The Shadows: Introduction

One of my motivations for starting this blog was to develop an idea that's been brewing in my brain for a while now, which I call simply the Shadows.

What are the Shadows? They are the society of shadow operators, who have been given many names—thieves, assassins, spies, saboteurs, terrorists, ninjas—but share a common mindset, skillset and attitude to life. Shadows operate out of the light, outside the law, in darkness and secrecy, to achieve their goals. They emphasize stealth, skill and deception over brute force and violence.

Shadows don't concern themselves with abstract matters of good and evil, right and wrong, justice, progress or God. The Shadow attitude is that technique trumps ideology, actions speak louder than words, and impeccable skill is its own morality. Nor are Shadows aligned with any particular political faction, ideological cause, social stratum, religious sect or ethnic group. They may be found among criminals and law-enforcers, terrorists and soldiers, cults and corporations, businessmen and bureaucrats, spies and survivalists, security forces and revolutionaries, anarchists and fascists, and everything in between. The Shadows are in a class by themselves, which transcends other allegiances.

The closest historical analogs of the society of Shadows are perhaps the Ninja of feudal Japan, the Ye Ban Tou of imperial China, the Hashashin of medieval Persia, the Thieves Guilds of the Ottoman Empire, and various brotherhoods found among the criminal underworld and covert operations communities to this day. In spirit, the society stretches back to the earliest civilizations, all of whom had thieves, spies and assassins, and before that to our prehistoric ancestors who stealthily stalked prey of both the two- and four-legged varieties.

Shadow Operations

"Shadow operations", or "Shadow ops", are the various missions carried out by Shadows. These range from burglaries, heists and prison breaks to assassinations, spying, scouting, sabotage, disinformation and dirty tricks. The best Shadow ops aren't common knowledge; they are either still secret or are attributed to an accident, a false flag, a patsy, or something else besides the actual perpetrators. Here are a few Shadow ops from history that are common knowledge to illustrate the idea:

• Turin School Antwerp Diamond Heist
• Mossad Wrath of God assassinations
• D. B. Cooper skyjacking
• Watergate burglary (failed)
• Takeo Yoshikawa's Pearl Harbor spy op
• JFK assassination (?)
• Strategy of Tension/GLAADIO terrorism
• 1962 Alcatraz escape

Obviously Shadows are not "good guys"; they are generally regarded as villains, rogues, or necessary evils at best. But they are a universal human reality, so perhaps it's time to give them a name, discuss them as a group with a common mentality and set of skills, and give them some respect for living a life of action and daring in a world that all too often resembles a prison planet. I will be exploring these ideas in future blog posts, and possibly in a future book. Enjoy.