| Submit your comments on this article |
| Terror Networks |
| Belmont Club: a database is a lethal weapon |
| 2004-09-09 |
| Wretchard is on his usual roll. EFL'd a bit; go read the original, which even has illustrations. Here's a snippet from the Strategy Page with a buried nugget: a battlefield account of terrorists fighting a virtual enemy. In describing the never-ending strikes against targets in Fallujah, it describes the ongoing operation in a curious way: U.S. troops maintain databases of who they are fighting, the better to pick targets for raids or surveillance. ... Daily, the smart bombs blow apart houses used by the gangs for housing, headquarters or ammo dumps. The gangs have become very paranoid, believing there are spies everywhere. They are correct, but some of the most revealing spies are unreachable. Above Fallujah, U.S. warplanes and UAVs circle constantly, able to clearly view what is below, day or night. The telescopic bomb sights allow pilots to see what kind of weapon people are carrying, or whether women and children are in a crowd. The gangs have learned to never gather in large groups, at least not without plenty of women and children nearby for protection. But that doesn't always work, for the AC-130 gunships can kill a man without harming someone ten feet away. For the insurgents, the real enemy, the brain that pulls the trigger, is an abstract structure called a database. It tracks links between individuals, noting not only who knows who, but who is subordinate to whom. . . . . . . People move within an organization and report to different people over time. They are tasked differently from one day to the next. A terrorists "boss" and "subordinates" will change, just our work relationships change. Since the relationship, or association determines where the JDAM falls, choosing your friends in Fallujah is an important task. From the enemy's point of view every connection is fraught with danger. Hook up your network to the wrong guy and you sleep with the fishes. But the worst aspect of it is that killing individual US soldiers doesn't really solve anything unless you can take apart the system that is feeding information into the databases. In this circumstance, many of the traditional military metrics are totally upset. Weight of firepower, that is the amount of tonnage your attack aircraft can carry, becomes an irrelevant factor. The hard constraint is information. You are limited by your database. After reading the Strategy Page, I'll never look at a DB engine as an innocent object ever again. |
| Posted by:Mike |
| #11 I bet this is run on Oracle not SQL. This software really works well. |
| Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom 2004-09-10 5:25:16 AM |
| #10 This is precisely the same methodology used to track down Saddam. Establishing linkages between tribalists, data-mining go boom. |
| Posted by: Capt America 2004-09-09 10:24:06 PM |
| #9 I feel we need to take this one step further. However costly, including a biometrics and DNA profile for each suspected militant detained would help to determine, not only when we snuff them, but also who else in their family might be participating in terror activities. I maintain that terrorism needs to be declared a DNA crime and such tracking should be put in place for all visa applications by individuals originating from countries that are terrorist sponsors and havens. Terrorism does indeed run in the family, and we need to identify exactly which ones they are so those gene pools can be subjected to shock chlorination. And yes, badanov, the database ranks along side the microprocessor itself, not to mention solid state lasers and GPS, as significant modern inventions. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2004-09-09 9:47:27 PM |
| #8 badanov--I can't speak for all DB engines, as I've only worked with SQL Server and Oracle. With SQL Server, you can create a procedure and execute it via triggers, other procedures, or external apps. The only requisite is a database--and tables, of course, if you want to manipulate/return data. I'd love to see that ERD as well and see how they mine that data--there is SO much cool stuff you can do with a (properly designed and maintained) database! |
| Posted by: Dar 2004-09-09 4:40:24 PM |
| #7 I've commented on this subject here previously. I'm very familiar with big, nationally known Insurance Co.s that have highly developed DBs to track and root out insurance fraud. Not only do the civilian versions of these systems store huge amounts of data but they can also draw analyst's attention to facts that might otherwise excape notice - such as claimants for 7 out of the last 40 claims over X $$ in a particular city all were treated by Dr. Soandso for soft-tissue injuries. 20 of last 40 claimants were represented by two lawyers who share the same business address with the Dr. Coincidence or not? I have no direct knowledge of the DOD's systems but I'll make the intellectual leap that our guys overseas use MUCH stronger DBs and Data Mining tools to not only track relationships but also to extrapolate connections between seemingly unrelated events, people, locations and time. If you can predict with 95% certainty which vermin is going to land on what pile of sh*t at what time, the shotgun approach is no longer necessary. Consider this; It's not outside the realm of possibility that these tools can be refined so well that a pilot can release the ordinance that nails the bad guy before the asshat sits down at his regular table at the cafe. |
| Posted by: Doc8404 2004-09-09 3:26:14 PM |
| #6 A better procedure would be a trigger that would insert a new record into a targeting database used by intel, automatically uploaded to Global Hawk targeting computers, once a new location of a terrorist is entered into a database. I am not terribly familiar with SQL commands, but don't you have to first create the function before creating the procedure, and the procedure is executed by creating a trigger. Right? |
| Posted by: badanov 2004-09-09 3:15:58 PM |
| #5 That's one entity relationship diagram I'd like to see... |
| Posted by: Howard UK 2004-09-09 3:06:41 PM |
#4 Can I make a contribution to this database?
|
| Posted by: Dar 2004-09-09 2:47:43 PM |
| #3 Hand Fallujah to the Kurds? Exxxxxxxcellent Smithers. /Mr Burns off |
| Posted by: Rex Mundi 2004-09-09 2:08:42 PM |
| #2 Databases work both ways. They can be used for tremendous good as well as horrific evil. Heck, Fred uses a database for his site; I use databases in business, and in wargaming. In fact I believe that history will eventually regard the computer database as a development/invention on par with the automobile/aircraft as a positive societal changing element. My main Unix database is postgresql which was originally a DARPA/US Army project way back when. Some elements of warfare is definately changing, and databases will lead the way in some areas in finding and eliminating Islamists as threats to civilization. But a database can't fry thos evil f*ckers. Only military ordnance can do that. |
| Posted by: badanov 2004-09-09 1:52:32 PM |
| #1 As they say: A database is a terrible thing to waste. |
| Posted by: Xbalanke 2004-09-09 1:27:10 PM |