Push-button War

[unhappycamper]

Push-button War
der Tagesspiegel, Germany
By Malte Lehming
Translated By Ron Argentati
30 September 2010
Edited by Celeste Hansen

Unmanned drones, viruses, wiretapping systems: Can peace be achieved by using increasingly smarter weapons?

Sometimes, a complete picture can be formed from three disparate elements. To do so, each element has to be prefaced by the word “ostensibly,” because no one can be sure what is factual and what is just planted rumor.

First things first. According to various media reports, the United States has succeeded in thwarting terrorist attacks in Europe by using drones to attack al-Qaida strongholds in Pakistan. Important information also came from a German terrorist being held captive in Afghanistan. Drones are remotely guided, unmanned aircraft outfitted with missiles. The CIA has launched more drone attacks in the Pakistan-Afghanistan border area this month than ever before. Unmanned drones have become the most important weapon in the war on terror.

Report number two: Barack Obama’s administration wants to eavesdrop on communications made via the Internet. Currently, an applicable law is being drafted to allow this. It will enable American intelligence services to monitor practically every online communication worldwide, whether encrypted or not. E-mail services such as Blackberry and Facebook, as well as telephone services like Skype, will be included.

Report number three: A cyber attack involving the virus “Stuxnet” infected 30,000 computers at Iranian nuclear facilities. Rumor has it that this was a “digital first strike.” Targets of the attack were obviously the Bushehr nuclear power plant and the Natanz uranium enrichment facility. All indications bear the fingerprints of Western intelligence services. Founded four months ago at Fort Meade, Maryland, the United States Cyber Command (CyberCom) will oversee and direct cyber warfare initiatives. It reports to the Pentagon, employs about 1,000 personnel and is responsible for the security of some 15,000 computer networks at 4,000 military installations in 88 countries. Unofficially, it is also responsible for exploring offensive capabilities, for which read: cyber weapons.