The Assymetrical War

By CDR Boyd Nethercott USN (Ret.)

Because of the timeliness of this information, we are presenting Mr. Nethercott’s article in full.

There is a before and an after. A demarcation of time when evil came to the United States on and after September 11, 2001. Innocent and peaceful people, citizens, were murdered within an open society, perpetrated by malevolent and cunning terrorists. We have freedom as a people, guaranteed by our U.S. Constitution. We will reaffirm and expand that freedom while we combat the evil forces. As a citizen I refuse to be victimized by hideous enemies.

The nations of the world, and especially the United States, are now encompassed about by a "war of asymmetry.” I will not try to describe all the factors and convolutions of this "war" that is upon us.

Our citizens should have more than a smattering of knowledge of the nature of this war and the time-extensions of it into our lives. The threat and the actions of terrorists and the subsequent counter-actions will force us to endure strange "warfare" of hateful characteristics on the home front.

"Asymmetry" means: lack of proportions, irregular, non-conforming , shape, formless. This kind of warfare is the genesis of a new era entitled "The Fourth Generation Warfare" which disregards sovereignty of nations. This is a new kind of world existence for us; a non-state globalization phenomenon. Historians claim three generations of war have evolved from past histories of violent clashes of nations. I will not at this time characterize each past genre. Suffice to know that there is now a changing face to warfare in the world.

Fourth generation warfare affects and changes all "old" military warfare strategies and tactics and concepts. This means that a sovereign nation is now "at war" against non-national organizations and secret networks that are "religious" fundamentalist-extremists, muslims, and ethnic groups.

The nature of these new (to us) and future terrorist attacks may have sprung from guerrilla warfare or from the Leninist theory of insurrection and from forms of terrorism practiced in Israel and India in recent years.

Now, non-nation; world-pervading fundamentalist-radical Islamic webs and cells and imbued individuals, have caused a more pervasive way to strike by including the use of effective technologies, miniaturized instruments, use of computers, mass communications, specialized training, and suicide. There is also world mobility (travel) and access to and use of host countries' facilities, resources and civilized trustfulness. This "warfare" includes all forms of attacks against unsuspecting victims. The distinctions between "military" and "civilian" ceases when it comes to attacks.

Asymmetric warfare will also surely include "conventional" on-going warfare of some type and magnification. Witness the Taliban verses the U.S. and Northern Alliance in conflict. There will be great attempts and propaganda to widen warfare to ultimately grow into a Holy War of all Islam against the "infidel." This would be mainly against the wealthier, powerful "Western" nations, plus consistent targeting of the "Christian and the Jew" and all they represent.

Men committed to suicidal attacks, who are clerically trained and schooled and are radically Islamic, will, individually, or in small groups, try to wreak havoc by their own culminating deaths.

Unconventional warfare in various degrees will be used and (God forbid) weapons of mass destruction (WMD) could be used or attempted, always and at first at unsuspecting locations, and at unknown times in the future. All will be done remorselessly, without limits; no pity or compassion as we know it. It will be justified in the name of religious rage and could become a Holy War in the name of Allah.

The enemy is hoping to immerse us in a world-wide religious war. The enemy is attempting to destroy national economies and to impose anti-freedom and anti-liberty governance. The desire is to at least weaken established Western nations while changing Islamic governments to fundamentalist states.
My objective in writing this article is primarily to inform people about the foreboding realities and of the violent nature of our enemies.

The United States and allies must make the correct responses. I believe we are doing that very forcefully now at the start. Much intended damage has already been deterred by covert actions of some friendly world nations.

Our allied anti-terrorist nations have a great amount of world-wide intelligence on many dangerous Muslim individuals, the widespread fundamentalist organizations and of the many clandestine webs of terrorist cells throughout the world. A French intelligence service has warned the U.S. that some terrorists do not belong to a structured organization.

Know that this asymmetric war will last a long time! Be alert, don't fear, trust our Administration, be outraged at the atrocities; continue living; be informed; be prepared; remain steadfast in what is to come. Our national strategies against the evil must be relentless.