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Israel's detonation of thousands of pagers held by Hezbollah fighters and loyalists in mid-September will be remembered as one of the most ingenious plots in the history of spycraft. It is also a reminder that the most powerful weapon in war is not a fighter jet, a drone, or even artificial intelligence, but rather something much older: impersonation. Central to the Israeli operation was the human infiltration of supply chains. Three years ago, Israel's intelligence agency, Mossad, developed a custom pager containing plastic explosives. It then sent agents to trick the Taiwanese company Gold Apollo into marketing the device to the right buyers. Thus, Israel's biggest blow to Hezbollah in 40 years hinged on the simple dynamic of one human persuading another that he was someone else. Impersonation -- or "identity mimicry" as we call it in a recent book on the topic -- is a widely used weapon of war. When Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, the first Russian convoy headed for Kyiv was disguised as a Ukrainian unit to avoid detection. Male jihadists have dressed as women to pull off suicide bombings so often that several Muslim countries now ban face veils on security grounds. And it is not just Islamists who use this ploy. Earlier this year, Israeli soldiers entered a West Bank hospital dressed as Palestinian women and doctors to kill three suspected militants. Mimicry also serves many other purposes. Spies routinely use it to steal sensitive information, which is probably why Bulgarians arrested on espionage charges in the United Kingdom last year were in possession of passports from nine different countries. And rogue actors use it to acquire illegal products, as North Korea has done to great effect in its nuclear weapons programme. Mimicry can also allow one to escape captivity, as Colombian drug cartel leader Juan Castro demonstrated when he walked out of a maximum-security jail in 2022 dressed as a guard. And it can be used to distract, as Saddam Hussein did, by hiring body doubles to confuse potential assassins. Impersonation is powerful because it is upstream to many other war tactics, making it the master form of deception. Every day in every conflict zone around the world, fighters and civilians must be on the lookout for impostors, because the consequences of missing one can be devastating. Let the wrong people into your base, and you will be attacked from the inside. Trust the wrong taxi driver, and you can be captured and tortured. Impersonation is as old as war itself. Mimicry episodes were so frequent in antiquity that the classical authors Frontinus and Polyaenus wrote catalogues with hundreds of examples as a warning to generals. Subsequent periods featured no less of it -- from sixth-century Byzantine spies dressing as Persians to infiltrate the Sassanid army to Jews in World War II pretending to be Catholics to escape Nazi persecution. The phenomenon persists because humans are dependent on identities for cooperation. To trust other people, we need a sense of how they will behave in the future, and reputations help. Mimicry is, therefore, parasitic on the benefits we derive from honestly signalling our identity. Countering mimicry is difficult because what makes or breaks an impersonation varies by context. The devil is often in the details, which is why British interrogators in WWII sought to weed out suspected German spies by testing their knowledge of pre-war cricket scores. Some techniques have stood the test of time. The Old Testament Book of Judges relates how the Gileadites sought to identify Ephraimite pretenders by making them say "shibboleth", a word that an Ephraimite would pronounce with an accent. Fast forward to the start of the Ukraine war, and we find Ukrainians using the word palyanitsya (a type of bread) as a pronunciation test for suspected Russian spies. By now, though, the word has likely lost its probing power. Impersonation is a dynamic affair, with mimics and counter-mimics constantly adapting to each other's tactics. Technology can alter the game. A key concept in mimicry research is the hard-to-fake or costly sign. Historically, things like faces, skin colour, and voices have been difficult to imitate, so when we saw a video of a politician engaged in lurid activity 25 years ago, we rarely questioned its authenticity. This has changed with generative AI. Earlier this year, a finance worker in Hong Kong was duped into transferring US$25 million (854.7 million baht) after attending a group videocall in which everyone else was synthetically created. Deepfakes have already been deployed for war propaganda, notably in Ukraine, where fake videos of Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky proliferate. Reports of operational use remain few, but that is likely to change, for we are entering a golden era of wartime mimicry in which impersonation is a threat no less powerful than the most sophisticated weapons systems. ©2024 Project Syndicate Diego Gambetta is the Chair in Social and Political Science at Collegio Carlo Alberto in Turin. Thomas Hegghammer is a Senior Research Fellow in Politics at All Souls College, Oxford University. They are the co-authors of 'Fight, Flight, Mimic: Identity Mimicry in Conflict' (Oxford University Press, 2024).WASHINGTON — Donald Trump said he can't guarantee that his promised tariffs on key U.S. foreign trade partners won't raise prices for American consumers and he suggested once more that some political rivals and federal officials who pursued legal cases against him should be imprisoned. The president-elect, in a wide-ranging interview with NBC's “Meet the Press” that aired Sunday, also touched on monetary policy, immigration, abortion and health care, and U.S. involvement in Ukraine, Israel and elsewhere. Javascript is required for you to be able to read premium content. Please enable it in your browser settings.
South Korean president to face second impeachment voteJoel Klatt voiced his opinion on Colorado Buffaloes star Travis Hunter's absence from the Jim Thorpe Award Finalists via X on Tuesday night. The award annually goes to the best defensive back in college football. The three finalists who made the cut instead of Hunter were Texas Longhorns defensive back Jahdae Barron, Ohio State Buckeyes defensive back Caleb Downs, and Georgia Bulldogs defensive back Malaki Starks. Hunter leads Colorado with three interceptions and has 31 total tackles, one tackle for loss, and one forced fumble. The Buffaloes lost to the Kansas Jayhawks on Saturday, 37-21, for their third loss of the season. Kansas was a one-and-a-half-point underdog on ESPN BET . Hunter's name being left off angered Klatt. Klatt said not having Hunter as a finalist lowered the award's value. Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images "Not having Travis Hunter as a FINALIST for the Thorpe Award is crazy," Klatt said. "It devalues the award. He is the best CB in CFB, and his numbers reflect that all his opponents know that." Not having Travis Hunter as a FINALIST for the Thorpe Award is crazy...It devalues the award...He is the best CB in CFB and his numbers reflect that all his opponents know that. The Jim Thorpe Award has been around since 1986, but Colorado has never had a player win it. Last season's winner was former Air Force defensive back Trey Taylor. Colorado's final regular-season game is against the Oklahoma State Cowboys on Friday. Kickoff is at noon ET on ABC and ESPN+. Related: Travis Hunter's 'Effortless' Moment Before Colorado-KansasWhat We Know About Luigi Mangione: Suspected CEO Shooter Charged With First-Degree Murder
When started, the City of Prince Albert’s campaign to raise $20 million in donations for the new arenas and aquatic centre was already halfway to its goal, thanks to a $10 million from Lake Country Co-op earlier this fall. At a launch held today inside the foyer of the Lake Country Leisure Centre, representatives from the City, Lake Country and the fundraising committee announced the theme of the campaign to raise the remaining $10 million, called Play it Forward. “It’s very exciting and I’ve seen the results of a similar campaign where anyone can participate,” said Mayor Bill Powalinsky. “Anything that somebody wants to put on the table is a step.” “Whether its large or small, I really encourage people to participate and feel really good about what we’re doing for the community.” The construction of the Leisure Centre – still on time and within its budget – has helped spur some welcome development nearby. “We’re open for business,” said Mayor Bill Powalinsky. “And we’re certainly balanced in our approach to support economic development and to look at social development. The two really go hand in hand.” A committee of local citizens has been organizing the campaign. Ralph Boychuk is part of that committee and said that the centre represents a positive, healthy, family-oriented approach for the community. They want people and businesses in Prince Albert to contribute whether big or small. “Every contribution, no matter the size, will help us complete this center and enhance the lives of countless families in our community. Together we can create a facility that not only serves our current residents but also welcomes future generations,” said Boychuk. The anticipated opening date for the building is in late March or early April. While the total cost of the building ballooned right before it got final approval, that was related to pandemic-caused inflation. The cost of the project was originally $60 million but almost doubled when the bids finally came in. It was always part of the plan to fundraise $20 million to help pay for it. In October, Lake Country and the city announced a sponsorship deal that will see the Co-op’s name on the building for the next 25 years in exchange for $10 million. Expected development in The Yard, the name of the district, is looking promising as well. One hotel has been operational for a year, McDonald’s just opened as did Firehouse Subs and the Sasktel store. Earth moving equipment is now on location for another liquor store/office space and council approved a height variation in commercial zoning to allow a six story Marriott hotel. Former mayor Greg Dionne confirmed during the election campaign that the hotel would be a Marriott. Powalinsky said he is happy to see the commercial development happening and other changes, such as the recent purchase of the Cornerstone Shopping District and the South Hill Mall by Leyad, a REIT based in Montreal. “We’ve got private industry showing their faith and their commitment in the community and that, to me, is what it really is all about,” he said. Donations can be made through the Donor Perfect platform to going to the city website and donating there. — susan.mcneil@pattisonmedia.com On BlueSky@susanmcneil.bsky.socialWhat both sides are saying about ceasefire deal between Israel and Hezbollah