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Adaptive Insurgent Organization and Doctrine
The primary elements of an insurgent organization are its leadership,
combatants, cadre, and mass base according to US army doctrine. 96 In the
Cyber Age each of these elements has presented new challenges to the West.
Leaders conduct command and control from distances that are miles, if not
continents away from their base via the net, and they can conduct dead drops,
send hidden messages, and control forces instantaneously in ways never before
imagined. Combatants no longer have to be just fighters, either. They can also
be computer operators, computer repairmen, or the owners and operators of
servers, among other jobs. Cadres are the political activists of the insurgency.
They are the main ideologues or website masters as well as those responsible
for collecting local contributions based on net advertisements. These
fundraising activities are conducted in the heartland of the enemy, often hidden
as contributions to charities or disguised as legitimate businesses. The mass
base is composed of the followers of the movement. Today the mass base is
composed of dissatisfied elements found in chat rooms from Idaho to Baghdad.
Now, from the privacy of one’s home, all of these elements are executable. The
mobilization of a much larger virtual supporting base has enabled the initial
smaller “actionable” armed conflict of physical terror to expand instead of
shrink as the insurgency progresses. It is possible to call people to the battle
from far away via the Internet, as is being done in Iraq. The Internet has thus
caused a significant increase in the virtual and real influence of the elements of
an insurgent organization.
Two types of offensive actions are key components of insurgency
doctrine according to US army publications: armed conflict and mass
mobilization. The Western press is full of reporting on the issue of armed
conflict in Iraq and other places. There is a historical record of
insurgent/guerilla actions that support armed violence and cause reporters to
observe and write from this point of view. These reports include life and death
accounts from mobile (hit-and-run) and stationary tactics, the use of surprise
and ambush via IEDs and car bombs, and hostage-taking among many other
actions. The aim of armed conflict is to enhance the visibility of an ideology, to
attain notoriety, and to attempt to win a political victory over an opponent.
Group members (with the possible exception of charismatic leadership) try to
remain anonymous, publicizing only the name of the group and its manifesto
until victory is close to being assured. Such reporting is sensational and
mainstream.
The new breed of insurgent leaders uses the Internet to offer their
vision and lend legitimacy of their actions to the masses. It is a quiet aspect of
96 Ibid., pp. 1-2.
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