August 2014 EDITORIAL STAFF From the Editor MICHAEL FREEMAN Executive Editor This issue begins with a familiar landscape: the eastern border area of Afghani- ANNA SIMONS Executive Editor stan, specifically the Paktika valley region. Major Mike Hutchinson gives a per- ELIZABETH SKINNER Managing Editor sonal account of the work he and his team, ODA 3325, did to dislodge the Taliban RYAN STUART Design & Layout from an area considered to be one of their strongholds. In the process, not only was the team able to defeat the insurgents militarily, but more importantly, EDITORIAL REVIEW BOARD they found a way to reverse the trend of economic decay that years of fighting VICTOR ASAL had brought to the population. Following this article is a thoughtful discussion University at Albany SUNY by Captain Caleb Slayton of the ways in which U.S. military education about ALEJANDRA BOLANOS Islam falls short of its goal of preparing operators to effectively and respectfully National Defense University navigate within the Muslim world. The urge to fit Muslims into “good” and “bad” categories through coded language, he tells us, is doing a serious disservice LAWRENCE CLINE to both Islam and our forces. Naval Postgraduate School STEPHEN DI RIENZO Up next is Julia McClenon, who describes the devastating effects that official National Intelligence University discrimination and injustice are having on the indigenous Uyghur population SAJJAN GOHEL in Xinjiang Province in western China. From McClenon’s perspective (she has been living and working in China), Xinjiang represents a living primer on Asia Pacific Foundation how to drive an oppressed people to terrorist violence. This article is followed SEBASTIAN GORKA by Captain David Hammond’s essay on the unintended consequences that an National Defense University incomplete understanding of the rules of engagement can have on SOF who JAKUB GRYGIEL operate in highly volatile and uncertain conditions. Based on his experience as School of Advanced Int’l. Studies a judge advocate general (military lawyer), Hammond offers five methods by which higher commanders can defuse a sense of disenfranchisement and the THOMAS MARKS subsequent loss of morale among deployed forces. National Defense University THOMAS MOCKAITIS Major Margus Kuul takes a hard look at NATO’s expectation that NATO SOF DePaul University must fulfill three Special Operations mission sets: direct action, special recon- ALFRED OEHLERS naissance, and military assistance. Given the reality that most SOF contributors Asia-Pacific Center for Security cannot afford to meet these three mission requirements on their own, he asks Studies whether it’s time to reassess. Colonel Imre Porkoláb then brings us another in a series of essays on SOF in the era of “cool war.” As the nature of future warfare PAUL SHEMELLA becomes more irregular, disruptive, and secretive, what does this mean for Naval Postgraduate School innovative leadership? KENNETH POOLE Joint Special Operations University The final feature article in this issue, by Dr. Ali Fisher and Dr. Nico Prucha, NADIA SCHADLOW describes and analyzes the way in which jihadist networks are becoming increas- ingly resilient by using Twitter accounts and nodes to spread both doctrine and Smith Richardson Foundation information. They illustrate how messages from some principal users are repeat- JENNIFER MORRISON TAW edly retweeted in a way that may make the networks impervious to disruption. Claremont McKenna College DAVID UCKO The CTAP interview with former DEA officer Kirk Meyer focuses on his work National Defense University from 2008–2011 to establish the first Afghanistan Threat Finance Cell. Through utter determination and a willingness to make the most of every available asset, 1 CTX | Vol. 4, No. 3 Meyer’s team was able to develop an in-depth understanding of local drug trafficking and crime networks, their relation- ships with the Taliban, and their potential breaking points. CTX’s own Ryan Stuart contributes a review of Phil Klay’s book, Redeployment, a collection of short stories about American servicemen in and around Operation Enduring Freedom in Iraq. The stories Klay tells are fiction, but, as Stuart implies, probably not by much. I’m writing this letter from New Delhi, where I’m meeting with CT professionals to discuss the various kinds of terrorism India faces, and what India has been doing to combat them—a reminder that all sectors of the globe deserve attention from CTX, not only the Middle East. So, please keep those contributions coming. Look for back issues of CTX at GlobalECCO.org/journal and “like” Global ECCO on Facebook, where you can stay up-to-date on news, events, and the CTFP community. The quality ofCTX depends on our readers, who are our main contributors. We’d appreciate getting your feedback at GlobalECCO.org. ELIZABETH SKINNER Managing Editor, CTX [email protected] 2 Inside This Issue Letter from the Editor ELIZABETH SKINNER 5 Building the Future: An Unlikely Coalition and a Road in Rural Afghanistan MAJ MIKE HUTCHINSON, U.S. ARMY 21 Education on Islam for Special Forces Needs an Overhaul: Africa as a Case Study CPT CALEB SLAYTON, U.S. AIR FORCE 34 Pounding on the Detonator: How China Is Radicalizing Its Own Uyghur Population JULIA MCCLENON 51 Stressing Self-defense in the Force: Five Methods to Empower Commanders CPT DAVID HAMMOND, U.S. ARMY NATO SOF Countries’ Three Main Mission Sets: Direct Action, 63 Special Reconnaissance, Military Assistance MAJ MARGUS KUUL, ESTONIAN DEFENSE FORCES 65 Leading the Cool War: Building a Sustainable Network inside the Ivory Tower COL IMRE PORKOLÁB, HUNGARIAN ARMY 73 The Call-up: The Roots of a Resilient and Persistent Jihadist Presence on Twitter ALI FISHER AND NICO PRUCHA, UNIVERSITY OF VIENNA 89 CTAP INTERVIEW Kirk Meyer WITH MICHAEL FREEMAN AND AMINA KATOR-MUBAREZ, NAVAL POSTGRADUATE SCHOOL THE WRITTEN WORD 102 Redeployment RYAN STUART 105 PUBLICATIONS AND BOOK ANNOUNCEMENTS CTX | Vol. 4, No. 3 About the Contributors Dr. Ali Fisher specializes in delivering insight into complex information four-stroke engines, to the poetics and history of hip hop and spoken- ecosystems through network analysis and big data. Using insights from word poetry. Her BA in Interdisciplinary Studies is from Global College, data analysis, Dr. Fisher has worked as an advisor, strategist, and author Long Island University. on methods of achieving influence across a range of disciplines, including Kirk E. Meyer public diplomacy and strategic communication, counterterrorism, child served for 23 years with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) as an assistant special agent in charge of the multi-state protection, human security, and public health. His books include Col- Chicago Field Division. His last two overseas assignments were in laborative Public Diplomacy (2012), The Connective Mindshift (2013), and Afghanistan, where he served from 2006 to 2008 as the DEA assistant Trails of Engagement (2010). He received his PhD from the University of Birmingham. country attaché. From 2008 to 2011, he was the founding director of the Afghanistan Threat Finance Cell, which worked to identify and disrupt Captain David Hammond is a judge advocate in the U.S. Army. He funding streams to terrorist organizations and to target high-level public is presently assigned as the battalion judge advocate for 2d Battalion, corruption. Meyer received numerous performance awards from the 1st Special Forces Group (Airborne), Joint Base Lewis-McChord, DEA, and in 2011 was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal by General Washington. CPT Hammond’s previous assignments include com- David H. Petraeus. Since retiring from the DEA, he has been the senior mand judge advocate, Special Operations Task Force–West, Helmand manager of the Financial Intelligence Unit at GE Capital, Americas. Province, Afghanistan, 2013–2014; operational law attorney, Task Force Colonel Imre Porkoláb Spartan, Kandahar Province, Afghanistan, 2011–2012; trial counsel, 3d is presently the Hungarian National Liaison Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, Fort Drum, New York, representative at NATO Allied Command Transformation in Norfolk, 2010–2011; and trial counsel, U.S. Army Research, Development, and En- Virginia. COL Porkoláb played a pivotal role in developing the Hun- gineering Command, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, 2008–2010. garian Defence Forces’ SOF capability while serving with the Ministry of Defence, Joint Forces Command, and then as commander of Hungary’s Major Michael Hutchinson graduated from the United States Military SF battalion. He has served in both Iraq and Afghanistan. COL Porkoláb Academy at West Point in 2003 with a BS in Arabic and Middle Eastern holds a PhD in military leadership. Studies. He deployed to Anbar Province, Iraq, with 1st Battalion, 506th Dr. Nico Prucha Infantry Regiment from 2004 to 2005. Upon completion of the Special of the University of Vienna focuses on jihadi online Forces Qualification Course in 2008, he was assigned to 3rd Battalion, activities related to Syria and the organized opposition. He is also a 3rd Special Forces Group (Airborne), leading Operational Detachment– fellow at the Institute for Peace Research and Security Policy, University of Hamburg. His research centers on textual and audiovisual content Alpha (ODA) 3325 in Paktika Province, Afghanistan, during two deploy- analysis of jihadist activity online, specifically focusing on extremist ments between 2009 to 2012. ODA 3325 became one of the first Village Stability Operations teams, and returned to the same location in Paktika shari’a interpretations of hostage taking and executions. He has written Province for a total deployment period of 20 months. MAJ Hutchinson frequently on the subject and blogs for Jihadica.com. is currently attending the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) and Captain Caleb Slayton is an active-duty officer in the U.S. Air Force, expects to graduate with an MS in Defense Analysis in December 2014. where he serves as director of the AFRICOM Theater course for Special Major Margus Kuul has been on active duty in the Estonian armed Operations Forces.