Terrorism: A Growth Industry and the Intelligence Analyst

I wrote Terrorism: A Growth Industry and the Intelligence Analyst as a text book for certain students of Corinthian Colleges Incorporated. It describes the intelligence cycle but more importantly demonstrates how the cycle operates by developing a series of problem stories where the creation of intelligence is necessary.

If you are interested in the basics of the intelligence business this book is for you. From this book you can gather ideas about strategic intelligence planning, tactical intelligence techniques and industrial intelligence as well.

The book teaches through story telling and avoids long lists of procedures or steps one must memorize to put together an intelligence program. Give it a read and you will definitely have a better understanding of intelligence and you might even get a laugh or two. I've included a short excerpt below.

Richard Wilmot

THE ANALYST

Analysts should know that there are situations where members of the establishment will not listen. And also be aware that the higher up you are in the bureaucracy the more difficult it is to get action. If you find that gem of information that sets your intuition all aglow, keep pushing and striving to get someone’s attention and follow up action. Don’t give up, be the squeaky wheel, be the conscience of the industry.

KEY TERRAIN

Possibly the most famous piece of key terrain in history is in Israel at the site of what was the town of Armageddon. For thousands of years hundreds of pitched battles were fought at Armageddon as invaders tried to take this prominent terrain feature and the town. Its value stemmed from the fact that whoever controlled Armageddon controlled the caravan route along the shores of the Mediterranean. The occupiers of Armageddon taxed the caravans that traveled the route below and its citizens lived the good life.

Armageddon had one other very important feature---it had a well and that well provided good, clear, pure, cool, sweet water. One day a couple of millennia ago, the well went dry. Armageddon lost its value as a key terrain feature because it could not sustain life and it disappeared over night.

TERRORISM

The real secret of effective terrorism is leveraging. Go cheap and leverage by using that which is available while taking out a major target. Make the event significant enough to create headlines, and this will set terror loose within the general population and such fear will modify the daily life of the average citizen---the bottom line is the terrorist WINS.

http://www.amazon.com/Terrorism-Growth-Industry-Intellegence-Analyst/dp/0536264589/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1261196218&sr=8-1

The Soviet T-72 tank

The Tank

In the very early 1980s the Soviet Union designed and built T-72 tank was thought to be the supreme battle tank in the world. Its characteristics---such as speed, weight, range and capabilities such as main gun range, ammunition types and armor piercing ability (killing power) were largely unknown. The U.S. Army was very concerned about the threat this tank presented especially since the Soviets had thousands of these machines arrayed against NATO forces.

Concurrently President Regan was making noise to Mr. Gorbachev about America’s Star War capabilities and the upgrade of the concept to full potential. Suddenly it dawned on the government, at the highest levels, that we did not have a Star War capability---it was largely hot air--- and if the Soviets believed we were moving in that direction, where they were defenseless, they might consider a sudden strike against NATO with mass T-72 tank attacks and possibly even the use of tactical nuclear weapons.

This idea of conventional war in Europe against the T-72 was very troublesome because we had not fully recovered from Vietnam and our R&D programs had not kept us current with the Soviet army and the equipment they were fielding. Some key officials were very concerned about our situation.

The Request

I was working in the Pentagon at the time of this developing concern over the T-72 threat. My boss, the Chief of Intelligence for the US Army called me to his office early one morning and said to me---

“I will provide anyone you want or need so you can put a team together. I will provide you unlimited funds and your task is to quietly figure out a way to obtain a T-72 tank and deliver it to me.”

That was a real bombshell and as I headed back to my desk I was thinking---maybe I can get one of these damn things at a Sears Department Store.

I did form a team and I did spend some money and I tried a variety of methods but I was never able to deliver the tank. Eventually I was re-assigned to be the Commanding General of the U.S. Army Intelligence School and the tank burden was lifted from my shoulders.

The Second Chance

Ultimately I retired from the Army and re-located to London to work for a gentleman there who was in the business of procuring material and equipment for the C.I.A. and the Department of Defense. After about five years on the job a request came to our office to obtain for the U.S. Government a T-72 tank. Of course, I was startled to see such a request and anxious to succeed after failing the first time.

We worked the project for about a year looking for a way to get a tank, cajoling various owners of the tank to sell one to us, holding surreptitious meetings, keeping Washington officials informed and watching for the long arm of the K.G.B. Finally, under arduous circumstances, we got the job done delivering 12 tanks, with full loads of all types of ammunition, spare parts including operations and maintenance manuals.

The process we went through was complex, dangerous and exciting. It involved East Germany, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, The U.K., Switzerland--shipping companies, banks, insurance companies and many well known, influential and important people.

While the war in Europe never materialized and the U.S.S.R. came unglued, obtaining the 12 tanks was vital in the 1990 war “Desert Storm”---because Saddam Hussein’s army had several thousand of these behemoths--but since we had reversed engineered the T-72 we knew all there was to know about these tanks.

We beefed up our own tank killing ability and the ground war lasted 100 hours because we knew exactly how to kill the famed T-72. This was a modern day intelligence coup.

If you would like to read about the full story of the T-72 look for my book Plausible Denial to be published in the near future.