Article

2011-04-18 Afghanistan

Afghan soldier opens fire at Defense Ministry

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Posted by ryuge 2011-04-18 04:07|| || Front Page|| [11125 views ] Top

#1 It's pretty damned obvious that the Taliban have created a successful infiltration campaign into the Afghan military.

So the response to this should be to create a counter-infiltrator program designed to identify traitors early on, before they are able to inflict lethal damage. This is not easy.

Optimally, they will discover some psychological situation that an infiltrator will find irresistible. Several of these are known and in use in the civilian world.

For example, some businesses have learned to set up "honor system" donuts and bagels, monitored by a discreet camera. Those employees who steal from it have a high probability to commit other theft against the company, so are fired. Thus, donuts and bagels can save them tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The trick is to find something that infiltrators will do that ordinary soldiers will not typically do.

Posted by Anonymoose 2011-04-18 09:59|| 2011-04-18 09:59|| Front Page Top

#2 Anonymoose, considering the success of Nidal Hasan, it seems we can't even create a counter infiltration campaign in our own military.

Posted by Ebbang Uluque6305 2011-04-18 13:31|| 2011-04-18 13:31|| Front Page Top

#3 they will discover some psychological situation that an infiltrator will find irresistible.

I believe they're call 'strip clubs'. Even Hasan couldn't resist. It follows the rite of the original assassin cult.

After being drugged, the Ismaili devotees were said be taken to a paradise-like garden filled with attractive young maidens and beautiful plants in which these fidais would awaken. Here, they were told by an "old" man that they were witnessing their place in Paradise and that should they wish to return to this garden permanently, they must serve the Nizari cause.

Posted by Procopius2k 2011-04-18 15:41|| 2011-04-18 15:41|| Front Page Top

#4 Hasan is about as special case as it gets. He had served eight years as an enlisted man with little or no problem, and spotting him based on his record just wasn't going to happen.

However, in the case of the Afghan army, all recruits are generally illiterate and untrained. This means infiltrators have several distinguishing characteristics that other recruits don't have. With some psych screening, they should not be hard to identify, and they won't even know they were being screened, as they have never heard of psychology.

So this delves down into simple psychologies that most westerners would scoff at, such as putting them in charge of a heavy metal safe, telling them there is a powerful weapon inside, so don't let anyone push on those buttons on the top or it could kill everyone here!

You put half a dozen recruits in there after telling them that, doing other small tasks, and if one of them starts frantically pushing buttons, you've got your man.

Something that silly and straightforward wouldn't work on an educated person. But it, and equivalent pranks, might work wonders on a Taliban.

Posted by Anonymoose 2011-04-18 15:52|| 2011-04-18 15:52|| Front Page Top

#5 MB2MB flushes it out.

This is becoming an all too common occurrence.

Posted by newc 2011-04-18 16:13|| 2011-04-18 16:13|| Front Page Top

#6 For those unaware: jihad is promoted openly in mosques in Kandahar and elsewhere. How many Nazis operated in the open in occupied Germany? How many Japanese-militarists set up propaganda shops in occupied Japan? Third Worlders get special status.

Posted by Granter the Obscure7832 2011-04-18 16:29|| 2011-04-18 16:29|| Front Page Top

#7 "considering the success of Nidal Hasan"

Actually Nidal Hasan did everything but rent blinking neon signs that said "Jihadi."

Al

Posted by Frozen Al 2011-04-18 16:56|| 2011-04-18 16:56|| Front Page Top

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