POVA LEAFLET DROP - August 2023
PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE
Greetings and welcome to your August Leaflet Drop.
We have two exciting developments that I am pleased to share with yout.
The first is that we are in the process of updating our Website. As you know, www.usapova.com is our primary information medium and an update is long overdue.
This is a work in progress, and we would like your photos to include on the site. Please send them to dietz.pova@gmail.com and I will forward them on to our web team.
Secondly, as ‘the voice of the PSYOP soldier”, we will expand next month’s Leaflet Drop with a new section: PSYOP Bulletin Board. This section will feature PSYOP related articles and information about PSYOP books and events. If you would like to contribute an article, or an event or book information please send it my way.
Your Board of Directors held our monthly meeting on 16 August.
Unfortunately only Herb Friedman, Hammond Salley and I were present for duty.Anyone who would like a copy of the minutes can email me at: Dietz.POVA@gmail.com and I will send a copy.
Our next Board meeting is 23 August at 1900 Eastern Time. All POVA members in good standing are welcome to attend.
I am also pleased to report that POVA received donations in August from: Barbara Bodenstien, Anna Trujillo, Jody Turner and Barbara Bodensten. Thanks for your invaluable support!
Welcomed serving member Stephen McDuffie.
Here are the Statistics for the July Leaflet Drop
Sends: 580
Opens: 336 (58.6)
Clicks: 22 (3.8%)
Bounces: 7)
Unsubscribes: 1
There is nothing significant to report on our discussions with PRA or setting up a virtual office call with the CG of SWC.
Our next virtual POVA Board meeting is scheduled for 1900 Eastern time on16 Sepember via Google Meet. If you are interested in attending, please email me for an invite.
If you missed the June Leaflet Drop, you can find it at:
https://conta.cc/44Q1EcY
We are looking forward to our expanded September Leaflet Drop and urge you to send contributions and photos for the website.
All the best,
Larry
Lawrence D. Dietz
President
PSYOP NEWS - AUGUST 2023
25 Aug 23
Editor’s Note: Put tongue firmly in cheek before reading.
Kremlin Claims It Wasn’t Involved in Plane Crash Believed to Have Killed Wagner Boss
The Kremlin has denied any involvement in the plane crash near Moscow that is believed to have killed Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of the Wagner mercenary group that ran afoul of President Vladimir Putin by launching a short-lived mutiny against Russia's top army brass over how the war against Ukraine was being conducted. Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov told a news conference on August 25 that tests to identify the 10 victims and an investigation were still being carried out into the crash, a day after Putin broke his silence on the August 23 accident, referring to Prigozhin in the past tense while sending his condolences to the families of those who perished.
Russia's Investigative Committee on August 25 said the plane's flight recorder and all 10 bodies had been recovered, with DNA testing now under way. Prigozhin's name was on the plane's manifest but it has not yet been officially confirmed that he was on the plane, which mysteriously crashed north of Moscow. Britain's Defense Ministry said on August 25 that while there is not yet "definitive proof" that Prigozhin was onboard and he is known to exercise "exceptional" security measures, "it is highly likely that he is indeed dead."
Putin called Prigozhin "a talented man," who made "serious mistakes," though he didn't elaborate on the miscues made by the man who just two months earlier led a short-lived mutiny against the Russian military and presented the most serious challenge to the Russian leader in his more than two decades in power. Prigozhin, for years a close ally of Putin, was not arrested or detained at the time of the mutiny, but the president denounced the insurrection as a "stab in the back" and vowed to punish all "traitors" involved.
"There is now a great deal of speculation surrounding this plane crash and the tragic deaths of the plane's passengers, including Yevgeny Prigozhin. Of course, in the West, all this speculation is presented from a well-known angle," Peskov said. https://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/library/news/russia/2023/08/russia 230825-rferl02.htm?_m=3n%2e002a%2e3700%2erg0ao0ejdg%2e3fqu
23 Aug 23
Russia and Ukraine trade drone attacks
KYIV, Ukraine — Russia and Ukraine traded drone attacks early Wednesday, officials said, with Kyiv apparently targeting Moscow again and the Kremlin’s forces launching another bombardment of Ukrainian grain storage depots in what have recently become signature tactics in the almost 18-month war.
Later Wednesday, the Ukrainian intelligence agency claimed it had destroyed a key Russian S-400 surface-to-air missile defense system in occupied Crimea. If confirmed, it would be another embarrassing blow for Moscow, as Ukraine increasingly targets Russia’s assets far behind the front line in southern and eastern Ukraine.
https://www.militarytimes.com/flashpoints/ukraine/2023/08/23/russia-and ukraine-trade-drone-attacks/
21 Aug 23 How to protect critical infrastructure in the quantum-computing era
One of the most infamous cyberattacks on critical infrastructure, or CI, occurred in May 2021, when the Colonial Pipeline was hit with ransomware. The breach resulted in shutdown of pipeline operations, a gasoline shortage and a spike in fuel prices. But the attack, which targeted billing systems, didn’t cause the shutdown. Rather, the pipeline’s operators turned off pumping systems over concerns the attackers could gain control of operational technology, or OT, and place public safety at risk. The incident illustrates the unique issues that are involved in cybersecurity for CI such as petroleum pipelines, power stations, electric utilities, water treatment plants, dams, ports, and mass transport systems. Exploits that target IT might result in exposed data or business disruption. Attacks involving OT could result in injury, illness, or worse across cities or regions.
https://www.federaltimes.com/it-networks/2023/08/21/how-to-protect-critical infrastructure-in-the-quantum-computing-era/
18 Aug 23
Don’t ditch soldiers for machines, combine them, Rainey says
AUGUSTA, Ga. — The idea of completely replacing soldiers, tanks and other familiar trappings of war with robots, autonomy and computer-derived strategy is misguided, according to the leader of U.S. Army Futures Command. Instead, the military’s largest service should strive to strike a careful balance of human and machine, something Gen. James Rainey said is possible right now.
“As we go down this path, very aggressively, as fast as we can, we’ve got to make sure that we’re aiding commanders’ decision-making, not trying to make decisions for the commander, because that will be disastrous,” he said Aug. 17 at the AFCEA TechNet Augusta conference in Georgia. “I think what we need to do — and all this can be done today — is take the right combination of human beings and machines and build formations that optimize both.”
https://www.c4isrnet.com/artificial-intelligence/2023/08/18/dont-ditch-soldiers for-machines-combine-them-rainey-says/
16 Aug 23
Retiring with a Clearance: Navigating Classified Information Obligations
We will all retire one day. When that day comes, we’ll have a line of well-wishers, and most will have one question. ‘So, what are you going to do in retirement?’ The answer you provide is something to consider well if you are currently a clearance holder.
https://news.clearancejobs.com/2023/08/16/retiring-with-a-clearance navigating-classified-information-obligations/?
_hsmi=270527101&_hsenc=p2ANqtz--1KnV4LjIeHwn4HVbp5CMMnqCMxmXp eRrmUGldRwAo8YKzgnrc3ZmxR72pv4OllE5d5v3uGPnmxUZ8F5sqKIrNhWutQ
15 Aug 23
US Army set to test combined cyber, jamming, signal intelligence tool AUGUSTA, Ga. — One of the U.S. Army’s electronic-warfare weapons will get a demonstration later this year.
The service in September plans to study its Terrestrial Layer System-Brigade Combat Team in a test of its combined cyber, jamming and signals intelligence capabilities, according to Brig. Gen. Ed Barker, the program executive officer for intelligence, electronic warfare and sensors.
“They’re on this Stryker and they’re going through as many functions, from EW and SIGINT, as they can, based on the limitations of the range and the threat emitters,” Barker said in an Aug. 15 interview on the sidelines of the AFCEA TechNet Augusta conference in Georgia. “They’re basically characterizing the system, how it performs against those threat emitters, and an ability to conduct mission threads.” https://www.c4isrnet.com/electronic-warfare/2023/08/15/us-army-set-to-test combined-cyber-jamming-signal-intelligence-tool/
11 Aug 23
From information war to emerging tech: new IC strategy centers ‘competition’ with China, Russia
"In addition, shared global challenges, including climate change, human and health security, as well as emerging and disruptive technological advances, are converging in ways that produce significant consequences that are often difficult to predict," DNI Avril Haines writes in the 2023 National Intelligence Strategy.
https://breakingdefense.com/2023/08/from-information-war-to-emerging tech-new-ic-strategy-centers-competition-with-china-russia/?
utm_campaign=BD%20Daily&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=269960154&_h senc=p2ANqtz
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11 Aug 23
Pennsylvania Air Guard Gets New Special Ops Aircraft
MIDDLETOWN, Pa. - The Pennsylvania Air National Guard’s 193rd Special Operations Wing accepted a new MC-130J Commando II military aircraft during a July 27 ceremony.
The 193rd SOW is the first — and currently the only — ANG unit to receive the MC 130J Commando II mission, a core, flagship mission of Air Force Special Operations Command.
According to military officials, the aircraft’s capabilities put the 193rd SOW — one of the most deployed wings in the National Guard — at the forefront of the battlespace to meet today’s special operation needs.
https://www.nationalguard.mil/News/Article
View/Article/3491014/pennsylvania-air-guard-gets-new-special-ops-aircraft/
10 Aug 23
Sweden Is Not Staying Neutral in Russia’s Information War
The country has empowered a government agency to openly combat online disinformation coming from foreign adversaries, and especially the Kremlin.
Facing a tsunami of disinformation about the treatment of Muslims that has in recent months fueled protests from Stockholm to Baghdad, Sweden decided it needed to fight back.
It turned to the Psychological Defense Agency, a part of the Ministry of Defense that its government created last year. The agency has become the first line of defense for a country facing a sustained information attack from abroad.
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/10/technology/sweden-combat disinformation.html
10 Aug 23
SOCOM: The Best Result of America’s Worst Special Ops Fail
As if special operations and operators weren’t cool enough, SOCOM also gets the coolest name in the Department of Defense. How is INDOPACOM supposed to compete with a name like that? How is TRANSCOM supposed to hype its mission to sound SOCOM-level cool? What’s so special about special operations, anyway? If your experience with special operations is logging hundreds of hours of playing SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs, you might not understand how special ops come together. The alphabet soup of special operations commands probably doesn’t help. Knowing the difference between JSOC and SOCOM is just the beginning. Many moving parts make up SOCOM, and each branch with special operations
forces plays a role. At this point, some of you may be wondering what these words mean. If they don’t make sense right now, I’m about to make their meaning clearer. By the end of this piece, even the most civilian reader will have a firm grasp of all the SOCs.
https://coffeeordie.com/socom
8 Aug 23
Why the China cyber threat demands an airtight public-private
It may not be a household name to most Americans, but the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency is vital to our national defense, responsible, in its own words, for leading “the national effort to understand, manage, and reduce risk to the
cyber and physical infrastructure that Americans rely on every hour of every day.” So, what did CISA’s director tell lawmakers about the cyber threat posed by China? “This, I think, is the real threat that we need to be prepared for, and to focus on, and to build resilience against,” Jen Easterly told the Aspen Institute in Washington in June. “Given the formidable nature of the threat from Chinese state actors, given the size of their capability, given how much resources and effort they’re putting into it, it’s going to be very, very difficult for us to prevent disruptions from happening.” https://www.c4isrnet.com/opinion/2023/08/08/why-the-china-cyber-threat demands-an-airtight-public-private-response/
8 Aug 23
Future wars will turn on space-cyber-special operations triad: Army SOF chief
Commercial space communications, cyber effects, and influence operations are key to preventing or winning conflicts, Lt. Gen. John Braga, who leads U.S. Army Special Operations Command, said Tuesday. The United States must continue to develop each of those capabilities—and joint concepts for deploying them together—a concept modeled partially off of Ukraine, he said.
With news of high casualties emerging from areas like the Donbas, another statistic has escaped public attention, Braga said.
“Sixteen thousand Russian soldiers have deserted. Sixteen thousand have been taken off the battlefield without having to expend kinetic rounds. That's probably a combination of effects," he said during the Space Missile Defense Symposium in Huntsville, Alabama. "I would suggest that have been assisted by space capability, cyber capability, human capability, and just old-school information operations there.” “The importance of information ops, I think, it's the most important lesson learned from Ukraine right now. And it does apply to Taiwan or the INDOPACOM scenario,” he said, referring to the effort to deter a Chinese invasion of Taiwan. https://www.defenseone.com/policy/2023/08/space-cyber-special-operations triad-critical-future-wars-says-army-special-operations-head/389243/
7 Aug 23
Why a US Navy admiral says China won’t pick up the military hotline
Over the last few months top Pentagon officials havesounded the alarm that their counterparts in China are ignoring their calls. But a senior US Navy official said he suspects that behind the diplomatic cold shoulder is Beijing’s belief that the US sees the hotline as a “safety net,” and that not answering could curb US actions in the region in the first place.
“They… believe that if you have a hotline, that we’re more prone to risky behavior because that’s our kind of safety net,” Rear Adm. Mike Studeman said during an event at the Hudson Institute today. If a crisis emerges, “then they [the US] want an out. They want the ability to negotiate their way out of it. Just don’t give them a safety net, and then maybe they’ll be more conservative with their forces and their behavior.” https://breakingdefense.com/2023/08/why-a-us-navy-admiral-says-china-wont pick-up-the-military-hotline/?
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bYJdoTQ&utm_content=269362178&utm_source=hs_email
1 Aug 23
Command and control in the ‘gray zone’ of global military competition From the Cold War period (1945-1989) through present-day globalization, the importance of maintaining reliable security coalitions and positive international relationships cannot be overstated. As modern-day warfare relies on technology for achieving military readiness and strength, collaborating on interoperable technological advancements remains an enduring mission for the U.S. and its coalition partners.
https://www.c4isrnet.com/opinion/2023/08/01/command-and-control-in-the gray-zone-of-global-military-competition/
1 Aug 23
Latest in Ukraine: Russia Reports Ukrainian Drone Hits Government Offices in Moscow Russian officials said Tuesday that a Ukrainian drone hit the 21st floor of a high-rise building in Moscow but that the country's air defenses shot down two other drones on the outskirts of the Russian capital.
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on Telegram that the building hit was the same one struck during a Ukrainian drone attack on Sunday.
There were no injuries reported from the Tuesday attack.
https://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/library/news/ukraine/2023/08/ukraine 230801-voa02.htm?_m=3n%2e002a%2e3683%2erg0ao0ejdg%2e3f5x
Editor’s Note: Is this a cool PSYAct or what!
2 Aug 23
Proposed U.S. Cyber Force Would Recognize Cyber as ‘Domain of Warfare’ News of a proposed United States Cyber Force moved closer to reality last week when the U.S. Senate passed the $886 billion National Defense Authorization Act.
An amendment in the bill directs the Defense Department to tap the National Academy of Public Administration to conduct an assessment of establishing a seventh, cyber-specific military service.
The U.S. Cyber Force is a proposed new military service that would be responsible for conducting offensive and defensive cyber operations. The force would be modeled on the U.S. Space Force, which was established in 2019.
https://www.secureworld.io/industry-news/us-cyber-force-warfare? utm_campaign=Industry%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=268981760&_hs enc=p2ANqtz-
_7P4nyUFv2Kp4lp63JCuIpnDaF5wF4yRFTJo4cOzIO5zlQJJFvZxOheWuxx_RKlk r0JPAYgiHoDs-_G0Ys4d--
5CMJuw&utm_content=268982003&utm_source=hs_email
1 Aug 23
US Military targets deepfakes, misinformation with AI-powered tool. WASHINGTON — The U.S. military is testing an artificial intelligence tool that can trawl social media and other open-source information and spot misleading content, such as bots or deepfakes, to better inform commanders of the region they are operating in.
The program, dubbed Data Robot, was part of the Cyber Quest trials held throughout July at Fort Gordon in Georgia. It was previously put through its paces during the Pacific Sentry exercise in Hawaii, officials said.
https://www.c4isrnet.com/information-warfare/2023/08/01/us-military-targets deepfakes-misinformation-with-ai-powered-tool/
31 July 23
Intelligence Community Releases Data Strategy Emphasizing Better Interoperability and Agility Needed for Critical Missions
With “opportunities and vulnerabilities” posed by digital transformation that “cross every facet of the IC,” the Intelligence Community released a new data strategy that aims to respond to current and future threats with “significant agility and refinement of data-driven activities.”
“Embracing the complexity of the challenges in front of us, we will focus on data curation and advanced analytics to ensure data is consumable by both humans and machines,” the IC Data Strategy 2023-2025 states. “We must reduce the time from collection and data acquisition to mission insight based on a foundation of end-to end data lifecycle management. Improving our capabilities and the associated outcomes requires changes to historical, system-centric paradigms, years of legacy practices, culture, critical partnerships across organizations, and disciplines.” https://www.hstoday.us/featured/intelligence-community-releases-data strategy-emphasizing-better-interoperability-and-agility-needed-for-critical missions/
31 July 23
AI-enabled social media tool ‘promising’ new tech for Army: Officials
WASHINGTON — As the military explores how it can best useartificial intelligence to enhance operations on the battlefield, the Army is testing how one specific AI-enabled social media tool can help commanders make better informed decisions.
The technology, called Data Robot, was one of 17 technologies tested during this year’s Cyber Quest, an experiment aimed at emerging technologies, at Fort Gordon, Ga. Led by the US Army Cyber Center of
Excellence, soldiers tested several technologies from 11 different industry vendors spanning from electronic warfare to networking to cyber this past month.
https://breakingdefense.com/2023/07/ai-enabled-social-media-tool-promising new-tech-for-army-officials/?
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dnlx8xQH1uP0G2e1vGPjcvFhvjzNUy6JA2uXXuNGTcshrw&utm_content=26859 0125&utm_source=hs_email
30 July 23
How is the FBI preparing to Combat AI Disinformation Threat ahead of 2024 election?
FBI expresses grave concerns about the use of AI in influencing the 2024 presidential election.
China's interest in stealing U.S. AI technology and data raises alarms over potential influence operations.
Criminals and terrorists utilize AI to craft dangerous substances, conduct cyberattacks, and spread synthetic AI-generated content, posing unprecedented challenges for detection and mitigation.
As the 2024 presidential election approaches, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is expressing grave concerns about the potential role of artificial intelligence (AI) in influencing and manipulating the electoral process. In a rare background briefing call with reporters, a senior FBI official unveiled a daunting “threat landscape,” highlighting China’s interest in stealing U.S. AI technology and data to further their own AI programs and potentially sway American opinions. Also, the FBI is closely monitoring the rising risk of disinformation campaigns fueled by AI and the alarming spread of deep fake videos. The agency also sheds light on how criminals and terrorists are capitalizing on AI to devise dangerous substances, exploit cyber vulnerabilities, and create synthetic AI-generated content that poses a formidable challenge to detection and mitigation efforts.
https://www.cryptopolitan.com/fbi-ai-disinformation-threat-2024-election/
30 July 23
The Lucrative Legal Danger Lurking for American Vets
For U.S. Marine Corps veteran Daniel Duggan, the offer was innocent enough: put your skills as a military pilot to use training foreign aviators. Duggan accepted the invitation, in this case from a South African flight school, where he provided training to who he calls Chinese “civilian test pilots.”
More than a decade later, however, Duggan now finds himself fighting extradition to the United States from a maximum-security Australian prison. Duggan and the flight school both say the training he provided was unclassified and open source. He strenuously insists that he has done nothing wrong, and that he was wrongfully lured to Australia from China so that he could be arrested at the behest of U.S. authorities. He argues that he is the victim of a deepening geopolitical crisis – what some call a new cold war – between the U.S. and China.
But a federal grand jury indictmentalleges something far more sinister: that Duggan trained Chinese military pilots to land fighter jets on aircraft carriers, in
violation of arms trafficking laws, and engaged in a conspiracy to launder money. According to the feds, the South African flight academy maintains a presence in China. They say Duggan failed to obtain the necessary approval from the U.S. State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls to export defense services or provide training to Chinese nationals.
https://news.clearancejobs.com/2023/07/30/the-lucrative-legal-danger-lurking for-american-vets/?_hsmi=268309747&_hsenc=p2ANqtz--
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Editor’s Note: For no-longer serving PSYOPers - I wonder if this legal logic would apply to our skills which, thanks to the Internet, are no longer restricted by borders.
28 July 23
The U.S. Navy and Marine Corps Are Preparing for a Global War with Large Scale Exercise 2023
The United States military’s involvement in the First World War was almost entirely in Europe; and while the subsequent Second World War saw U.S. forces engaged in combat around the globe, there was still little coordination in the different theaters of operation. World War II was really the U.S. military fighting multiple wars at the same time.
A future conflict could require greater synchronization of U.S. forces, which is why some 25,000 personnel from the U.S. Navy and U.S. Marines will engage in the aptly named Large Scale Exercise 2023. The event, which is scheduled to run from August 9 to 18, will involve six maritime component commands, and seven numbered fleets spread across 22 time zones.
LSE 2023 will further merge real-world operations with virtually constructed scenarios that were designed to create a realistic training environment that will allow sailors and marines to train the way they could fight, regardless of geographic boundaries. It will further feature nine Maritime Operations Centers, six carrier strike groups, and three amphibious readiness groups. That will include the Nimitz-class carriers USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, USS George H.W. Bush, and USS Harry S. Truman.
“The ability to command and control our operations across 22 time zones is how we will fight and win in a global environment against our competitors,” explained Adm. Daryl Caudle, commander of U.S. Fleet Forces Command, during a July 24 media event. “To do so, we have to globally synchronize precision and timing in order to conduct high-end modern warfare.”
https://news.clearancejobs.com/2023/07/28/the-u-s-navy-and-marine-corps are-preparing-for-a-global-war-with-large-scale-exercise-2023/? _hsmi=268164798&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-
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27 July 23
US intelligence: Beijing has increased Russia support
Released Thursday by the office of Avril Haines, the director of national intelligence, the report says Beijing has pursued "economic support mechanisms for Russia that mitigate both the impact of Western sanctions and export controls" meant to financially strangle Moscow.
"The PRC has increased its importation of Russian energy exports, including oil and gas supplies rerouted from Europe," it says, calling China "an increasingly important buttress for Russia in its war effort" and saying it is "probably supplying Moscow with key technology."
"Beijing has also significantly increased the use of its currency, the yuan, and its financial infrastructure in commercial interactions with Russia, allowing Russian entities to conduct financial transactions unfettered of Western interdiction," the nine-page report says.
It says that China has since the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine become "Russia's most important trading partner, although as of April 2023 it had not fully replaced Western trade volumes" before the war.
https://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/library/news/russia/2023/07/russia 230727-rfa01.htm?_m=3n%2e002a%2e3679%2erg0ao0ejdg%2e3f1b
19 July 2023
https://irregularwarfare.org/articles/reaching-the-tipping-point-lessons from-combining-kinetic-and-information-operations/
Reaching the Tipping Point: Lessons from Combining Kinetic and Information Operations
This article is part of a series hosted by Maj. Iain Cruickshank, Ph.D., that explores the idea of combining cyber operations with information operations to produce effects well beyond what each capability can accomplish alone. One dark night in a far-off country, a circling drone launches a Hellfire missile. The missile strikes its target, destroying a vehicle carrying an insurgent leader who was attempting to move from one safe house to another. At roughly the same time, a military public affairs team releases a series of messages, giving a detailed description of the successful strike and tagging several key media outlets and local social media influencers. Later, as the sun rises, the insurgent group starts posting its own messages, calling the strike “a targeted attack on innocent civilians,” while remaining silent about the death of the group’s leader. But the insurgents’ messages fall flat and fail to generate significant online engagement or to inflame the local population. Instead, social media chatter remains focused on the insurgent leader’s death and the precision strike that killed him. The military public affairs team’s intentional pairing of kinetic and information operations, in the physical and information dimensions, has served its purpose: to deny the insurgent group the effects they typically generate when they have uncontested control of the narrative. As a result, support for the counterinsurgency effort is untarnished by the kinetic strike, and the insurgency suffers a serious setback with the loss of a key leader.
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