The only “insider” aspect of Afghan soldiers who ambush Americans attempting to train them is the assassins’ ability to gain entry and enough maneuvering room to get next to Americans and kill them by surprise. Such killers do not resemble a traditional insider threat in the sense that they have not earned a position of trust, only to then betray that trust. However, to the extent that they penetrate American defenses by guile instead of force, they do share one all-important trademark of any serious insider threat and the proper focus on shoring up this vulnerability should go a long way to neutralizing the threat.
“The real issue is access,” as noted on page 87 of Managing the Insider Threat: No Dark Corners (Boca Raton, CRC Press, 2012) in the chapter, “Rethinking Background Investigations.” As this book also notes further down the page, the way to address the problem of unescorted access when one does not have the time or capabilities to carry out the full vetting necessary before giving anyone a position of trust is to “insist that all outsiders be given access to critical areas, assets, or operations only when under knowledgeable escort. This means that the outsiders never receive unhampered freedom of movement …”
One of the idiosyncratically persistent American proclivities that play into increasing our vulnerability in such situations is that we consider escorting and watching people inconvenient. Consequently, our tendency is to find ways to clear them and let them roam unfettered or to assign the most junior, least capable employee to escort duty. This is a mistake which adversaries discern and exploit to our peril. What the situation in Afghanistan calls for is serious attention to access and escort.
In the case of fledgling Afghan trainees entering a U.S. compound in Afghanistan, this means that they are never out of the capable escort of American combatants better trained, equipped, and empowered to take them out of action at the first hint of hostile action. As the book says, “Escorts must be able to recognize inappropriate activity and intervene in time to prevent damage.” In the case under discussion, the damage is to American life and limb, and the intervention ranges from wrestling to the ground to shooting on sight. The situation dictates tactics, and life-or-death situations are no place for second-guessing American combatants risking their lives for their country.
-- Nick Catrantzos
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Nick Catrantzos + Tom Goff
- All Secure
- NICK CATRANTZOS is the lead author of the All Secure website and is the emeritus security director for a large public organization. He has also managed security aspects of corporate takeovers, response to international hostage situations, and finding and keeping secrets. He has been board certified in security management, licensed as a private investigator, and certified as an incident commander. He worked as a case officer for a discreet branch of public service. He protected stealth technology at Lockheed and, later, as a consulting security director for both Kroll and Control Risks, he assisted executives with workplace violence cases and with protecting VIPs and critical assets globally in volatile areas. Nick's partner, TOM GOFF, was a captain in the Military Police Corps, U.S. Army Reserve and has a law degree from the University of California at Davis. He is a former reporter for Fortune Magazine, was senior editor at New York Magazine and Esquire, and has provided crisis and communications counsel to senior executives at Fortune 500 companies, including Lockheed, ARCO, Microsoft, Nissan, and Sony Pictures.