Finally releasing their long-promised “cybersecurity plan,” the Pentagon today declared that the Internet is now being considered an “operational domain” for all wars, and proposed a dramatic increase in the number of employees fighting wars on the Internet.
The declaration of the Internet as a warzone is largely in keeping with previous comments from Obama Administration officials, and the release coincided with the announcement that some 24,000 files had been stolen by “foreign intruders.”
Deputy Secretary of Deference William Lynn sought to downplay the significance of the announcement, however, insisting that the use of the Internet as a warzone “no more militarizes cyberspace than having a navy militarizes the ocean.”
Though still concerning, the plan is vague and at least something of a concession from a 2008 paper in which the Pentagon declared the Internet should be treated as “an enemy weapons system” and that the military should develop offensive capabilities to “fight the net.”
This is kind of like that southpark episode where the Pentegon determined that we needed to bomb our imagination. I suppose now they're going to want to bomb the internet.
Ladies and gentlemen! Meet the new improved Praetorian Guard Now, we shall drown in military propoganda day and night every time we click onto a site.
The amusing part is in near future when the reactionaries,cops,jarheads,judges and govt officals whom have approved of these restrictive measures on the population get a taste of it when they are no longer in a position of influence or can make a call for a favor here and there.
For all the Pentagon bluster and hype, they are ill-equipped to enter the Matrix.
Isn't it logical enough. When war is seen as an extension of politics, then politics are likewise an extension of war. The evil is anyone not praising or even opposing government and it's signal producing artificial reality.
In the old tales of creation Got stopped and saw it was good before proceeding the next day. In modern times the leaders manipulate the population into praise and conformity, and declare themselces it is good., Outdoing the old, time wasting procedures.
The Pentagon has a lot of catching up to do because the internet has been an anti war zone almost since its inception. That's because it is not totally controlled by the corporate media which is 100% pro war.
They can create a new Operational Command called WWWCOM. The domain name will be .war
I suppose we are going to have virtual enemies now…
That's a change?
Speaking of the internet, what an amazing story by Glen Greenwald and the "Truth About Bradley Manning". (And the public comments afterward.) The White House had connections with Bradley Manning.
Strong evidence that Julian Assange did not know Manning. Was the torture of Bradley Manning motivated to obtain a quick confession and sweep White House connections under the rug?, one commentator mused.
Executive summary: Pentagon seizes oprtunity to expand its own empire and grab more taxpayers' money
When the Pentagon gets its grubby hands on the internet we wll have blacked out pages and SECRET marked on all but porn.- and we'll get the bill for the ink!
The picture featured on this post is actually an electron microscope image of a deadly virus scientists have named "Pentagram." This malignant virus fools its victims into imagining they need it for protection, when in fact it causes more problems than it solves. Worse, it steals nutrients that could be used for sustaining life.
surprise! this just in ***WAR DISEASE GOES ELECTRONIC*** aka cyto cipher plasma,,,aka the slim oozing outta yer TV set, somebody please, alert the “media/umn”
I like that image, “bomb the internet” which is what the Pentagon will do with propaganda and misinformation to hide their abuses of lives and treasures in the shooting wars. Face it Mr. Military, you will always be inferior to the hackers who will drive you crazy and cause you to spend unbelievable amounts to foil them, which is probably the game in the first place. Even cyberwar will cost the taxpayers ever increasing amounts.
Woe is we?
Mr. Lynn is clueless. The internet is nothing like the oceans…if for no other reason than no matter how many laws the government passes, you can't switch the oceans off.
We may have to nuke the oceans. I'll ask Hilary and get back to you.
Bye-bye freedom of expression. Will they start with the Facebook or Antiwar.com, I wonder…
This pronouncement will lay the groundwork for the eventual control of the internet, as we know it. Once the Pentagon determines that the "freedom" offered by the uncontrolled internet is injurious to the wellness of this country, they will declare a "Cyber-Martial Law" and then, well, good luck getting it back.
The Defense dept has been talking for many years about how they need to be able to throttle the open access to information…this is the opening gambit.
It's much more than that. This gives Obama discretionary power to declare war on any country whose citizens mess with their computers. Think of the possibilities there.
This is quite frightening. This article only touches the tip of the iceberg. Under this travesty, President Obomber can declare war on any country if one of his citizens hacks US computers. In case it wasn't bad before, now, they've got carte blanche to invade, bomb, occupy, rob & pillage. What a world!
I am convinced that the male Blood Elf who repeatedly ganked me in World of Warcraft last week was either a CIA or Pentagon spook- I'm sure they saw my Gnome toon and decided I was an Enemy of the State within seconds and placed me on The List. Since they can't find me in the meat world, they resort to assassinating me virtually.
After reading the comments, I realized that people don't know what this means. I'm no fan of NPR as I consider them another corporate shill hiding behind the guise of "public" radio, however, this piece explains the danger of this little stunt and it has nothing to do with restricting the internet as many think, it's much more dangerous and sinister than that. This essentially gives the US the okay to wage war against any country they want under the guise of a cyber attack (now we know why those 24,000 mysteriously disappeared). This is the cyberversion of 9/11 and here it is in black and white:
Pentagon Strategy Prepares For War In Cyberspace
http://www.npr.org/2011/07/15/137928048/u-s-milit…
The strategy presumes that "cyberattacks will be a significant component of any future conflict" and that the United States must be prepared to retaliate, possibly even with military force.
"The United States reserves the right, under the laws of armed conflict, to respond to serious cyberattacks with a proportional and justified military response at the time and place of its choosing," Deputy Defense Secretary William Lynn said.
A cyberattack on the United States could prompt a military response under the Pentagon guidelines, however, only if it qualified as "an act of war," with effects comparable to those brought about under a traditional "kinetic" or physical attack, and it would be up to the president to make that judgment.
"If there is massive damage, massive human losses [or] significant economic damage, it would be in those circumstances that I think the president would consider all the tools that he has — economic, diplomatic and, as a last resort, military," Lynn said in remarks introducing the new cyberstrategy.
Your argument is based on a presumption that the USG might actually be concerned with having a logical reason for attacking another country. The US is not concerned with the "laws of armed conflict" as DDS Lynn states – they write their own laws of conflict, as has been evident for the past decade or so. If the USG is concerned about what the American people might possibly think – the American people have proven that they are willing to accept whatever they are told by the government (and their toads the FCM). Whether any "retaliation" is based on an actual cyber attack or a false-flag cyber attack, they will do what they want and we will quietly bend over and spread em.
If I sound slightly cynical…