It is a pleasure to announce that my latest article has been published by two major outlets. You can read it on
offiziere.ch
as well as on
bellingcat.com (also in Russian translation).
Apparently, the blogger curdistam also bothered to translate it into Galician-Portuguese.
12.09.2016
26.05.2016
Misleading calculations - On the number of foreigners who have left for the Islamic State
ISIS has evolved into a global phenomenon. This is not
only to be said because of terrorist attacks in different countries all around
the globe, committed in the name of the self proclaimed state in Iraq and Syria,
but also due to the fact that mostly young Muslims (their declaration of belief
will be of importance for this article) from a wide variety of countries have
yet travelled to what they think is the latest Khilafa (caliphate).
Myriads of reports have been written on this, regularly
publishing the numbers of fighters from different country who fulfilled their
wish to emigrate into ISIS-held territory; and they are not only coming from
Muslim majority countries or those countries which are well known for hosting a
particularly pious way of Islam such as Saudi-Arabia. Many of those reports,
lists and tables also show the estimated number of people who have left Europe
for the life under the black flag and the percentage of emigrants compared to
the whole population of a country, e.g. here,
here and here.
But there is one important fact that the authors of
these lists above failed to mention: the Muslim factor. To join ISIS, you don’t
have to be incredibly smart or strong or skilled in a certain job. The only
thing you have to be is Muslim; Sunni Muslim to be fairly accurate. This is why
these tables so often (probably unintentionally) falsify the results given.
Breaking it down, these calculations include everybody from steadfast Sunni
Islamists to Atheists and even devout Catholic monks. We certainly agree on the
fact that not all of them are equally likely to become ISIS
inhabitants/members.
Let us go into details. The results of this
calculations always look quite similar: a country with quite a small population
and/or a high amount of Jihadis originating from it is listed on one of the top
places of ‘terror-exporting nations’. The following list will be used as a quick
example.
Source: Guy van Vlierden |
As many may have already expected, Jordan, Tunisia and
Saudi-Arabia comprise the top 3 of the list. Depending on which intelligence
report is being used, also the Maldives tend to be ranked on one of the first
positions as well. All four countries (like many other on the list) have in
common that their over-all-population tends to be close to 100% Sunni. That
makes calculating Number of Jihadis :
population in million = Number of Jihadis per million inhabitants little
prone to failure. However, if the religious preconditions vary, it gets more complicated.
I will explain this through the example of Belgium.
Belgium ranks on #10 on the list with about 52 Jihadis
per 1m Belgians, making it the first European country on the list. This number
comes from dividing the Belgians known to have emigrated to the Islamic State (the author calculated with 550 emigrants)
by 11; Belgium has an overall population
of about 11m people.
But this is what can be called misleading. Belgium is
home to a relatively high number of Muslims. Roughly 400.000 Belgians, regardless
of their ethnicity, follow Islam of which 98% belong to the Sunni branch and
just those are the ones who could actively join the ranks of ISIS. So rather
than dividing 550 by 11, one should multiply 550 with 2.5! This is how you actually
arrive at the total of Jihadis per 1m Muslim Belgians or at least come
considerably close to it. It is also a number you can actually work with as it
is easily comparable with the result from countries with overwhelming Sunni
Muslim majority. I made a table containing some 20 countries which one can
consider to be of importance for highlighting the more or less constant flow of
foreign fighters into ISIS-held territory:
The result, however, is completely different from the
initial one: per 1m Muslims living in Belgium about 1375 leave for the sake of Jihad. In other words: nearly 0.15% of the Belgian Muslims have been / are on their personal Hijrah (emigration) to the warzone. The revised calculation does
not only show that Belgium ‘overtakes’ Jordan, Tunisia and Saudi-Arabia on the
list but also that it is a distant #2 to Finland which has lost almost two
times more of its Muslim community to ISIS than Belgium. However, it certainly
is an alarming quantity which does not even include the radicalised persons not
willing or not able to go abroad.
All in all, these alternative comparisons show that
Muslim societies in the Western world, and especially in Europe, carry quite a
high potential of radicalisation. A fact which can be easily overlooked. Statistics
originally should help to disclose this; a task they don’t really fulfil in the
cases cited above.
PLEASE NOTE:
All these calculations, lists, tables etc. have in
common that they are not hosting complete figures. Numbers, be it of the
population and even more of those who have left for the Khilafa, are to a certain extend a matter of speculation which has
direct influence on per-capita-calculations. The same goes for the number of
Muslims, because some countries like France do not ask their people for
information about religion. Others, especially Sweden, Denmark, Austria and
Germany, house an unknown, but considerably higher number of Sunnis since the migrant crisis has fully broken out in September 2015. This is why the calculation
provided above should not be seen as in any way set or the given numbers as the
ultimate truth. Merely, its purpose is to reveal a significant error in the
previous articles’ logic and to give an impression of which numbers are at
least closer to the real situation.
22.12.2015
Putin walking in the footsteps of the Iron Lady
Since Russia has started fighting actively in the
Syrian Civil War, it has mainly stuck to providing air cover and close-air-support
to loyalist forces as well as bombing positions of forces opposed to Bashar
al-Assad. Although Russia has stated differently, it has been widely documented
that these attacks mostly target rebel forces that are not affiliated to ISIS.
Russia has deployed an aerial expedition force consisting of twelve Sukhoi SU-24M2s,
six SU-34s, twelve SU-25SMs, four SU-30SMs, four Mil Mi-8MTV-5s and twelve Mi-24Ps
to Latakia Governorate’s Khmeimim Airbase near Bassel al-Assad International Airport (and could be expanding its actions to another air field located in western
Homs Governorate as well).
However, the Russian forces have not only operated
from inside Syria. In the beginning of October, four vessels of the Russian
Caspian Flotilla launched a barrage of twenty-six 3M-14TE Калибр (Kalibr) cruise missiles against targets in Syria and from November 17-20th the Russian Air Force (RuAF) initiated one of its
biggest air attacks since World War II. No less than fourteen Tupolev Tu-22M3s, six
Tu-95MSMs and five Tu-160s conducted these sorties.
Up to 20% of the Russian strategic bomber force and even 42% of all
combat-ready Tu-160s were involved in this raid.
(UPDATE added at the end of the article)
(UPDATE added at the end of the article)
Tu-22M3, source |
Tu-95MSM, source |
Tu-160, source |
Lastly, on December 8th 2015 it was reported that for
the first time submarines were involved in the Syrian campaign. Several 3M-14TE Kalibr missiles were fired from Kilo-class submarine Rostov-on-Don operating from the
Mediterranean Sea.
Rostov-on-Don, source |
Rostov-on-Don, source |
All of these attacks proved little to no tactical or
even strategic gains regarding advances of loyalist fighters or at least the
reduction of the losses of the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) and those militias it is
allied with. However, these strikes should not be considered useless or absurd
at all. For a better understanding of this instance, it may be helpful to have
a look at events which happened some 30 years ago.
On April 2nd 1982, Argentinean units attacked the
British Falkland Islands, the main archipelagos being located approximately 480
km (300 mi) to the east of Argentina in the southern Atlantic. The invaders had
previously taken over South Georgia some 1,400 km (870 mi) east-south-eastwards
of the initial Falklands. The British government was caught by surprise and had
no opportunity to launch an immediate full-scale counterattack to answer the
assault on its territory. Instead the Royal Air Force (RAF) was ordered to deal
the first blow with forces stationed in the UK. Two Avro Vulcan B.2 and eleven Handley Page Victor K.2 were sent to the small island of Ascencion where the RAF
maintained (and still maintains) a base.
Distance Ascension-Falklands, source |
Though it was the nearest possible British owned
position to conduct raids against Argentinean positions on the Falklands, the attacking
aircrafts still had to surmount a journey of over 12,600 km (6,800 mi) during
each sortie. This is why only the Vulcans
were set to act as bombers, whereas all of the Victors served as tankers.
Avro Vulcan, picture taken after plane returned from Black Buck 1, source |
Handley Page Victor, source |
Operation Black
Buck 1 started on May 1st 1982. One of the two Vulcans reached the target and bombed the airport at Port Stanley.
Two devices hit the runway and another one damaged the tower. Three Argentinean
soldiers fell during these raid and some aircraft on the ground were damaged.
The actual damage dealt to the British’ enemy surely did not justify the immense
financial cost and logistical expenses caused by the operation and, in fact,
the goal was a different one. Rather than being effective in a military sense, Black Buck 1 was supposed to send a
message that the UK would not tolerate an invasion and would strike back by any
means necessary. It was, so to speak, an act of PR. Concerning the latest
Russian actions in Syria, namely the firing of cruise missiles from the Caspian
fleet’s vessels, from half of Putin’s strategic bomber fleet and from the Rostov-on-Don, certain similarities to Black Buck 1 cannot be denied.
From a military point of view these attacks had little
to no tactical value, at best they were symbolically important. The bombed
targets were less important, but a means to an end. It speaks for itself that
even the Syrian or Russian media did not cover the destroyed targets of the
above attacks in detail, but rather how they were destroyed: with the latest
missile systems carried by huge bombers or huge ships.
Both Russia and the UK used weapon systems the
addressee of the intended message did not expect. The Argentinean generals had
not thought of the possibility of such a long-ranged mission and were shocked
that the Malvinas, as the Falklands are commonly called in Spanish, were
vulnerable to British attacks before the enemy naval forces had reached the
region. Moreover, during the war Argentina feared attacks on their mainland and
held back fighter squadrons to protect it, thus lowering the number of fighters
over the Falklands. As the British had intended, the message reached their
enemy.
This, to a large extend, reflects the situation in
Syria. Much has been written about the Russian army in the past years. Most
experts referred to the Russian army as underfunded and rotten which was not entirely
false for several years following the Soviet Union’s collapse. Especially the
submarine units and the bomber fleet had substantial problems which became
apparent, when the Oscar-class submarine Kursk
sank due to a malfunctioned torpedo on August 12th 2000. Furthermore, many of the
Tu-160s could not be held in flying condition. So by using large parts of the
heavy bombers as well as important navy units, Russia displays their new
military capabilities.
However, there is one important difference between
both situations. Whereas the RAF was on a mission to intimidate the actual
enemy in a confrontation of war, the Russian attacks have another addressee:
the Western world. Putin’s new message should be read as a signal to his
political opposite numbers and a show of force to all those he sees as real or
potential threat. Figuratively speaking, Putin does not address his opponents
directly like Great Britain did, he is instead using Syria as the envelope to
send the message he desires to be read. And this message is quite simple:
Russia is strong and is to be seen once again as a super-power.
UPDATE (December 28th 2015):
Today I stumpled upon an article on the Swiss offiziere.ch. It features an amazing map and analysis of the Russian action in Syria up to December 11th 2015. Regarding the planes the RuAF uses in Syrian airspace, offiziere.ch lists slightly different numbers from those written above. It gives a hint on how hard it is to provide exact information about the Russian involvement and the very composition of the forces present on the battlefield. (Click here for high-resolution)
UPDATE (December 28th 2015):
Today I stumpled upon an article on the Swiss offiziere.ch. It features an amazing map and analysis of the Russian action in Syria up to December 11th 2015. Regarding the planes the RuAF uses in Syrian airspace, offiziere.ch lists slightly different numbers from those written above. It gives a hint on how hard it is to provide exact information about the Russian involvement and the very composition of the forces present on the battlefield. (Click here for high-resolution)
14.09.2015
The rise of the SSNP militia. A sign of strength or hardship?
A distinguishing
mark of modern asymmetric warfare is a wide variety of militias and formations
fighting for one or the other side. Non-professional fighters, loosely
organised into groups and largely uncontrolled by any kind of supreme command, can
inflict horrible damage on an enemy. At the same time, they can easily be
recruited, trained and armed. This also makes them the weapon of choice for
governments both having a weak or overstretched regular army and willing to
fight a war without frontlines, effectively decentralising warfare.
The conflict in
Syria is no exception and has seen dozens of different armed groups fighting
beside the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) on Syrian soil. One of those groups that has
recently gained some momentum and whose men are increasingly pictured battling
their enemies is the militia of the Syrian Social Nationalist Party (SSNP).
An SSNP technical during the battle of the al-Ghab plains, source |
Men fighting under the party’s Zawba'a-logo have been seen in a fighting role since early 2014. Before that, occasionally photographs were publicised showing supporters of the SSNP, however, they do not bear arms. After all, searching on twitter will reveal pictures of their men, holding weapons, posing as early as during the end phase of the battle of Homs in January/February 2014.
The assembling
and deployment of the SSNP's Nusur az-Zawba’a
(Eagles of the Hurricane) might, at first glimpse, look a little arbitrarily
and even carried out coincidentally, but is just another example of how
sectarian the war in Syria has become. To fully understand that, one must go
into both the SSNP’s political program and the party’s history.
To analyse the
rise of Syrian Social Nationalist Party as a militia, it would be too lengthy
to write a whole history dossier about it. In fact, yet there are several well
written, though sometimes a little aged, reports about the SSNP’s very own
worldview, e.g. here and here. Those reports explain the ideological basis of the
party: a strong believe in the forming of a future so called 'Greater Syria' with
clear references to Assyrian history and the Assyrian kingdom and with an
evenly strong rejection of both Pan-Arabism and Arab nationalism. This led to
a bloody rivalry between the Baath-Party and the SSNP during their early years
and the latter being officially banned in Syria between 1955 and 2005.
Map of 'Greater Syria', source |
Map of 'Greater Syria'. Note the references to Assyrian history as well as the Zawba'a-logo, source |
Though the party
claims to be standing for secular politics, its history reveals that it is a
movement which has its roots inside the Christian minority, and to a lesser
extent inside the Druze society, being themselves mostly loyal to the regime
and seeing it as their protector from Islamist forces, however, without being
necessarily Baathist.
The reason that
an SSNP militia was not active before 2014 is the existence of the National
Defence Forces (NDF) which relied heavily on the administrative help of the Syrian Social Nationalists. Back then, SSNP followers fought under the flag of the NDF, though SSNP
insignias, like those of other political or ethnic movements, were sporadically
shown, e.g. on the posters of those who had died in battle.
Raed Ibrahim Baraka, fallen on October 27th 2013 in Daraa. Note the Zawba'a-logo (top left) and the Druze symbol (top right), source |
One could argue that
the rise of a new militia was a sign of a renewed rise of Bashar al-Assad’s
government, providing a new force to fight against ISIS, Jabhat an-Nusra and
dozens of rebel units. But rather, it is just the other way around.
In the following
months after their first encounters in January 2014 in Homs, Nusur az-Zawba’a were reportedly engaged
in major fighting near Kessab/Latakia (April 2014), Damascus (April/May 2014),
Morek/Hama (November 2014, April 2015), Daraa governorate (February 2015), Tha'lah Military Airbase/as-Suwayda (June 2015) and lately in Zabadani/Rif
Dimashq (since July 2015) as well as in the once again ignited confrontation in
the north western hillside region of Latakia. However, by far the most pictures showing SSNP militiamen at
the scene originate from the battle of az-Zabadani.
SSNP militiamen at Tha'lah Military Airbase, source |
All of the cities/regions named above hosted a considerable
Christian population before the war (or still host it). Given the fact that there have been strong ties between NDF
and SSNP, the fighters deployed to those battlegrounds are predominantly
locals.
Interestingly,
the regime has split the SSNP fighters from the regular NDF, although the
latter is more or less considered to be a loyal force. Although it is hard to
verify, this could be a sign for that especially Christians since late 2013
have hesitated to join the NDF and other Baath-ideology militias so that the
militia was specifically ‘outsourced’ for them. Even pro-regime news outlets
list them separately from the NDF,
at least since early 2015. This speaks against the theory of the SSNP still being part of NDF and just
being rhetorically separated. As the Christians have mostly been at Assad’s side
and rely on him as their saviour from Islamist revenge, it would be telling
enough to be in the need for a special militia to attract those men to fight.
Burial of a fallen SSNP fighter. Especially note that the fallen fighter’s coffin is only draped by an SSNP flag and does not show a Syrian flag at all, source |
This would
basically mean that a self-proclaimed secular power like the Syrian regime has
to rely on politically and religiously defined groups to attract their own
people to join. Of course, the flying personal of the Syrian Arab Air Force
(SyAAF) as well as elite units like the SAA’s 4th Division and Republican Guard
have been dominated by Alawite, Christian and Druze soldiers for decades. But
now they have issues trying to attract men from these loyalist communities.
The battles in
which SSNP has been deployed are in areas largely inhabited by Christians or at
least home to a substantial Christian minority. It is understandable and no
wonder that minority biased units fight the hardest when they act inside
‘their’ cities and face an enemy they see as a threat against their people. For
example, Homs hosted the second largest Syrian Christian population before the
war broke out. Kessab’s population was even up to 80% Christian, the remaining
20% mostly being Alawite. Daraa, az-Zabadani and as-Suwayda are home to a
considerable Christian minority as well, however, Druze being the dominating
ethnic-religious group in the latter governorate. This leads to the conclusion that under
the SSNP logo things did not change much and that the over-all character of the
Nusur az-Zawba’a got closer to
one of a Christian militia, or at
least one of the Syrian minorities.
As for az-Zabadani,
there have been discussions on the social media whether the men of Nusur az-Zawba’a fighting there are
mostly made up of locals like it is presumed for the aforementioned battle
scenes. Though it cannot be verified exactly, it should be very much the case
that the members of the militia are at least from az-Zabadani District, if not
from the town itself. Both, the district and the town, were also the home of a Christian minority which applies to the case of sending fighters to
regions they are emotionally linked to. Moreover, pictures we saw from the
battle of az-Zabadani show SSNP militiamen being in the first line of fire.
This makes definitely sense in a house-to-house combat situation where being in
possession of locals and their knowing of the certain developments and
buildings is crucial.
Conclusion:
So should the
rise of the Nusur az-Zawba’a be seen
as a sign of strength or rather of hardship as I asked in the headline?
Certainly, the
SSNP can be considered a useful militia in certain territories. Its repeated
emergence during major battles in all over Syria and their fight alongside
Hezbollah troops is a sign that they are trusted by the government.
However, we have
also seen that the officially secular regime relies more and more on sectarian
militias or rather those which have a certain religious or political
background. A clear sign for that even the loyalist side is not acting as
united as many might think. Confusingly enough, the SSNP, as mentioned above,
has a long history of animosity against the Baath party. Although politically
the party has took the position of a bloc party and two of its members are ministers in the current cabinet, it is still widely considered as kind of an
opposition party.
Ironically, some
of the major battles in 2014/2015 were fought in fact with the participation of
a militia that was banned for dozens of years under the rule of the very party,
for which it now takes up arms.
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