Prosecutors say Dang Vang and nine other members of California's Hmong community, along with a former California National Guard official, wanted to bomb government buildings and shoot down military aircraft in an effort to topple the country's communist regime, which has persecuted U.S.-sympathizing Hmong since the end of the Vietnam War.
They had a detailed plan:
It details a three-part plan to take over the communist regime through a network of underground sympathizers who would "neutralize trusted government leaders." Those who could not be neutralized would face "in-house arrests or assassination."
It estimates about 1,000 security forces would be needed to establish martial law and patrol the capital city, Vientian.
Next, the group would take over all government buildings and communication systems, transportation and media. Airports and bus stations would be closed, and access to all major routes, including the Mekong River, would be closed.
Operation Popcorn calls for a transitional government to be set up within 60 days, consisting of exiled Lao leaders, members of the Laotian opposition party and cooperative government officials. That government would serve for two years before it would be replaced in a free election to be monitored by the international community.
They were undone at the weapon-buying stage:
The original complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Sacramento said the group planned to ship weapons on June 12 and June 19 to a remote staging area along the Thailand-Laos border. However, the arms broker who was to help deliver the weapons was really an undercover agent with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
If the group had utilized a more secure source for their arms, the plot could have proceeded much farther. As I've mentioned, there is a market for such groups and it is only time before somebody sets up a secure source for all your war-fighting needs:
We speak of online private cyber-warfare (as I did here in regard to what I called cyber-booters), but real warfare requires more than hacking. Where will such refined skills be found?
With so many private security outfits around, how long before they need to drum up business when contracts start to peter out or too many competitors eat at the profit margin?
And so perhaps a need to match potential warmakers with potential war fighters will be met with an online service. Call it warBay. Need a bridge blown up somewhere? Sign on to warBay and choose from local insurgents out to make a profit, renegade pilots from a poor Third World air force willing to drop a bomb for cash, or ex-SAS members who formed a company without current government contracts in need of some money. Or assassinate a leader. Or just kill a bunch of people who are of the designated race or religion. Or hire some special ops types to intercept another group you read on an Internet board are planning to hit your side's headquarters (church or whatever). Freelancers and idiots could hire themselves out like the Shoe Bomber or like Timothy McVeigh to ply their particular skill for money.
Whatever your war needs, there are people out there who can provide the service. More bang for the buck, to turn a phrase. And warBay will be there.
Strategypage already noted version 1.0 of warBay. There are people with shopping lists for war that their own governments won't wage for them. This need will be met by somebody who will pull together the components of a coup that the Laos plot group put together.
