Believe It or Not, the Pentagon’s Cybersecurity Priorities Haven’t Changed in a Decade — War Is Boring

Believe It or Not, the Pentagon’s Cybersecurity Priorities Haven’t Changed in a Decade

That’s good — and bad

by JOSEPH TREVITHICK

A recently-released document highlights how little the Pentagon’s concerns and responses to threats in cyberspace have changed in the past decade. As American legislators debate the future of the military’s top cybersecurity headquarters, experts say that’s both good and bad.

In 2006, the Pentagon organized a first-of-its-kind exercise involving a “directed professional attack” across military computer networks. The “Bulwark Defender” cyber war game was supposed to help military planners determine how well troops from different units communicated with each other while enemy agents hacked their computers.

The exercise would “confirm [the] importance of defending networks,” according to an official review. War Is Boring obtained the report — previously labeled “for official use only” — via the Freedom of Information Act.

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The United States Has No War Strategy — War Is Boring

The United States Has No War Strategy

A multi-trillion-dollar bridge to nowhere in the Greater Middle East

by ANDREW BACEVICH

We have it on highest authority — the recent killing of Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Muhammad Mansour by a U.S. drone strike in Pakistan marks “an important milestone.”

So the president of the United States has declared, with that claim duly echoed and implicitly endorsed by media commentary — The New York Timesreporting, for example, that Mansour’s death leaves the Taliban leadership “shocked” and “shaken.”

But a question remains — a milestone toward what, exactly?

Toward victory? Peace? Reconciliation? At the very least, toward the prospect of the violence abating? Merely posing the question is to imply that U.S. military efforts in Afghanistan and elsewhere in the Islamic world serve some larger purpose.

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This Is Bad — Only One in Three U.S. Navy Fighter Jets Are Ready for War — War Is Boring

This Is Bad — Only One in Three U.S. Navy Fighter Jets Are Ready for War

by DAVE MAJUMDAR

The U.S. Navy’s strike fighter squadrons are in dire straits with only one out of three Boeing F/A-18 Hornet airframes being ready for war at any given time.

In order to meet its operational requirements, the service is routinely raiding squadrons that are not deployed to secure enough jets for the air wings that are about to go to sea.

“If I have to ensure that I have 10 like strike fighters are in a single squadron on that aircraft carrier and they need the same capability, I will tax units that are back here at home,” Adm. Philip Davidson, commander of U.S. Fleet Forces Command testified before the House Armed Services Committee on May 26.“If I need 10 forward, I do routinely operate four aircraft in squadrons in the rear.”

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No, You Can’t Have a Small Nuclear War — War Is Boring

No, You Can’t Have a Small Nuclear War — War Is Boring

‘Limited’ atomic strikes are a profoundly dumb idea

by GEOFF WILSON and WILL SAETREN

In the event of a rapidly escalating conflict with the Russians, should the United States conduct a “limited” nuclear strike to coerce the enemy to back down? Or, in Cold War nukespeak, should the United States “escalate to deescalate” the situation?

Believe it or not, that is a real question that is being debated in the Pentagon today. And the answer is no. Thinking we can use nuclear weapons in a “limited” way without inviting nuclear catastrophe is a dangerous fantasy.

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Is It Time to Bring Back the Battleships? — War Is Boring

Is It Time to Bring Back the Battleships?

Missiles and aircraft killed the old juggernauts — but big ships with lots of guns could reemerge in a different form

by ROBERT FARLEY

Is it time to bring back the battleship? For decades, naval architects have concentrated on building ships that, by the standards of the world wars, are remarkably brittle. These ships can deal punishment at much greater ranges than their early 20th century counterparts, but they can’t take a hit.

Is it time to reconsider this strategy, and once again build protected ships? This article examines how these trends came about, and what might change in the future.

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America’s Caribbean Drug War Isn’t Making Much of a Dent | War Is Boring

America’s Caribbean Drug War Isn’t Making Much of a Dent

This article originally appeared at InSight Crime.

The U.S.-backed anti-drug initiative Operation Martillo has been hammering away at drug traffic in Central American waters for over four years, but it is unclear how much of a dent its reported successes have made in organized crime.

Operation Martillo (Spanish for “Hammer”) has been targeting maritime drug trafficking routes along Central America’s coasts since Jan. 15, 2012.

It has contributed to the seizure of 693 metric tons of cocaine, $25 million in cash, 581 vessels and aircraft, and has facilitated the arrest of 1,863 people, according to a press release from U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) — the U.S. military’s Combatant Command responsible for Central and South America, as well as the Caribbean.

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Ted Cruz Just Gave Islamic State Exactly What It Wants | War Is Boring

Ted Cruz Just Gave Islamic State Exactly What It Wants

Authorities hadn’t finished counting the dead and wounded in Brussels when U.S. presidential candidate Ted Cruz, a Texas senator, uttered his latest vitriol against America’s millions of Muslims.

“We need to empower law enforcement to patrol and secure Muslim neighborhoods before they become radicalized,” reads a statement the Cruz campaign released on social media hours after the March 22 terror attacks in Belgium that killed at least 30 people. Islamic State claimed responsibility for the coordinated bombings that struck airport and a subway.

I can think of no faster way to radicalize America’s Muslims than to follow through with Cruz’s despotic suggestion.

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‘Starship Troopers’ Is Donald Trump’s Perfect War Movie | War Is Boring

‘Starship Troopers’ Is Donald Trump’s Perfect War Movie

Ever wondered how billionaire Donald Trump might govern if he becomes president? We humbly offer Dutch filmmaker Paul Verhoeven’s 1997 satirical masterpiece Starship Troopers as a possible preview.

Yes, Starship Troopers is just a science fiction movie. But it’s also a metaphor for U.S. militarism and the kind of bombastic neofascism that Trump is selling to millions of angry, disaffect Americans.

In the world of Verhoeven’s film and the Robert Heinlein novel it’s based on, the military permeates every aspect of life, the government give preferential treatment to veterans and the constant, thrumming fear of “the other” keeps people pacified, afraid and pro-military.

Sound familiar? Both Trump’s dream and Verhoeven’s nightmare reflect America’s darkest tendencies.

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