Category: Special Ops

The Four Musketeers of the SOE

On By Marc NadeauIn Billy McLean, David Smiley, Julian Amery, Military History, Peter Kemp, SAS: Rogue Heroes, Saudi Arabia, Shannon Monaghan, SOE, Special Ops, St. Ermin's Hotel, Winston Churchill, World War IILeave a comment

A stone’s throw away from the House of Commons and Westminster Abbey lies the St. Ermin’s Hotel in London. Apart from being one of the best addresses in the City, the iconic establishment hosted Winston Churchill, who liked to sip his favourite Champagne at the Caxton Bar. There was even a secret tunnel linking the hotel lobby to Parliament. During a meeting at St. Emin’s, he asked a group of unconventional people to “Set Europe Ablaze” in founding the Special Operations Executive – the legendary SOE. Any visitor to St. Ermin’s can enjoy the sight of a monastic-sized room where the contribution of its members is soberly showcased.

Thanks to a miniseries like SAS: Rogue Heroes, the inestimable achievements of the men and women who waged unconventional warfare in World War II’s most punishing conditions are vividly brought back to public awareness. Shannon Monaghan’s book A Company of Dangerous Men: The Forgotten British Special Operations Soldiers of World War II (Viking) is another significant and euphemistically pleasant contribution. This enthralling book reminded me of Alexandre Dumas’s The Three Musketeers, the elite corps defending the King of France against domestic and foreign threats.

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Should We Fear Russia?

On By Marc NadeauIn Afghanistan, Carnegie Moscow Center, Dmitri Trenin, Intelligence, Polity Books, Robert Gates, Russia, Should We Fear Russia?, Special Ops, The New York Times, United States, US Army, Vladimir PutinLeave a comment

USSoldiersAfghanistan_Newsweek
US soldiers in Afghanistan (Source: Newsweek)

“Russia has no serious reason to fear the West », writes Dmitri Trenin – Director of the Carnegie Moscow Center – in his insightful book Should We Fear Russia? But President Vladimir Putin is not shy to “punch above his weight” and “always testing and pushing one’s boundaries” to ensure that Russia’s place at the table of great powers is respected.

ShouldWeFearRussiaAs I read these words, the New York Times revealed last Sunday that “United States intelligence officers and Special Operations forces in Afghanistan alerted their superiors as early as January to a suspected Russian plot to pay bounties to the Taliban to kill American troops in Afghanistan.”

Then, another quote from Dr. Trenin came to mind: “Forcing his way to the high table, and making others deal with him out of necessity if not of choice, has become Vladimir Putin’s diplomatic trademark in his relations with US leaders.”

There is always a murky zone around special ops and covert operations, which always offer “plausible deniability” for operations like what allegedly happened in Afghanistan. Conventional wisdom would suggest that targeting soldiers for assassination does not appear like a good way to make and keep friends. But Moscow might get away with murder, since “for all its military superiority that it has been using elsewhere quite liberally, the United States lacks serious military options vis-à-vis Russia.” In other words, Vladimir Putin can continue pushing his luck with impunity.

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