Mercy! Mercy! That Dang Nabed PERCY!

The Tan Son Nhut Sniper

I recall hearing during Vietnam that there was a sniper operating outside Tan Son Nhut Air Base that every day, like clockwork, would fire off several rounds. Efforts to find this crafty fellow were unsuccessful and finally Air Force security forces quite trying. When I asked why, I was told, “We were afraid if we killed him his replacement might be a better shot.”

This is a cute story of questionable validity but it makes a profound point. Why would anyone want to kill a tier three operative? At this point allow me to make a distinction about the tier system I often refer to and the tier system used in the book Operation Dark Heart. They are similar but different.

In Afghanistan there was an office responsible, “…for the coordination and prosecution of killing or capturing High Value Targets or Tier 1 targets---like Osama bin Laden, his deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri, Mullah Omar, and others like them. The office was also responsible for Tier 2 Targets such as their lieutenants and action guys.”

By my definition a Tier one target is an intellect who can conjure excellence from the air space and manufacture “Best” from inside or outside the box showing talent, creativity and genius for the task. A tier two target is someone who can grasp, understand and appreciate what the tier one intellect is trying to say and accomplish. By my definition a tier 1 or 2 operator is not defined by his or her rank or place on an organizational chart, but rather by their facility for knowing best and getting others to do it. It is my contention that tier 3 operators should be left undisturbed to maintain the status quo or muck up the organizations they belong to. While Osama bin Laden and Mullah Omar were charismatic I am not sure I would place them in the category of a Tier 1 operator. Ayman al-Zawahiri definitely belongs there. The only way to really know who these top operators are is to see them in action. Use a football analogy.

A coach or player in the “Franchise” category is Tier 1. A player who is a “Game Changer” a “Go to guy” or an emotional leader is Tier 2. Even though the level of talent is world class on a professional football team, everybody else is tier 3.

So why is this important? This is important because we need to be as careful who we target as those we want to leave in place. Every time we kill a leader with a drone strike the effectiveness of that capability is diminished. It’s like pesticide use on a farm field. The bugs build up immunity and it takes more and more to get the job done.

Plus, it’s like the Tan Son Nhut Sniper. Why kill an idiot when he might be replaced by a serious contender?