June 15, 2007:
For good reason, little is heard of the role paid informants are playing
in the war on terror. Not just the big rewards, but the many twenty and hundred
dollar bills that are quietly passed out for of tips every day. The CIA and the
U.S. military had to reeducated on the usefulness of this sort of thing,
because the military usually doesn't do it, and the CIA has been discouraged
from using human agents (HUMINT) since Congress cracked down on it three
decades ago.
But in Iraq, Israeli advisors, and reservists who
were cops and detectives in civilian life, brought some practical experience on
how to make the practice work. The role of U.S. cops, on reserve duty, is worth
several books length treatments. Some day. But these probably won't be written
any time soon, because of security considerations. The bottom line is that
police rely heavily on "confidential informants" (CIs), and most large
departments have budgets for paying them. The FBI also has a lot of practical
experience with CIs, and they sometimes contributed practical experience to the
troops, and the CIA.
The Israelis added their experience using other
forms of enticements (favors from the government, in criminal and
administrative matters, as well as the use of blackmail, and other forms of
coercion), to get CIs to work for you. The use of CIs is now a common
practice in the war on terror. Not just
in Iraq, but in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia, Sudan and many other nations.
New York City cops, many of whom are in the reserves, brought another element
to the table, and that was the use of computer database software to make the
most of even the most innocuous bits of information. New York City continues to
drive down its crime rate, because of the use of these data mining efforts.
Such techniques have been used to locate many terrorist leaders. In some cases,
this didn't result in capturing or killing someone, but in recruiting them, or
getting them to publicly switch sides.
In many Moslem nations, the leaders are more
interested in trading information with the United States. Islamic terrorists
are often heroes in nations where there is not much Islamic terrorism, and the
local police know the best way to keep the terrorists out is to know who they
are, where they are, and where they are planning to go next. Thus there are
deals to be made even with nations that are, as far as the rest of the world
knows, your enemy. That's why Iran, Sudan and Syria are often a good source of
information, if you have something to trade. Actually, if you reach the right
guy, a briefcase full of hundred dollar bills will do the trick. All you need
to know is who is approachable, and that's where CIs can be vital.
The terrorists know of this danger, and are being
increasingly theatrical in how they execute CIs. Some of the guys getting their
throats slit on camera, are innocent. The terrorists are often quite terrorized
themselves when a CI gives up the location of a senior leader, who suddenly
explodes when a Predator finds him. There is then an outcry to find the spy. In
desperation, the Taliban, al Qaeda or whatever, will sometimes grab a likely
suspect, kill him, and declare the problem solved. That leaves the CI alive, a
bit shaken, but often still operational.
HUMINT is a nasty business, but if often gets
information all the spy satellites, listening posts and UAVs cannot.