The Mini-Manual of The Urban Guerrilla

By Tony Scotti

The Book
Since the mid-sixties Carlos Marighella’s book “The Mini-Manual of The Urban Guerilla” has been must reading for terrorist groups throughout the world.  The manual is the platform for Al Qaeda’s and Bin Laden’s training manuals.

The popularity of Marighella’s manual comes from the clear and easy to follow description of the attack planning process, which emphasizes the importance of pre-attack surveillance.

Marighella describes the ingredients necessary for a successful ambush.  Taken from his book they are:

1. Surprise
2. Better knowledge of the terrain
3. Greater mobility and speed than the enemy
4. Total command of the situation.

Carlos states that for an ambush (including vehicle ambush) to be successful the attackers must have all four ingredients working for them.  And to have all four working for you, surveillance must be conducted up to the time of the attack. These are his words - not mine.

The good news is that we have their pre attack planning process in detail and in writing – the bad news is that we ignore it.

Understanding how, when and where an attacker is likely to conduct surveillance as well as how to plan, manage and conduct effective surveillance detection operations is an essential tool for security providers.  Consider a Surveillance Detection training program on your list of to do’s. To be effective the training program must include the above subjects and supply you with hands on experience.

If all, or part of your duties require, supplying personal protection I would suggest reading the book. If you Google his name you will find many sights selling it or as a free download. Amazon will gift wrap it for you.

In my opinion detecting surveillance does not get the attention it should.  Simply said - history has shown that in many situations surveillance detection is not just the best protection; it may be the only protection.

Click here are some good books on awareness and surveillance.