, which they are also doing in Lebanon. The U.S. believes, and rightfully so, that the Iranians are preparing for a long-term presence in Syria. Tehran has spent $16 billion in the area to destabilize the countries of Syria, Yemen as well as Iraq.

So with the President calling for a United States withdrawal in the country, there is definite pushback even among his own administration and political party, calling it a big mistake. Back in June, the President floated around a plan for an all-Arab army to replace the U.S. in a meeting with Jordan’s King Abdullah.

Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis warned against a premature withdrawal that bought some time for those in the administration that wanted to remain. However, with the news that the U.S. is indeed pulling out, Mattis announced he was retiring in February. Obviously, the reasoning behind the timing of Mattis’ retirement was in protest over this latest flap. In his letter of resignation, Mattis said that the President had a right to a Defense Secretary “whose views are better aligned with yours” on policy.

Now Brett McGurk, the U.S. envoy for the global coalition to defeat Islamic State (ISIS), has resigned as well. McGurk was an Obama administration appointee and was due to leave in February but his letter of resignation states that his last day will be Dec. 31.

McGurk in December 11 press conference called the idea of leaving Syria too soon reckless and added that the “enduring defeat of a group like (ISIS) this means you can’t just defeat their physical space and then leave.”

“Nobody is saying that they are going to disappear. Nobody is that naive,” he said. “So we want to stay on the ground and make sure that stability can be maintained in these areas.”

McGurk led the way for the secret talks with Iran where the Iranians released prisoners in return for boatloads of cash.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. called the Trump decision to leave Syria early an “Obama-like decision”. He added, “I don’t know what they’ve done, but this is chaos.”

There have been many positive results because of the albeit smaller but very effective U.S. Special Operations presence in Syria. ISIS has been largely destroyed and removed from nearly all of the areas that they controlled. The northeastern portion of Syria has been stabilized. The Iranian attempt at expansion has been blocked and the Russians have also have been checked as they are no longer the only power brokers in Syria.

What will probably happen now is that the country will again become destabilized as the Turks and their proxies will do their own bidding in the north? They’ve already been accused of massive human rights abuses in Syria and no one believes that will cease without the coalition there. The Kurds? They will bear the brunt of our leaving. The Kurds wanted their own autonomous mini-state within Syria. No one believed that would ever happen. But when the Turks bullied Trump and the U.S. into withdrawing, it is an ominous sign that worse times may yet lay ahead of our allies there.

Some of our troops will remain across the border in Iraq but any incursions into Syria now for our Special Operations Forces would be fraught with peril. Will any other members of the administration be able to talk the President out of an early withdrawal? That will bear watching.

Photo of US Special Operations Forces: DOD