Non-State Actress: Is a Wagyu Brisket Enhanced by Coleslaw?
May 22, 2025: Main Character Energy
Last Week in Review
Non-State Actress: The Iceberg #8
May 13, 2025: Don't Test Me, I Bite // Lots of Reasons Democracy Keeps Going
Non-State Actress' Main Character Energy*
The near-culmination of a little experiment I’ve been doing, which will be the subject of a long-form piece shortly. I’ve hemmed and hawed all week about whether or not to take it this far - but I think it’s for the best. We’re in this together, friends.
BLUF
A kind of preview of a forthcoming long-form piece.
Mis-, dis-, and mal- information are some of the tools of the global information war but treating these tactics like the stars is like going to a James Beard award-winning BBQ spot and filling up on sides. Is a wagyu brisket enhanced by coleslaw? Sure. But the coleslaw is not really the reason for the trip.
People smuggler jailed in UK for arranging boats from Libya to Italy
A London court found Egyptian national Ahmed Ramadan Mohamad Ebid guilty of conspiring with others to smuggle (meaning movement with a persons consent, at least to start with, whereas trafficking is moving someone against their will) desperate migrants from Libya to Italy from October 2022 to June 2023 and sentenced him to 25 years in jail for his crimes. Approximately 49,740 migrants from Libya (Libyan nationals and others) arrived in Italy in 2023 - the number of people who left is much harder to track given how many people perish on the journey. The cause of this massive and near decade-long forced migration and the long list of relevant actors, incentives for continuing to smuggle, etc. is an iceberg all its own - but this Chatham House article is a solid start. But that’s not what we’re focusing on.
Ebid’s network is far from unique, but his conviction is of note for our purposes particularly due to how migrants got into contact with him.
Pull the Thread: Why does this news story show up in an information conversation?Ebid operated his £12 million migration network using Facebook to advertise crossings for approximately $4,292.22/ person while forbidding migrants from carrying phones - demonstrating how criminal networks engage openly on digital platforms while simultaneously controlling information access and communication to avoid detection. No mis-, dis-, or mal-information here - just good old fashion advertising your crimes on the internet. No lies, just crimes - and you bet your tush its fueling conflict.
Czech president pardons soldiers prosecuted in death of Afghan prisoner
Czech President Petr Pavel granted pardons on Wednesday to four members of the country's special forces, ahead of their trial for alleged crimes related to the death of a detained Afghan soldier. Czech media reported the charges stem from the death of 19-year-old Wahidullah Khan following his attack on the Shindand base in western Afghanistan in 2018 (a home to NATO forces) during which one Czech soldier was killed and two others were injured. Khan was detained and ultimately returned to Afghan authorities unconscious - he died shortly after. The four members of the 601st special operations forces group were charged with extortion, insubordination, violation of guard duty obligations and failure to provide aid.
Pull the Thread: There may not seem to be an obvious information relevance here, but there is - less in the actual story but more in how the story is communicated. Reuters’ report on the development (linked in the title) starts by stating President Pavel (who I had lunch with earlier this year, full disclosure) pardoned these four soldiers and lists the charges. The page then offers a short advertisement for a Reuters’ newsletter, which could make the reader think ‘all done!’ especially if they’re on a cellphone. Alas, not the case.
Scroll down a bit and you see otherwise - after acknowledging the New York Times’ original 2018 reporting on the incident which included evidence Khan was beaten after being taken into custody by US and Czech troops there is a GIANT ad which, again, makes it seem like the article is finished. *If* you keep scrolling, you see two short (oddly spaced out) sentences:
“U.S. and Czech troops were being investigated over the incident, it reported at the time. [Double line break] The Czech army operated in Afghanistan from 2002 until 2021.”
And then there’s what the Reuters’ piece leaves out - Khan’s role as the perpetrator of the attack on NATO forces. Sort of a crucial detail, particularly when you consider how many outlets around the world then essentially copy and pasted this piece and shared it (looking at you, Pajhwok Afghan News).
I am not making an argument one way or another regarding President Pavel’s decision. What I am doing is pointing out that when we talk about how information is shared, we can’t forget the physical and the visual.
EU will provide emergency funds to help keep Radio Free Europe afloat after US cuts
The European Union is giving Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty $6.2 million in short-term, emergency funding. Born during the Cold War, Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty aires programming in 27 languages across 23 countries across Eastern Europe, Central Asia and the Middle East. Its broadcasts were and remain crucial sources for people living under anti-democratic regimes where information is tightly controlled and constantly censored. Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty played an objectively crucial role in tearing down the Iron Curtain of Communism - a fact acknowledged across the EU and its leadership…the exact people and places it served. The Trump Administration suddenly obliterated the outlet’s funding claiming it was ‘too liberal,’ but a US judge ruled $12 million in previously Congressionally appropriated funds must be administered to the organization. No such allocation has occurred as of May 22, 2025.
Pull the Thread: When I teach about information and algorithmic warfare at the National War College or a number of other institutions, I tell students:
“Information warfare does not require us to lie. Nor does it require a distortion of facts. Lies are the ammunition of the eventual loser; tell the truth better than they lie.”
Do we embrace creativity and the unexpected and the subversive? Sure. But democracy is about the truth - and when you give up the truth, you give up the democracy. Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty is telling the truth better than an autocrat or a dictator can lie.
One More Thread
Criminals advertising their services on the internet. Miserably-formatted news articles missing key pieces of information. Governments defunding broadcasters of truth.
No mis-, dis-, or mal- information involved. Do these actions create and perpetuate those tactics and outcomes? Sure. But stop treating the garnish like the main course. You’ll end up hungry.