The Islamic State’s Drone Documents: Management, Acquisitions, and DIY Tradecraft by Don Rassler, Muhammad al-`Ubaydi and Vera Mironova, Combating Terrorism Center at West Point

Much has been made of the Islamic State drone threat ever since the group killed two Kurdish soldiers in October 2016 with a bomb hidden within one of its drones that Kurdish forces downed in Iraq. The Islamic State was able to achieve this feat through an act of deception, as the two Kurdish soldiers were killed by the bomb after they had taken the drone back to their base to inspect it. Since this type of attack had not been conducted before, the drone was an unassuming place for the Islamic State to hide an improvised explosive device. But that trick only works occasionally, and it likely has a limited shelf life.

Creativity and innovation, however, don’t appear to be problems for the Islamic State. Several days ago, on January 24, 2017, the group’s media office for Ninawa province released a video entitled “The Knights of the Dawawin,” which highlighted a new Islamic State drone capability: dropping small bomb-like munitions on its enemies from the air. The capability displayed was not a one-off achievement as in scene after scene the video shows the group dropping small bombs from remotely controlled drones and doing so with some level of relative accuracy. This included the Islamic State being able to successfully drop munitions onto crowds and to hit stationary vehicles and tanks while its drone loitered and filmed the incidents. Besides the surprise factor observed from those being targeted by the Islamic State’s drones, the video also showed that the group’s new capability packed enough punch to injure those near where the munition landed. And on January 30, the Wilayat al-Furat media office released a video entitled “Roar of the Lions” in which the Islamic State featured its military operations in the Anbar Province of Iraq. At the end of the video, the group showed a brief teaser for its next release, which contained a video clip of the drone bomb drop capability (this time with what appeared to be a round grenade) being used in Anbar.

Despite these achievements, it is also important to remember that the videos released by the Islamic State are edited pieces of propaganda, which likely have been carefully crafted to make the group—and its capabilities—look impressive. What isn’t being shown are all of the times U.S. and Iraqi forces have downed the Islamic State’s quad-copters or instances when the Islamic State’s new drone bomb drop tool were less accurate…

Read on.

The Journal of Culture, Language and International Security - Winter Issue 2017

From the Editors' Introductory Remarks:

Welcome to the Winter 2017 issue of the Journal of Culture, Language and International Security (JCLIS), "Global Solutions"

This issue emerges days before the change in the Executive Branch administration and the inauguration of the 45th President of the United States. One of the editors lives just downstream of the Potomac and in the shadows of the US Government, where one can witness the potential change to the US role in the world order: cozier relations with some nations and strained and / or severed with others. Traditional treaties may be at risk; globalization effects changing labor and natural resources across developed and developing nations, many whose workforce cannot keep pace with current technology. Terrorism continues to challenge nation-state security in several regions, many ripe with internal conflicts and weakened heads of state, while significant numbers of migrants seek sanctuary from its effects. With this high level of uncertainty in the world and the potential US involvement outside its borders, the need for language proficiency, an array of cross-cultural skill-based competencies and critical knowledge about how cultural systems operate has only intensified. As we enter this new era, the incoming administration’s untested and unpredictable approach to national security and foreign relations drives language and cultural capability requirements even more.

JCLIS is a space where we dialogue freely on the aperture of the possibility in culture and language learning and how best to apply this capability to ensure mission success for any government or non-government organization that deploys their personnel into risk-filled and uncertain cross-cultural complexity. We certainly believe in continuing to prop that aperture wide-open.

This issue’s articles represent the importance of our “space” and mission. We feature five articles that cover the gamut of culture and language learning and application. Our first article by David “Doc” Matsuda is the first of a multi-article series capturing his reflections on approaching and engaging the ground-level intimacy of an Army cultural advisor in Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF). Our second author, Kurt Muller, draws from his DOD career experiences to explore the benefits of bi- and multilingualism in peacekeeping and stability operations. Drawing on research in the language of “peace” and non-violence, Joy Peyton suggests the benefits of applying this linguistic and cultural frame to military organizations. In the fourth article, returning JCLIS author Dwight Stephens examines the evolutionary development of neural functions and its effect on language learning; the approach provides a fuller understanding how we can teach culture and language better. The last article is from our featured student, Eric Thompson. JCLIS strives to give voice and authorship to students to offer their own perspectives on culture and language as they advance in their academic journey. Many of our past issues have included student articles written by members of Special Operations Forces (SOF) senior enlisted cadre enrolled in Bachelors’ programs. Mr. Thompson utilizes anthropologist Michael Agar’s perspective of cultural markers and rich points to re-examine the period in southern African history where Zimbabwe’s independence was gained in conflict and finally supported by Great Britain from colonial Rhodesia.

We look forward to comment and thoughts from our readers. We continue to encourage the exploration of cultural and linguistic complexity and are always receptive to articles and essays that provide supporting theory in these areas.

Robert Greene Sands and Darby Arakelian, Editors

Read the Winter 2017 Issue.

New ISIS Video Shows Them Using Drones to Conduct ‘Airstrikes’ in Mosul

In a new video (38:33) purportedly released by the Islamic State titled “Knights of Bureaucracy,” ISIS militants are shown attaching bombs to drones to carry out aerial attacks on Iraqi forces. The video was released on ISIS terrorist channels on January 24 from “Wilayat Ninawa,” ISIS’ name for the Nineveh Governorate of Iraq that includes Mosul.

Read more at Heavy.