Blindspot #007 – Multi-domain & Chemical Warfare

Main Blindspots of #007 

• With James Bond and many Spook vs Spy vs Spooky stories 
• The truth behind a controversial chemical weapons attack in Syria revealed!
• A new US military doctrine in the making ->> towards many boots on the ground & Multi-Domain warfare?
• New toys for WAR in SPACE – coming to a planet close to eyeballs close to you, soon…
• Wiring the future – why a post-election Zambia is a critical supplier of copper to the ‘new world’ of EV, AI’s in the eclectically electric 21st century 

BS 1: Multi-Domain Warfare & Major Power Rivalry back on the military strategic cards

A major blindspot in most people’s lives revolve around the more abstract geo-strategic and defence-oriented work that sometimes make its way to the surface. An article on Wavellroom (that advertises itself as the home of contemporary British Military thought) drew Blindspot’s attention as just that – a Blindspot. 

Not to divulge all in the brief space here, this article highlights a major shift not just in tone, but strategic approach to Multi-Domain Warfare that has come through the Pentagon’s front door with General General Mark Milley, the 20th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, follow the footnote below to read his Bio, it reads like the CV of the sharp end of a unilateral intervention stick knowing exactly how to invade, destabilise, and topple governments close to you. 

Nevertheless, during the Bush-era the Neo-Conservative hawks may have been interventionists, but, the theories and doctrines of war were, until now dominated by counter-insurgency, and wars with maximum air power, and minimum boots on the ground (the Rumsfeld doctrine). But, interestingly now all of a sudden the 20th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, is introducing concepts related to major power rivalry, and the need to re-tune US ground forces to engage in larger scale war efforts. 

A few quick quotes to illustrate: 

• “The US Army requires a modernised “theory of action” to thrive within the changing phenomenon of 21st century great power competition.  At the operational level, where the essence of Multi-Domain Warfare converges, intermediate commands manage three fundamental factors in order to prevail: controlling of tempo, building of cohesion, and mitigation of risk to cross-domain convergence.”
• “Over the last decade the United States has shifted focus away from its residual counterinsurgency campaigns in the Middle East to once again reorient on great power competition in Eastern Europe and East Asia.”
• “While American forces nevertheless remain engaged in stability efforts in Iraq, Afghanistan and across the world, this means, for the U.S. Army in particular, a simultaneous imperative to modernise its operational concepts to better compete against near-peer competitors and prepare for large-scale combat operations.  As argued by General Mark Milley, the 20th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, America’s primary land power institution, as a partner in the larger joint force, must transform its approach to 21st century warfare in order to ‘achieve a perfect harmony of intense violence.’”
• “In theoretical terms, the Army must develop an evolved “theory of the phenomenon” to conceptualise how the enterprise explicitly and implicitly views the totality of the political, social, economic, and military environment in relation to adversaries such as China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea.”

An Asia Times article recently also referred to a statement made by General Milley while on a somewhat belligerent tour of Asia, Milley also mentioned future capabilities needed to deter aggressors or to win should deterrence fail. They include: 

• artificial intelligence, 
• long-range precision fires, 
• hypersonics, 
• unmanned systems, 
• biotechnology, 
• 3-D printing and 
• miniature electronic components.

“Those technologies are available right now to every country in the world. There’s nothing particularly secret about many of them. 

It does not take a rocket scientist to see that the seven capabilities all have absolutely nothing to do with humans, and everything with everything Fourth Industrial Revolution, post-human-like. But, the addition of biotechnology is quite intriguing, and is what leads us to the next story covered in BS #007.

BS 2: The Syrian Chemical Weapon mysteries 

This portion of the blog will provide brief comments and references, it is recommended that you also watch Blindspot #007. Nevertheless, we have come upon an intriguing Blindspot. Some might recall when, on 21 August, 2013, hundreds of people were killed, and thousands wounded in a chemical weapons attack was launched on Ghouta, Syria. 

At the time this made major International headlines, with immense pressure on US President Barack Obama’s administration at the time, to launch a military intervention in Syria, due to the claims that the Syrian government fired twelve rockets containing a deadly Sarin nerve agent on Ghouta. 

As these things go, after many years of painstaking investigation and research, evidence shows clearly that this attack was launched by one of the insurgent groups fighting against the Syrian government, the Liwa Al Islam. For a comprehensive account, refer to the two articles below: 

• Aaron Maté. 2021. Syrian insurgents guilty of ‘red line’ 2013 sarin chemical attack, study finds. The Grayzone.com.
• Kit Klarenberg. 2021. How a network of UK intel-linked operatives helped sell every alleged Syrian chemical weapons attack. The Grayzone.com.

BS 3 – Insane US plan to weaponise space 

Karl Grossman – see Blindspot #007 and read the Covert Action article!