Kill Chain: The Rise of the High-Tech Assassins

by Andrew Cockburn

Djibouti indeed was the centerpiece: Eric Schmidt, “U.S. Signs New Lease to Keep Strategic Military Installation in the Horn of Africa,” New York Times, May 5, 2014.

  The camp, home to the JSOC drones: Nick Turse, “The Next Generation of Shadow Wars: America’s Military-Industrial Complex Is Expanding,” Salon, April 14, 2014.

  Even less visibly, the U.S. Air Force was maintaining: Joe Trevithick, “The Pentagon Plans for More Drones in More Places,” Medium.com/War-Is-Boring, April 14, 2014.

  As of 2014 the air force planned to have 346 of these: Inside Defense.com, “Air Force to Acquire Fleet of 346 Reapers by FY-21, 55 Fewer Than Planned,” March 6, 2014.

  of which more than 80 would likely be under CIA control: Aram Roston, “Targeted Killing: CIA’s Fleet of 80+ UAVs Unlikely to Be Transferred to Military,” Defense News, May 15, 2013.

  a new acronym entered military jargon: Air-Sea Battle Office, “Air Sea Battle, Service Collaboration to Address Anti-Access & Area Denial Issues,” Department of Defense, May 2013. http://www.defense.gov/pubs/ASB-ConceptImplementation-Summary-May-2013.pdf.

  Thanks to Predator and Reaper: The Federal Procurement Data System has provided the following report on the top 100 defense contractors in 2013: FY https://www.fpds.gov/downloads/top_requests/Top_100_Contractors_Report_Fiscal_Year_2013.xls. Accessed July 30, 2014.

  For the twelve Reapers the air force planned to buy: InsideDefense.com, March 6, 2014.

  Boeing’s F/A-18 “Growler” electronic warfare plane: Fiscal Year (FY) 2013 President’s Budget Submission: Navy Justification Book, Vol. 1: Aircraft Procurement, Navy Budget Activities 1–4, pp. 1–15.

  while Lockheed was happily extracting $106 million for the C-130J transport plane: U.S. Department of Defense, “Selected Acquisition Report (SAR) Summary Tables As of December 31, 2013.”

  So in 2013 the U.S. Navy: Government Accountability Office, “Navy Strategy for Unmanned Carrier-Based Aircraft System Defers Key Oversight Mechanisms,” GAO-13-833, September 26, 2013.

  That feat was ultimately accomplished: “X-47 Makes Successful Launch,” Defense News, May 14, 2013.

  Already, a single Global Hawk drone: GlobalSecurity.org, “Satellite Bandwidth.” http://www.globalsecurity.org/space/systems/bandwidth.htm.

  In 2009, Shia insurgents in Iraq: Barry Watts, “The Maturing Revolution in Military Affairs,” Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments (2011), p. 17.

  GPS signals … equivalent of a car headlight: Paul Marks, “TV and Radio Signals Take Over when GPS Goes Wrong,” New Scientist blog, June 29, 2012.

  As an Iranian engineer explained: Scott Peterson, “Exclusive: Iran Hijacked US Drone, Says Iranian Engineer,” Christian Science Monitor, December 15, 2011.

  Despite energetic attempts by U.S. officials: David Axe, “Did Iran Capture a US drone Intact?” DangerRoom, Wired, December 4, 2011.

  Todd Humphreys: Cyrus Fariver, “Professor Fools $80M Superyacht’s GPS Receiver on the High Seas,” ars technica, July 30, 2013.

  Nevertheless, the supposed imminence: Daniel Suarez: “The Kill Decision Shouldn’t Belong to a Robot,” TED Global, June 2013.

  In November 2012, Human Rights Watch: “Advancing the Debate on Killer Robots,” Human Rights Watch, May 2014.

  “an absolute must”: Stew Magnuson, “Military ‘Swimming in Sensors and Drowning in Data,’” National Defense, January 2010.

  The Office of Naval Research has even funded: Sebastian Anthony, “U.S. Military Begins Research into Moral, Ethical Robots,” Extreme Technology, May 9, 2014.

  An experiment involving two small drones: Peter Finn, “A Future for Drones: Automated Killing,” Washington Post, September 19, 2011.

  According to an al-Qaeda tip sheet, “Revealed: al-Qaeda’s 22 Tips for Dodging Drones,” Daily Telegraph, February 22, 2013.

  But it has become clearer: Hubert L. Dreyfus, What Computers Still Can’t Do (Boston: MIT Press, 1992); Tao Ruspoli, “Being in the World,” Mangusta Films, 2011. http://beingintheworldmovie.com/.

  “We kept decapitating the leadership of these groups”: James Kitfield, “Flynn’s Last Interview: Iconoclast Departs DIA With a Warning,” Breaking Defense, August 7, 2014. http://breakingdefense.com/2014/08/flynns-last-interview-intel-iconoclast-departs-dia-with-a-warning. Accessed August 9, 2014.

  Among the recipients: Bryan Bender, “Air War in ISIS Fight Gets Guidance from Cape,” Boston Globe, September 26, 2014.

  As David Deptula promised: Aaron Mehta, “Experts: As Operation Continues, ISR Demand to Grow in Syria,” Defense News, September 29, 2014.

  Wall Street analysts hailed the prospect: Tony Newmayer, “The War on ISIS Already Has a Winner: The Defense Industry,” Fortune, September 13, 2014.

  INDEX

  The index that appeared in the print version of this title does not match the pages in your e-book. Please use the search function on your e-reading device to search for terms of interest. For your reference, the terms that appear in the print index are listed below.

  A2/AD (antiaccess/area denial)

  A-10 Warthog

  A-37 bombers

  Abdul-Ahad, Ghaith

  Abizaid, John

  Abu Ghraib

  AC-130 Specter gunship

  Adams, Sam

  Adel, Saif al-

  Aegis antimissile capabilities

  Afghanistan

  bin Laden targeted in

  elections

  Gorgon Stare and

  IEDs and

  Palantir and

  phone traffic

  Predator and

  Seeker and

  Shahikot battle

  Soviet war of 1980s

  Uruzgar attack of 2010

  war of 2001–present

  Afghanistan Analysts Network

  Africa

  Africa Division (CIA)

  Ahmar, Sheikh Abdullah al-

  Air Force. See also specific agencies; bases; military actions; and weapons

  A-10 Warthog and

  budget of

  chief of staff

  cold war and

  DCGS and

  drones and

  drug war and

  Global Hawk and

  Gorgon Stare and

  Gulf War and

  Igloo White and

  Mitchell and

  Predator and

  rivalry with other services

  Serbia and

  Vietnam and

  WWII and

  Air Force Armaments Center

  Air Force Combat Command

  Air Force Deputy Director for Strategy, Doctrine, and War-Fighting

  Air Force Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance Agency

  Air Force Special Operations Command

  Air Force Times

  “Air Sea Battle” (2013)

  Air Support Operations Center

  Al-Askar shrine

  Albania

  Alec Station

  Alexander, Keith

  Al-Jazeera TV network

  Allied Force, Operation

  Allman, T. D.

  al-Qaeda

  Al-Qaeda in Iraq

  al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula

  al-Qaeda in Yemen

  Amanullah, Zabet

  Amber

  American citizens, summary execution of

  Amin, Khalid

  Amin, Mohammed

  Anaconda, Operation

  Analysis Corporation

  Angel Fire

  Angleton, James Jesus

  Angolan Civil War

  Aphrodite, Operation

  Armitage, Richard

  Army

  Army Air Corps

  Army Delta Force

  Army Field Manual (FM3–24)

  Army Rangers

  Army Security Agency (ASA)

  Arquilla, John

  Artimes, Manual

  Ashcroft, John

  Ashworth, Sid

  assassinations. See also high-value targets; kill chain; kill lists;
kingpin strategy

  ban on, by Executive Order

  CIA and

  cold war and

  counterterrorism

  drug war and

  Hitler and

  international law and

  Iraq and “Kill TV”

  Israel and

  Libya and

  Nicaragua and

  Obama and

  Parks memo on

  post-9/11 timeline

  Vietnam and

  WWII and

  Assault Breaker

  Association of Unmanned Vehicle Systems International

  Atef, Mohammed

  Attack the Network

  AWACS

  Awlaki, Anwar al-

  B-1 bomber

  B-2 strategic bomber

  B-24 bomber

  B-47 bomber

  B-52 bomber

  Babaker, Sultan Fareed bin

  Badani, Shawqui Ali Ahmed al-

  Baghdadi, Abu Bakr al-

  Bagram base

  Balad air force base

  Balawi, Humam

  Balkans

  ballistic missiles

  Banna, Ibrahim al-

  “barrel of terror” thesis

  Bay of Pigs invasion

  BBC

  Beech Aircraft

  Bell Boeing

  Berg, Nicholas

  Berger, Sandy

  Bernadotte, Folke

  Big Safari

  bin Laden, Mohammed

  bin Laden, Osama

  Bissell, Richard

  Black, Cofer

  black programs

  Blackwater

  Blair, Dennis

  Blee, Richard

  Blue, Linden

  Blue, Neal

  Boeing

  Boeing 707

  Boeing 737

  Bombardier Dash-8

  Bonner, Robert

  Booz Allen

  Border Patrol

  Borges, Jorge Luis

  Bosnia

  Boyd, John

  Brennan, John

  Britain

  Royal Air Force

  Special Branch

  Special Operations Executive (SOE)

  Brookings Institution

  Brown, Harold

  Bryant, Brandon

  Bundy, McGeorge

  Bush, George H. W. (Bush I)

  Bush, George W. (Bush II)

  C-130J transport plane

  CACI International

  Calamar, Colombia

  Calderón, Felipe

  Cali cartel

  Cambodia

  Campbell, Scott “Soup”

  Camp Lemonnier

  Camp Liberty

  Camp Nama

  Camp Peary

  Camp Slayer

  Cannon Air Force Base

  Carter, Jimmy

  Cartwright, James “Hoss”

  Casey, George

  Casey, William

  Cassidy, Thomas

  Castro, Fidel

  Cebrowski, Arthur

  cell phones

  Center for Naval Analysis

  Center for Responsibility and Ethics

  centers of gravity

  Central Command (Centcom)

  Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). See also specific departments, operations, and technologies

  Afghanistan and

  Africa and

  assassinations and

  bin Laden and

  Brennan and

  budget of

  Camp Peary

  cold war and

  counterterrorism and

  creation of

  drones and

  drug war and

  European desk

  FARC and

  Helms dinner

  Iraq and

  Laos and

  9/11 and

  Obama and

  Pakistan and

  Palantir and

  Predator and

  scandals and

  targeters recruited by

  torture

  U-2 and

  Vietnam and

  Yemen and

  chain of command

  change detection

  “Change in the Nature of Warfare” (Deptula)

  Chapman, Jorn

  Checkmate

  Cheney, Dick

  Chicago Tribune

  China

  Christian Science Monitor

  Christie, Tom

  Churchill, Winston

  Clapper, James R.

  Clark, Kate

  Clark, Wesley K.

  Clarke, Carter

  Clarke, Richard

  Clarridge, Duane “Dewey”

  Clay, Lucius

  Clinton, Bill

  Coats, Dan

  cocaine

  Colby, William

  cold war

  Cole, USS, bombing

  Colombia

  Combined Intelligence Center (Saigon)

  Combined Joint Task Force

  communications

  Compass Call Nova

  Condor

  Congressional Ethics Office

  Constant Hawk

  Copeland Lowery Jacquez

  counterinsurgency (COIN)

  counterterrorism

  Counterterrorism Center (CTC, CIA)

  Crane, Barry

  Cravath, Swaine & Moore

  Creech Air Force Base (Nevada)

  Crime and Narcotics Center (CIA)

  critical nodes

  Cuba

  Czechoslovakia

  Da Nang air force base

  Datta Khel strike

  Davis, Raymond

  Dawood, Malik

  Dear, Keith

  decapitation

  “deck of cards,” Iraq and

  Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)

  Defense Airborne Reconnaissance Office

  Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA)

  Defense News

  defense spending

  outsourcing and

  secrecy and

  sequestration and

  de Hoffman, Freddy

  Delta Force

  Dempsey, Martin

  Deptula, David

  Derwish, Kamal

  Desert Storm

  Designated Global Terrorists list

  Dewey, Thomas

  Dicter, Avi

  Digital Management

  Directorate of Intelligence (CIA)

  Directorate of Operations (CIA)

  Directorate of Plans (CIA)

  Distributed Common Ground System (DCGS)

  DCGS-A (Army)

  DCGS-N (Navy)

  Djibouti

  Dogar, Abdullah

  domestic law enforcement

  domestic surveillance

  Dominican Republic

  Donovan, William

  Dorrian, John

  Douhet, Giulio

  Dreyfus, Hubert

  drones. See also Predator; and other specific types

  Afghanistan and

  Africa and

  Air Force and

  Army and

  assassination and

  autonomous

  Balkans and

  bin Laden and

  Brennan and

  cell-phone tracking and

  CIA and

  contractors and

  cost of

  crews

  DCGS and

  development of

  drug war and

  Gates and

  global network and

  imagery and

  Iraq and

  JSOC and

  kill chain and

  lobbying and

  Millennium Challenge and

  National Defense Panel and

  9/11 and

  Obama and

  Pacific and

  Pakistan and

  superdrones

  testing of

  video captured by insurgents

  Vietnam and

  weaponization of

>   Yemen and

  Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA)

  drug war

  Drumm, Hugh

  Druyun, Darleen

  Dubai

  Dulles, Allen

  Duvalier, Francois “Papa Doc”

  Early, Steve

  East European Division (CIA)

  Easton, Roger L.

  Eden, Anthony

  EDO Corporation

  effects-based operations (EBO)

  Eglin Air Force Base (Florida)

  Egypt

  Eisenhower, Dwight D.

  Electromagnetic Systems Laboratory (ESL)

  Ellsberg, Daniel

  enemy combatants

  Enhanced Integrated Sensor Suite (EISS)

  Escalante, Fabien

  Escobar, Pablo

  Ethiopia

  EUR-1 (Germany)

  EUR-2 (Italy)

  “executive action”

  Executive Order 11905

  F-4 Phantom fighter

  F-15 fighter

  F-16 fighter

  F-18 fighter bomber

  F-86 fighter

  F-111 bomber

  F-117 stealth bomber

  F/A-18 Growler plane

  Fallujah

  FARC guerrillas

  Fazlullah, Maulana

  FD/Trodpint team

  Federal Aviation Authority

  Federal Bureau of Intelligence (FBI)

  fiber-optic cables

  “Fido” (molecular sniffer)

  53D Wing testing unit

  first circle

  five rings strategy

  Flynn, Michael

  Fogelman, Ronald

  Ford, Gerald

  Fort Bragg

  Fort Hood killings

  Fort Huachuca

  Foster, John S.

  Foxley, Operation

  Fox News

  France

  Franks, Tommy

  “From Douhet to Deptula” (Van Riper)

  Fulda Gap

  Gannon, Kathy

  Gard, Robert

  Garlasco, Marc

  Garwin, Richard

  Garza, David

  Gates, Robert M.

  General Accounting Office (GAO)

  General Atomics

  General Dynamics

  GeoInt convention

  geolocation

  Germany

  Nazi

  postwar

  Gibbons, Dawn

  Gibbons, Jim

  Gintile, Gian

  Global Hawk

  Global Positioning System (GPS)

  “Global Reach—Global Power” (Deptula)

  Gómez, Joaquín

  Gopal, Anand

  Gorgon Stare

  Gotcha radar

  Grasse, Jean Pierre

  Gregg, Don

  Grenier, Robert

  Grumman. See also Lockheed Grumman

  Guadalcanal, Battle of

  Guam

  Guantánamo

  Guardian

  Guatemala

  Gulf War (1991)

  Hadi, Abd Rubbah Mansour

  Hagel, Chuck

  Hagenback, H. L. “Buster”

  Haig, Alexander

  Haiti

  Hanoi, bombing of

  Haqqanis

  Harboni, Allah

  Harithi, Qa’id Salim Sinan al-

  Harrison, Marshall

  Hasan, Nidal Malik