Afghan Refugees Paid Four Times As Much As Soldiers To Play Taliban
And, they get to learn all the Brits TTPs and then go home.
Daily Mail:
Afghan refugees on £200 a day - to pose as Taliban
Security fear over stand-ins learning all soldiers’ tactics and secrets
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I don’t see the problem. We have Iraqis helping us out in our training. What’s the beef. Is it really about money? I think part of our recent successes in Iraq has alot to do with the Iraqis that have helped us in training to understand the culture better.
If the Brits are truely paranoid, then maybe they should come to America to train. They might walk away with a different perspective.
On the other hand, Britian does have issues with a restive immigrant population that does not want to assimilate. So in one respect they might have a point.
But I still think it is the money that is pissing people off.
July 15th, 2007 at 3:43 amDan, exactly what I was going to say. We’ve all heard of security companies that were started by crimminals that turned themselves around. Want to find out how people break in, go ask someone that breaks in. Training is an attempt to familiarize trainees with the reality about to come. Then reality comes and you find training kind of resembled it. Now, OJT kicks in.
July 15th, 2007 at 6:18 amI really don’t think training locations and how they operate should even be discussed at all. Imagine us talking about a camp like this during WWII.
July 15th, 2007 at 6:52 amEgfrow, not to worry. It’s not as if no one knows what’s going on on these huge military training bases. I wonder what’s going on in there. Shhhh, don’t tell anybody. They’re just walking them through it by the numbers. Secrets don’t start until your boots get on their ground. But, even then, there might be some secret little operations going on around the main operations. But for the most part Americans and I would figure the Brits also are very much in their face. Especially during the day. We’re Americans, we’re here, got a problem with that. We don’t hide behind women and children. We kind of tromp around like a herd of elephants and get into smokin’ and jokin’ and gettin’ all bunched up. Spread it the fuck out.
July 15th, 2007 at 7:57 amI think if they don’t train, they’ll be hearing calls to prayer 5 times a day for the rest of their lives. just a thought.
July 15th, 2007 at 8:05 amEgfrow:
Our training bases and the Brits bases are not exactly a secret. Nor is the fact that “native speakers” work there.
If it were an OPSEC violation to speak about it, the military of both countries wouldn’t be so keen to discuss the matter in their own publications…(such as Army Times, Army Magazine, Infantry, Armor…etc).
If some PAO wanted to keep the info hush-hush, that would be the case….However, it is not the case.
And I still think, the Brits are pissed because the native speakers are being paid so well. They should chill.
Or, they could move their operations to another venue…such as in the U.S. or a NATO country such as old Eastern Europe, where their ops might lean more towards their brand of OPSEC.
Whether Brits like it or not, you can’t train Westerners to engage a Muslim poplace without Muslim instructors.
If you ask me, the points are moot. It’s a non-story.
PS Good points there J.C.
July 15th, 2007 at 1:30 pmWe can move it to southern Arizona and get the Mexican Taliban actors a tad cheaper for the Brits.
July 15th, 2007 at 6:07 pmAh. I understand. I wonder if the higher pay is to ensure loyalty and dedication from these guys. I would also hope they’ve been ’screened’ before being assigned to this task.
July 15th, 2007 at 7:16 pmDan;
July 15th, 2007 at 9:13 pmagreed. Market pricing for skills unavailable elsewhere. Plus some risk of personal or family retribution, I’d guess.
Well, for the first time I disagree with nearly all of ya’ll. Egfrow’s sniffer detected this for the bs it is.
1. Paying refugees to stand around and play OPFOR at FOUR times your soldier’s pay is just a slap in the face to your guys. And as far as buying loyalty…yeah. To a man, anybody I know that’s worked intimately with Afghans and Paks agrees they’re for sale. To the highest bidder. Which gets you the inside skinny on these tactics at a mere 5 times a soldier’s pay.
2. “Whether Brits like it or not, you can’t train Westerners to engage a Muslim poplace without Muslim instructors.” *cough* I don’t recall anybody ever arguing they needed real Germans, or Vietnamese, or Russians, or Japanese for a viable training program. This just reeks of some sort of back-door aid program - they couldn’t just _give_ the money away, so they dreamt this up.
3. Dan, I think you missed the point. Let me try an analogy on ya:
The LAPD hires disadvantaged inner-city youth (at 4 times the cop’s salary) to play “drug dealer” for the city’s SWAT team training to conduct no-knock raids. You really think it won’t be long before a dope dealer or two don’t find one of those kids, drop a few large on him and get a detailed briefing of what to expect?
Sure, you’re average crack dealer isn’t this clever…but your average Taliban _is_.
No, I think if LAPD did that, we’d be howling it was bone-headed and wasteful. And rightly, too.
And lastly, “The lads really don’t like having outsiders seeing exactly how they work in the field. They feel it leaves them vulnerable.” I agree.
Sun Tzu said “Know your enemy”. I think there’s an obvious corollary there that doesn’t need to be explicitly stated.
July 16th, 2007 at 3:18 am