How do you assure the security of a nation of human beings who consume a disproportionate amount of the world’s resources, habitually live beyond their means and are addicted to all forms of fantasy from Bible-based delusion, to patriotism-based arrogance, to movie special effects that make ordinary human drama seem boring?Special Ops is the new buzzword, but the folks in Central and South America have another name for it: Death Squads. If you read a book like Naomi Klein's Shock Doctrine: the Rise of Disaster Capitalism, then you know something of their nefarious history.
What is the most powerful nation in the world with the largest, most expensive, most lethal military in the history of mankind to do when the good times turn bad, the money goes funny and class warfare breaks out on the home front?
How does modern warfare in a nation-state system that evolved out of feudalism continue to evolve as new communication systems increase? What does modern warfare look like as that nation state system breaks down, to be replaced by a confusing, “globalized” world of power centers and power vacuums?
The answer for the United States seems to be a growing concentration on what is known as Special Operations, which includes Special Forces, Seals and a host of other lethal military forces that emphasize mobility, efficiency, secrecy and unaccountability.
~ from Special Ops: The New Face of War by John Grant ~
Just in case you're not sure what a death squad is, here is a definition: A clandestine military or paramilitary group employed to carry out political assassinations and other killings. Since a lot of the personnel utilized by the US Armed Forces these days are private contractors, Special Ops has become our version of the Death Squads in every way, shape and form!
American leaders like to use the term Special Ops because it doesn't sound as nasty and offensive as Death Squads. Besides, the latter is what our enemies employ and you can be certain those same leaders and the mainstream media will use that term whenever they want us to revile what someone else is up to.
But let's be brutally frank. Whichever phrase is utilized, these teams have the same job: to kill people that the team and/or government doesn't like! The targeted individuals could be "terrorists," military leaders, political leaders, journalists, labor activists or anyone else. Since they operate under a veil of secrecy, we rarely know who the targets are or why it has been decided that they must be eliminated. We don't even know when operations are successful or not.
If you live in a country with a despotic authoritarian leader, clandestine killing teams are to be expected. It's a great way to keep the opposition in check and to scare the pee out of the citizenry. However, if you live in a supposed democracy that prides itself on so-called transparency, secret killing teams are problematic.
How do the people keep tabs on forces that exist behind a thick curtain? Here's a hint: They don't!!
"...forces that emphasize mobility, efficiency, secrecy and unaccountability. "
ReplyDeleteOne can apply the same description to terrorist cells (e.g., al Qaida groups). Special Ops is just the other side of the same coin. (Not that there haven't always been elite undercover operation and secret negotiations.) Just as we were baffled by Maoist-style guerilla warfare, we are baffled by this new form of war.
And the next front is developing in cyberspace.