While I don't think the location of this enterprise at the old Naval Prison in Portsmouth Harbor has a snowball's chance in hell, it is something to which our Congressional delegation should attend.

When it comes to the United States military, the line between defense and offense has been getting thinner all the time.

Air Force Cyber Command: Building the Infrastructure for High-Tech War Crimes

by Tom Burghardt

Global Research, July 19, 2008

What do you get when you combine U.S. militarism, fantasies of domination and an administration that views the internet as a hot-bed of "evil-doers" and "subversives"? Cyber Command, of course! Only this scheme has the potential of inflicting massive suffering on civilian populations across the planet.

Currently situated at the secretive Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana, Air Force Cyber Command, the newest Pentagon command since the 1990s, is dedicated to the notion that the "next war" will be fought in the electromagnetic spectrum, one that envisions computers as "network-centric" weapons.

With a unified organizational structure and a $2 billion budget for the first year of operations, Cyber Command is touted as the next "big thing." According to a recent piece in Air Force Times, Cyber Command "has established 17 new enlisted and officer Air Force Specialty Codes -- creating major changes in the career paths of more than 32,000 airmen."

Although the "Strategic Vision" proffered by the Air Force is couched in defensive language, by its very nature Cyber Command represents a qualitative leap by the Pentagon towards creating an offensive capability, one with far-reaching and potentially catastrophic consequences for societies that fall under the baleful gaze of American cyberwarriors.

This is clearly spelled out by Air Force theorists. In their view, the "strategic environment" confronting imperialism is described as "unpredictable and increasingly dangerous," characterized "by the confluence of globalization, economic disparities, and competition for scarce resources."

And as "economic disparities" grow ever-more glaring, newer and more effective means for obtaining "compliance" are required by our corporate masters and their militarist attack dogs. This is underscored by Cyber Command's stated goal "to achieve situational dominance at a time and place of our choosing." emphasis added According to the Air Force,

Global vigilance requires the ability to sense and signal across the electromagnetic spectrum. Global reach requires the ability to connect and transmit, using a wide array of communications networks to move data across the earth nearly instantaneously. Global power is the ability to hold at risk or strike any target with electromagnetic energy and ultimately deliver kinetic and non-kinetic effects across all domains. These cyberspace capabilities will allow us to secure our infrastructure, conduct military operations whenever necessary, and degrade or eliminate the military capabilities of our adversaries. (Air Force Cyber Command, "Strategic Vision," no date)

While I, admittedly, have no evidence, it's my sense that the FISA kerfuffle was prompted by a desire to "map" the global communications systems in preparation for being able to "take them out." This is consistent with the DoD agenda: There's a lot of interest:

With an official launch date set for October 1, 2008, Cyber Command as yet has no permanent home but one can predict that the congressional "leader" who can deliver the goods for his "constituents" will reap the rewards of a long-term basing agreement. From Hampton, Virginia to Yuba City, California, local "leaders" are falling all over themselves with sweetheart deals negotiated behind the backs of their citizens.

And according to Wired, prospective local "stakeholders" are "throwing in offers of land, academic and research tie-ins, and, in one case, an $11 million building with a moat."

With billions of dollars in "outsourced" government contracts hanging in the balance, Cyber Command is no laughing matter. Back in December, Aviation Week reported that "U.S. Air Force leaders working on the nascent cyber command believe there will be a 'huge' need for contracted services to support the embryonic effort as it faces personnel, technology and funding headwinds." Michael Bruno wrote,

Envisioned as a force conducting "sustained offensive and defensive operations throughout the electromagnetic spectrum fully integrated with air and space operations," Air Force Cyber Command will "leverage...cyberspace capabilities...in all domains, to create global and theatre effects in support of the Joint warfighting team."

It would be my guess that the first thing we have to do is retire the designation of "warfighter" for our military personnel. While I wouldn't go so far as to replace the Pentagon with a Department of Peace, it seems clear that warfighters will be at sixes and sevens, if there's no war for them to fight.

Finally, I don't want you to think I'm an alarmist. I am fully aware that the primary planner of this cyber offensive was a guy who spent his days standing at a writing desk and penning memos with an ink-pen by hand. What this reality leads me to suspect is that the fellow not only didn't know what he was doing, but that he was overly impressed with the power of electronics to accomplish things of which he had no knowledge.

What I would argue is that just as the reliance on electronic voting machines has foundered on their unreliability, electronic warfare runs the same risks. The United States, whether it wants to admit it or not, has been stymied in Iraq by people wearing robes and sandals. Human beings are much more reliable adversaries with whom electrons are not likely to be able to compete with any demonstrable success. Trying to do so is a waste of energy and time.