In a War Steeped in Artificial Intelligence, Human Intelligence Reigns Supreme

Intelligence, as it’s being practiced in the Iran war, is having a moment. Electronic means of spying are transforming battle in the same way that tanks and airplanes did in World War I. From pinpointing targets to demoralizing the enemy’s will, 21st century technology is guiding military tactics and influence strategy. The killing of Ali Khamenei on Operation Epic Fury’s first day was aided by American and Israeli penetration of the Islamic Republic’s national electronics systems. Perhaps ironically, some of these systems were designed to monitor Iranians for signs of dissent and defections. Instead, they became a double-edge sword that hurt the regime. “We always look at China as the ultimate Big Brother, but as with this phone application, we now know how deeply Iran has controlled its citizens,” an Israeli newspaperwoman, Pazit Ravina, tells the Sun. She wrote a piece in the weekly Makor Rishon about an app, “Bade Saba,” which is widely used by tens of millions pious Iranians, including in the ranks of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps and the army.The ‘Bade Baba’ Trap“Bade Baba” was designed to inform Muslims of the time of prayers, the exact angle pointing to Mecca, and the like. Equipped with location data, the app also informed regime enforcers of users’ whereabouts and how many of them attended all-but-mandatory support rallies for the regime.American and Israeli intelligence operatives hacked the app, and used the data to plot the day-one assasination of Ali Khamenei.Turning computer hackers into the modern equivalent of Mata Hari and the entry of artificial intelligence systems into the war theater raise concerns that machines, rather than humans, would command future wars. Yet, if at all, a world in which robotic killers hunt humans — as in Arnold Schwarzenegger’s “The Terminator” films — might be far in the future. For now, AI merely complements the oldest of war tools. “The principle of intelligence is still the same,” a former national security adviser to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Yaakov Amidror, tells the Sun. “You need to find out what the enemy is doing and you need a group of people to understand and analyze these findings. Humans are essential to that process.”Mr. Amidror, a retired military intelligence commander, compares current spydom to the biblical Book of Esther. The hero, Mordechai, managed to learn of a plot to kill all the Jews of Persia and inserted his beautiful niece, Esther, to the royal palace to scope things out. They managed to win, even though “Mordechai and Esther had no computers,” he notes. Intel gathering in the Iran war is advanced by “the integrated nature of human intelligence and technical-signals intelligence,” a researcher at India’s Observer Research Foundation, Archishman Ray Goswam, writes. Importantly, he adds, it “punctures myths about the supposed impracticality or demise of Humint.”A.I.-based intelligence devices are assisting human spies in unprecedented ways, Mr. Amidror acknowledges. “These systems can crunch data much faster and more precisely than ever before. Importantly, they don’t get tired,” he says. After an eight-hour shift or longer, he notes, human intelligence analysts crash out. Computers, in contrast, continue to crunch data around the clock.Killing Ali KhamaneiThe Israeli Air Force’s decapitation of the Tehran regime’s top echelon was a long-planned joint operation with America, which relied on deception, meticulous intelligence gathering, and penetration of Iran’s own electronic systems. The war launch was delayed once CIA spies unearthed a planned meeting of Khamenei and his top lieutenants on Saturday morning February 28. Well-aware that Iran is using its own electronic and human intelligence to follow them, top Israeli army commanders left their Tel Aviv headquarters on the preceding Friday to attend Shabbat dinners at home. Iranians were lulled into believing no attack was planned, but the commanders snuck back undetected to headquarters to run the attack. The Iranian supreme leader gathered his top aides in his above-ground headquarters at Tehran’s Pasteur Street. At that point, Israeli and American intelligence took control of street cameras and traffic lights that had been hacked long in advance. All lights in the vicinity turned red, blocking traffic around Pasteur Street. Street cameras, which have long been used by the regime to monitor Iranian citizens, now beamed data to Mossad and CIA intelligence centers. In the old days, before conducting attacks against Hezbollah, Mr. Amidror says, “I would send special operations guys or Lebanese recruits to Beirut to identify what is going on in major traffic spots,” Mr. Amidror says. “Now you can do this from home in front of monitors.”Bade Baba: The Ultimate Two-Way SwordAn Iranian computer services center at the holy city of Qom created the “Bade Baba” app to assist believers. In addition to pious tips, the app allowed such services as money transfers and contributions to religious institutions. Ms. Ravina reports that the app helped the regime spy on unsuspecting users for signs of dissent. As traffic lights turned red and street cameras sent images to American and Israeli spies on October 28, push messages were sent to “Bade Baba” users. “Help is here,” was one such message, referring to President Trump’s “help is on its way” promise from January. Tens of millions users were exposed to the fact that the app had been used by the regime as a tool to monitor their movement. Other electronic devices also were used as a demoralization tool. “You are completely under our surveillance, we know what crimes you committed against the Iranian people,” members of the Basij, a paramilitary group tasked with crushing dissent, were reportedly informed recently through their secure Telegram accounts. “We have identified you and all your associates. Surrender or flee. There will be no second warning.”In the Air: Pilots as Data Crunchers Much of the current war is being fought over Iranian skies, and the airfare battlefield has been transformed by the digital age as much as the intelligence field. In the dawn of dogfight air wars, mechanically-inclined pilots needed to master evasion skills and navigational abilities. Those are now mostly handled by computers, while the pilots are busy crunching data.Visiting a Lockheed Martin showroom at Washington a few years ago, this author was invited to a simulated F-35 flight. Among other tools, the world’s most advanced fighter jet’s helmet constantly beams to its wearer endless streams of digital information. Even the most skilled computer gamer would be excused for getting confused. Yet, there too the human element is crucial. Special forces are reportedly already on the ground in Iran, pointing bombers to strategic targets that have been predetermined by electronic means.After the American and Israeli militaries destroyed Iranian air defenses, pilots are now often flying low over sites at Tehran and other Iranian cities. These low altitude flights are designed to instill fear, but there is another reason: Iranian dissidents are walking up to roofs voluntarily to point out sensitive regime installations that after verification are being bombed from the air. “Machines can work much faster and more accurately, but without humans they’re worthless,” Mr. Amidror says.

In a War Steeped in Artificial Intelligence, Human Intelligence Reigns Supreme

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