Tradecraft in Columbia - False Flag

My debut novel, Columbia, is available for pre-order now on Publishizer.

The pre-order campaign lasts thirty days, and during that time, I am going to use my blog to post responses to frequently asked questions about the book, its inspiration and its development.

Please click SUBSCRIBE on the campaign page to get updates sent automatically about each new post.

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Day Two - Tradecraft in Columbia - "False Flag"

I enlisted in the US military on October 23, 2001 and spent the better part of the following years in training and later in the practice of intelligence collection, analysis and counter-intel. So how much of that training and experience in operations made it into Columbia? A lot!

Movies and popular spy fiction might have you convinced that all spying takes place in glamorous global cities, behind the wheel of a racing Aston Martin, or at the business end of a Walther (Bond) or Tanfoglio (Allon). For some in the IC, it may, though they are very few.

For the rest of the professionals in the IC, spying is about less glamorous activities, like sitting in a SCIF for hours translating documents, listening to headphones feeding multiple recorded conversations simultaneously, or scouring open source intel sources. Columbia's hero, Sami, is one of these IC pros. And for Sami, like the rest of us, espionage is ALWAYS about tradecraft.

Tradecraft "refers to the techniques, methods and technologies used in modern espionage and generally, as part of the activity of intelligence."

You will see several elements of tradecraft featured in Columbia, including SDRs, black bags, and a whole host of cyber techniques that might make you look at life a little differently.

Sami, plies his trade on DC's streets. That may not seem glamorous, but in training we were informed that the Georgetown neighborhood where Sami lives is said to be the hunting ground for more spies than any other neighborhood in the world.

So what is a "false flag" operation? "A false flag is a covert operation designed to create the appearance of a particular party, group, or nation being responsible for some activity, disguising the actual source of responsibility."

False flags are not prevalent in the news, but they pop up (when they fail), including some recent operations in Hungary. The usual intent of a false flag is to sow resentment or stoke a response that is misdirected. Some operations have been used as pretext for war.

False flag may also be used simply to distract or confuse. Spy agencies may have lots of resources, but they are not limitless, if you can tie up bandwidth with wild goose chases, all the better.

In some ways, the manipulation of social media to spread "fake news" is a modern spin on the false flag, and has been used to great effect by groups connected to Russia's foreign intelligence service in places like Catalonia where government and affiliated individuals have sought to exacerbate existing domestic tensions.

In Columbia, Sami confronts a false flag attack that is clearly designed to implicate American Muslims? But who is really responsible? It can be hard to prove, but remember: intelligence is not law, spies work within the penumbra of reasonable doubt. But if Sami is going to pull a trigger or risk his own life, he wants to be sure.