Drawing back the curtain on cyberwar

By Sean Lyngaas 

Mar 13, 2015 

http://fcw.com/articles/2015/03/13/bookshelf-drawing-back-the-curtain-on-cyberwar.aspx 

Shane Harris' new book details the turning points and turf battles in federal cybersecurity policy.

Journalist Shane Harris has written a richly detailed, page-turning recent history of the militarization of cyberspace. The combination of thoroughness and accessibility makes "@War: The Rise of the Military-Internet Complex" an important contribution to the ever-changing, seemingly unfathomable field of cybersecurity.

Harris offers an inside account of how, over the course of more than a decade, U.S. military, intelligence and civilian agencies have ramped up their cyber capabilities to try to stay ahead of threats posed by criminal hackers and nation states. But the book does more than chronicle that transformation. It also picks up on the personalities and bureaucratic turf battles behind it and reflects on the broader implications for the security and openness of the Internet.

The book's subtitle is a variant of President Dwight Eisenhower's warning against the potentially outsize influence of industry on U.S. defense policy. The military-Internet complex treats the Web as a battlefield, writes Harris, a senior correspondent at The Daily Beast. That battlefield is full of government and corporate secrets, and it has spawned a lucrative market for protecting them.

FCW readers will appreciate the book's detailing of the interagency tensions that come with grappling with a new domain. The 2009 birth of U.S. Cyber Command under the leadership of the National Security Agency director gave NSA even more clout among agencies in cyberspace. But Jane Holl Lute, who became deputy secretary of the Department of Homeland Security that year, challenged the notion that NSA was uniquely suited to defend civilian cyberspace, Harris writes.

"Pretend the Manhattan phone book is the universe of malware," she is quoted as telling colleagues. "NSA only has about one page of the book."

That turf battle is likely far from settled, and DHS has continued to expand its own cyber-defense capabilities.

Cyberwarfare is not a new concept, but it is a fairly new practice. One of the pivotal moments came in 2007, during the surge of U.S. forces in Iraq, according to Harris. He profiles Bob Stasio, then an Army lieutenant whose signals-intelligence platoon is credited with tracking down hundreds of insurgents. He used cell phone signals to determine insurgents' locations and sent reports back to commanders to correlate the data with a wider view of the battlefield.

Whatever Became of the Reports That North Korea Was Developing an ICBM?

John Schilling

March 13, 2015

The past year might seem to have been one of conspicuous inactivity in North Korea’s long-range rocket program. The last flight test was the December 2012 launch of an Unha-3 carrying North Korea’s first successful satellite. Since then we have seen only the usual Scuds and Nodongs and possibly an improved variant of the short-range, solid-fueled KN-02 “Toksa.” The Musudan and KN-08 missiles so proudly displayed in July 2013 have not been seen since, and neither has been flight tested. In short, one might be tempted to conclude that the regime has given up its pursuit of long-range weapons.

But conspicuous inactivity can mask quiet activity, visible mainly to the sort of people who spend their hours scrutinizing satellite imagery of obscurea corners of the DPRK. I’m not one of them, but I am on their mailing lists. And these observers have seen interesting developments lately. Possibly most significant in the near-term have been reports of the continuation of the rocket engine ground testing that has been underway at the Sohae Satellite Launching Station since2012, if not before. There has also been significant infrastructure construction at that facility, including a recently modified gantry tower sized for a space launch vehicle (SLV) much larger than the Unha-3. Most recently, a potential test facility for a submarine missile launch system was identified, which, while certainly not suited for long-range rockets, indicates active exploration by the North of possible new launch platforms. It is worth emphasizing, however, that such a development is likely far in the future.

The possibility that North Korea may have begun to move on from the Unha-3 SLV is not surprising; most nations retire their first SLV after one to three successful flights. After demonstrating basic spaceflight technology at minimum cost, a more sophisticated and capable design is usually developed for operational space missions. With a larger gantry waiting at Sohae, this appears to be the North’s plan, and it will be interesting to see what sort of space missions are on Pyongyang’s agenda. A North Korean astronaut may be far in the future but communications satellites in geostationary orbit or spy satellites may not.

Airbus Building France’s First Network of SIGINT Spy Satellites

March 13, 2015

France’s DGA Compliments Airbus Defence And Space… You’re On…Build Three CERES Satellites

[SatNews] Airbus Defence and Space has been selected by the DGA (Direction générale de l’armement) to build the three CERES satellites, which will provide France with its first operational SIGINT capability.

“The fact that the DGA has entrusted Airbus Defence and Space with the construction of the CERES satellites demonstrates the quality of our expertise and technology, acquired through our successful development of the ESSAIM and ELISA demonstrators,” said François Auque, Head of Space Systems. “Signals intelligence is flagged as a top priority in the French Defence and National Security white paper. Airbus Defence and Space, which started working withThales through CERES, is proud to provide France with its industrial and technological expertise, thus confirming its position as the prime contractor for all French space-based intelligence systems.”

The CERES (Capacité de Renseignement Electromagnétique Spatiale or Space Signal Intelligence Capacity) system comprises three closely positioned satellites that are designed to detect and locate ground signals, along with ground control and user ground segments. CERES is due to enter service towards 2020.

Airbus Defence and Space has been entrusted with the space segment comprising the three satellites, while Thales is responsible for the payload and the user ground segment. The two manufacturers are the joint prime contractors for the entire system. In addition, Thales Alenia Space acts as a subcontractor to Airbus Defence and Space in supplying the platform.

Intelligence is one of four priorities identified by the white paper. The 2014-2019 Military Planning Law has translated this priority into programs and funding, which include signals intelligence and one of its operational uses, the CERES program.

This satellite system will give France a capability that few countries possess. In designing and building CERES, Airbus Defence and Space and Thales will draw on the experience they acquired jointly from the ESSAIM and ELISA demonstrators.

U.S. Defense and Intelligence Computer Networks - An Order of Battle Study

Peter Koop

March 13, 2015

From the Snowden revelations we learned not only about NSA data collection projects, but also about many software tools that are used to analyze and search those data. These programs run on secure computer networks, isolated from the public internet. Here we will provide an overview of these networks that are used by the US military and US itelligence agencies.

Besides computer networks, they also use a number of dedicated telephone networks, but gradually these are transferred from traditional circuit-switched networks to Voice over IP (VoIP). This makes it possible to have only one IP packet-switched network for both computer and phone services. It seems that for example NSA’s NSTS phone system is now fully IP-based.

US national networks

The main US military and intelligence computer networks are (of course) only accessible for authorized personnel from the United States. Special security measures are in place to prevent interception by foreign intelligence agencies. Most of the tools and programs used by NSA run on JWICS and NSANet, but here we only mention them when this is confirmed by documents.

DNI-U (Director National Intelligence-Unclassified)

- Until 2006: Open Source Information System (OSIS)

- Classification level: Sensitive But Unclassified (SBU, color code: green)

- Access: US intelligence users

- Controlled by: DNI-CIO Intelligence Community Enterprise Services office (ICES)

- Purpose: Providing open source information; consists of a group of secure intranets used by the US Intelligence Community (IC)

Social Media Is Making It Increasingly Difficult to Combat Terrorists, CIA Chief

March 14, 2015

U.S. CIA chief says social media ‘greatly amplifies’ terror threat

(Reuters) - Social media and other technology are making it increasingly difficult to combat militants who are using such modern resources to share information and conduct operations, the head of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency said on Friday.

CIA Director John Brennan, in a speech in New York, said such communications heighten the challenge of dealing with diffuse threats and attacks across the world from groups like Islamic State, known also as ISIL, and others. 

"New technologies can help groups like ISIL coordinate operations, attract new recruits, disseminate propaganda, and inspire sympathizers across the globe to act in their name," Brennan said, using an acronym for the militant group that has taken hold in Syria and Iraq.

"The overall threat of terrorism is greatly amplified by today’s interconnected world, where an incident in one corner of the globe can instantly spark a reaction thousands of miles away; and where a lone extremist can go online and learn how to carry out an attack without ever leaving home," Brennan said.

Speaking at the Council on Foreign Relations, Brennan cited a recent spate of attacks, including shootings at the French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo, at a Pakistani school, and at a cafe in Copenhagen, Denmark.

"These attacks underscore a disturbing trend that we have been monitoring for some time: The emergence of a terrorist threat that is increasingly decentralized, difficult to track, and difficult to thwart," he said.

What the Ferguson Report Really Exposed

Hans A. von Spakovsky

March 13, 2015 

Media coverage has obscured what is perhaps the most important finding regarding the shooting death of Michael Brown.

We’ve all seen them—the unsolicited, chain emails that occasionally dump tasteless or racist jokes in our inboxes. I delete them immediately. End of story.

Yet, somehow, the media has obsessed over the (admittedly noxious) emails found in the files of a few individuals in the Ferguson, Mo., Police Department. The emails were noted in a March 4 report issued by the Special Litigation Section (SLS) of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. That report employs some rather dubious statistics to claim a “pattern and practice” of discriminatory behavior by the Ferguson Police Department.

The SLS report grabbed headlines and sparked renewed protests in Ferguson. It also obscured what is perhaps the most important finding regarding the shooting death of Michael Brown back in August 2014 – namely, the complete exoneration of Officer Darren Wilson. 

Fervor generated by the “pattern and practice” report blinded much of the country to the second report issued that day by the Civil Rights Division’s Criminal Section. It clearly confirms the validity of the local grand jury’s decision not to indict Officer Wilson last November. It also belies the media-propagated myth that Michael Brown was shot in the back while trying to surrender with his hands in the air.

That storyline was a total fabrication conjured up by dishonest witnesses who lied to the police and reporters. Many of the witnesses “who originally stated Brown had his hands up in surrender recanted their original accounts,admitting they did not witness the shooting.” [Emphasis added.] Critically, DOJ’s investigation “did not reveal any eyewitness who stated that Brown said ‘don’t shoot.’” [emphasis added.]

Trouble in Paradise: Democracy Retreats in the Maldives

By Ankit Panda

March 14, 2015

Former Maldivian President Mohamed Nasheed has been sentenced to 13 years in prison on terrorism charges. 

The political crisis that emerged in the Maldives last month, after former President Mohamed Nasheed was physically dragged to a show-trial at the hands of a stacked court, took a turn for the worse on Friday. Nasheed, the country’s first democratically elected president after 30 years of autocracy and, most recently, the leader of the opposition, was sentenced to 13 years in prison. He was found guilty on charges of terrorism for ordering the arrest of a judge back when he was president in 2012 — an event that ultimately triggered the end of his administration via an effective coup. Abdulla Yameen, the current president, has initiated a crackdown on the opposition amid waning support. Nasheed’s arrest all but confirms that the Maldives’ nascent democracy is firmly on the retreat.

Judge Abdulla Didi, the presiding juror over the case, noted that ”The prosecution’s evidence proved beyond reasonable doubt that Nasheed ordered the chief judge’s arrest or forceful abduction and detention on Girifushi island” back in 2012. Nasheed’s supporters claim that the case was motivated by the political interests of the current regime. The decision was unanimously supported by the three-judge panel that heard Nasheed’s case and was upheld by the office of the president. Last month, as The Diplomat reported, Nasheed was unceremoniously dragged to court. His treatment at the hands of security personnel drew protests in which pro-government supporters clashed with opposition supporters. International observers, including India and the United States, expressed concern following Nasheed’s arrest.

According to reports by Reuters and others, Nasheed’s sentencing did not result in an immediate profusion of political chaos in Male. Opposition supporters had dispersed by the time of Nasheed’s sentencing. Following his sentencing, Nasheed issued a statement in which he called on his supporters to “confront the dictatorial power of [the Yameen] regime.” He added that his supporters ought “to change this government and work toward forming a government that would pave the way for the people’s development and prosperity.” Based on Nasheed’s statements and aearlier protests, the former president’s arrest could pave the way for broader clashes and political violence in the Maldives.

As I noted earlier, the political crisis in the Maldives puts India, the most proximate regional power, in a position where it has to act. Already, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi canceled a scheduled visit to Male amid concerns over the state of democracy in the country. With Nasheed’s arrest, New Delhi risks having the Maldives slip out of its strategic area of influence entirely. The Yameen government reacted harshly to Indian concern over its handling of Nasheed’s case. The Maldivian foreign minister, Dunya Mamoon, issued a statement noting that Male ”will not take instructions from a foreign government.” Nasheed and the Maldivian opposition more generally are considerably more pro-India than the Yameen government. Given Indian concerns over Chinese strategic encroachments into the Indian Ocean, New Delhi will be eager to see a fair trial for Nasheed and, more importantly, guarantees that Maldivian democracy is not regressing.

At last, a Western country stands up to Saudi Arabia on human rights

By Ishaan Tharoor 

March 12 

Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom gestures during an interview with Sweden's TT News Agency at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in central Stockholm on March 11. (Claudio Bresciani/TT News Agency via Reuters) 

The Swedish government this week decided to scrap an arms deal with Saudi Arabia, effectively bringing to an end a decade-old defense agreement with the kingdom. The move followed complaints made by the Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom that she was blocked by the Saudis from speaking about democracy and women's rights at a gathering of the Arab League in Cairo. 

Tensions between Stockholm and Riyadh have grown so acute that Saudi Arabia recalled its aambassador to Sweden on Wednesday. The Swedish foreign ministry had published Wallstrom's planned remarks in Cairo, which made no specific reference to Saudi Arabia but did urge reform on issues of women's rights. 

The Saudi foreign ministry deemed her comments about being barred from speaking "offensive" and "blatant interference in its internal affairs," according to the BBC. In an interview with Swedish media, Wallstrom haddescribed the punishment for a dissident blogger who was sentenced to 1,000 lashes as "medieval." 

Dutch Vote a Barometer for the European Electoral Landscape

Kaj Leers

March 12, 2015

The two coalition parties in power in the Netherlands are destined for crushing defeats in elections on March 18 that will determine the makeup of the new Senate. Polls show the opposition anti-Islam Freedom Party of Geert Wilders in the lead.

A big loss in the Senate could spell the end of the country's coalition government. More likely, the country's mainstream parties will take one look at the polls and decide not to call for new national elections - which could see formerly fringe parties take firm control - thus leaving an effectively delegitimized administration in charge. We take a look at the major parties involved in a country that is increasingly seen as a bellwether for Western European politics.

When the polls closed in the Dutch parliamentary elections of September 2012 and it turned out that two centrist parties had won massive victories, it was optimistically dubbed the "Defeat of the Extremists." Despite being ideological adversaries, the two winning parties - the center-left Social Democrats (PvdA) and the center-right conservative Liberals (VVD) - smoothly and quickly formed a coalition government. A bit too smoothly, according to many of their erstwhile voters.

The social-democratic PvdA and free-market liberals of the VVD sorted their coalition not by compromising on the issues, but by exchanging items on their political wish lists. The VVD, which had campaigned on a right-wing platform of crime-fighting, immigration, and integration, got what it wanted in those areas, while the PvdA was able to carry out its reformist agenda on health care, social security, and education.

Judging by recent polls and the 2014 municipal elections, voters of both parties seem not only disappointed - they are deeply disgusted.

Strength Is Weakness

Paul Krugman

MARCH 13, 2015 

We’ve been warned over and over that the Federal Reserve, in its effort to improve the economy, is “debasing” the dollar. The archaic word itself tells you a lot about where the people issuing such warnings are coming from. It’s an allusion to the ancient practice of replacing pure gold or silver coins with “debased” coins in which the precious-metal content was adulterated with cheaper stuff. Message to the gold bugs and Ayn Rand disciples who dominate the Republican Party: That’s not how modern money works. Still, the Fed’s critics keep insisting that easy-money policies will lead to a plunging dollar.

Reality, however, keeps declining to oblige. Far from heading downstairs to debasement, the dollar has soared through the roof. (Sorry.) Over the past year, it has risen 20 percent, on average, against other major currencies; it’s up 27 percent against the euro. Hooray for the strong dollar!

Or not. Actually, the strong dollar is bad for America. In an immediate sense, it will weaken our long-delayed economic recovery by widening the trade deficit. In a deeper sense, the message from the dollar’s surge is that we’re less insulated than many thought from problems overseas. In particular, you should think of the strong dollar/weak euro combination as the way Europe exports its troubles to the rest of the world, America very much included.

Some background: U.S. growth has improved lately, with employment rising at a pace not seen since the Clinton years. Yet the state of the economy still leaves a lot to be desired. In particular, the absence of much evidence for rising wages tells us that the job market is still weak despite the fall in the headline unemployment rate. Meanwhile, the returns America offers investors are ridiculously low by historical standards, with even long-term bonds paying only a bit more than 2 percent interest.

7 Things I’d like To Tell Every Young Veteran

Eric Greitens

MARCH 10, 2015

http://thoughtcatalog.com/eric-greitens/2015/03/7-things-id-like-to-tell-every-young-veteran/

Kentucky National Guard

1) Welcome home. 

We’re glad you are back. We’re really, really, really glad that you are home safe. 

2) Be kind to people when you come home. 

You may know that people are glad you are home. But—given the way that the world seems to have ticked on just fine while you were gone—you may find it hard to believe. 

I remember coming home from deployment and driving past a Wendy’s drive-thru. There everyone sat—waiting for their burgers and frosties, and I felt the urge to hit the brakes, get out of my truck and ask, “Do you know what is going on?” “Do you know that there are people fighting—and some of them dying and being maimed in your name half a world away?” 

You left, and the world kept on ticking. Your kids got older, your home team kept playing, your neighbors kept working. It’s natural to feel, because the world kept on moving, that nobody noticed that you were gone. 

But that’s not true. 

The Scunion Bringer A Lieutenant’s Life Lessons in Leadership, Part III

https://medium.com/the-smoking-gun/the-scunion-bringer-5d7e53d0146a

“That new commandah is gonna bring a fahr to this heah place,” exclaimed the First Sergeant, rubbing his hands together with a broad, toothy smile as disturbing as Jack Nicholson’s face coming through the bathroom door in The Shining.

“He’s a damn scunion bringah!”

I had no idea what a scunion bringer* was, but it didn't sound good. To a new Second Lieutenant who was lucky to find the motor pool for Wednesday afternoon motor stables, our new company commander was already intimidating enough without an added layer of ambiguity.

Broad-shouldered and thick-chested, Clem Ward never smiled as he labored through his change of command inventory. If a tool set layout wasn't executed to perfection, he simply made note of the hand receipt holder and walked away without conducting the inventory. His battle dress uniform was immaculate, perfectly pressed with crisp creases, his sleeves rolled tightly around arms that looked like they belonged on a professional wrestler. His jump boots carried a showroom shine, bright enough to reflect the Kentucky summer sun.

His recruiting poster appearance was impressive enough, but the “take no prisoners” attitude that he brought to the inventory signaled a sea change in leadership style. In the wake of his change of command, gone were the “good old days” we had known under his predecessor.

Lieutenants were charged for lost or missing property. Leaders who failed to perform were shown the door to the company headquarters.

There was a new sheriff in town, and Clem Ward was laying the scunion on anyone who couldn’t toe the line.

In time, he would ease us all back from the edge, and I would learn that he was more coach than poster boy, more teacher than disciplinarian, more mentor than scunion bringer. From him, I would learn many lessons, many of which remain with me today. We couldn't have been more different men, and as a young officer I often found myself struggling to come to terms with his decisions. But in Clem Ward I found the model leader that would guide my professional development through the formative years of my career, and the wisdom and patience to be a better husband, father, and human being.

FALLOUT The Residual Effects of Toxic Leadership

https://medium.com/the-smoking-gun/fallout-e920065b2475

Nathan Wike is an officer and a strategist in the U.S. Army. The opinions expressed are his alone, and do not reflect those of the U.S. Army, the Department of Defense, or the U.S. Government 

There has been much ado recently about toxic leaders and their immediate effects on their environment. Like the first seconds of a nuclear explosion, witnesses report seeing a blinding flash of incompetence, risk-aversion, or antagonism. They hear a defining roar like a furnace spewing conflicting guidance, vague directives, and unclear intent. The shock wave advances, enveloping impressionable young leaders and experienced older leaders alike. The ground shakes with the coming of the toxic leader as all who are within the blast radius desperately attempt to seek cover by looking busy or disappearing behind a container in the motor pool. Toxic leaders advance through the ranks of the military, leaving destruction in their wake. They could be anyone from the soldier sporting a new set of corporal’s stripes to a commanding general. Oftentimes they do not realize that they are toxic — that their leadership style is what it is and subordinates need to fall into line. Just as frequently they do not realize or appreciate the power of their toxicity, nor the lasting damage they may have on the organization.

The immediate effects of a toxic leader, like a nuclear blast are nothing short of awesome. Victims who are not immediately consumed are left dazed and confused at what just occurred. With just a few words, the toxic leader may have undermined the authority of a platoon leader, usurped the responsibilities of a non-commissioned officer, or eroded the confidence of a soldier. Entire operations, meetings, and briefs grind to a halt. How could any one person be so erroneous, unreasonable, or indecisive? Why did the government allow the creation of weapons capable of such wanton destruction?

But what of the more insidious residual effects? The shock wave has passed — the toxic one has moved on, been relieved, or has disappeared back into their office. Exactly what constitutes toxicity is difficult to define, though it has been well covered in posts by other, much better informed authors. Yet a topic that has only just started to garner notice are the long term effects of a toxic leader on an individual and an organization. As a leader one is expected to be a steward of the profession. But if a leader is toxic, their judgment and their guidance is at best not to be trusted. This brings into question all their decisions, advice, recommendations, and their very legacy. It is a question that may echo through the future across multiple organizations and the careers of multiple individuals. How can one be expected to survive and thrive in the environment they have left in their wake? 

The army defines leadership as “the process of influencing people by providing purpose, direction, and motivation to accomplish the mission and improve the organization” (ADP 6–22). It stands to reason then, that a toxic leader fails in one or all of those precepts — they fail to influence effectively, provide little or no purpose, lack direction, are unable to motivate soldiers to accomplish a mission, and fail to improve the organization. Furthermore, by their very nature they are not mentors — and if they believe they are, they are a poor substitute.

Winning The War Of Electrons: Inside The New Maritime Strategy

By SYDNEY J. FREEDBERG JR.

March 13, 2015 

Source LInk

A Navy electronic warfare technician.

[UPDATED with comments from Rep. Randy Forbes, Cdr. Bryan Clark, & anonymous admiral]

WASHINGTON: We must win the war of electrons in a more dangerous world. That’s the stark imperative behind the bland title of the new maritime strategy released today by the Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard.

“There is an offensive warfighting tone to this document that says, where the United States has interests, it needs access, [and] it can have that access,” said the new Commandant of the Marine Corps, Gen. Joseph Dunford, speaking this morning at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. What Dunford didn’t say explicitly, but the strategy does, is that we may have to fight for that access against increasingly sophisticated adversaries — including in cyberspace and the electromagnetic spectrum, domains where we long took dominance for granted.

Marine Commandant Gen. Joseph Dunford (left) and Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Jonathan Greenert (right)

Despite its benign title — “A Cooperative Strategy for 21st Century Seapower” — and plenty of boilerplate, the new strategy has a definite edge. In contrast to the 2007 strategy it replaces, which demurely didn’t mention any specific country as a threat, the new strategy calls out China, Russia,North Korea, and Iran by name. And in a departure from longstanding naval doctrine, it takes the traditional four functions of the fleet — deterrence, sea control, power projection, maritime security — and adds a fifth: “all-domain access.”

Pentagon To Launch Hacker Proof Helicopter Drone By 2018

BY ALIYA STERNSTEIN

MARCH 12, 2015

Source Link

Boeing is set to replace 100,000 lines of code on its Little Bird drone before a test flight this summer. 

An unhackable Boeing Little Bird unmanned aircraft should be in flight around the end of 2017, Defense Department and company officials say.

Aliya Sternstein reports on cybersecurity and homeland security systems. She’s covered technology for more than a decade at such publications as National Journal's Technology Daily, Federal Computer Week and Forbes. Before joining Government Executive, Sternstein covered agriculture and derivatives ... Full Bio

Right now, defense industry programmers are rewriting software on the helicopter drone to encapsulate its communications computer. That way, no outsiders can steer the unmanned aerial vehicle to strike, say, civilians, or tamper with surveillance video to mask adversary targets.

An impermeable commercial quadcopter drone was successfully flown last May using the same type of technology.

“The intent is to conduct an experiment to prove that these new coding techniques can create secure code at full scale,” said John Launchbury, who leads the program for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.

The concept — while not new — is becoming more vital as more computers are embedded into systems that carry precious cargo. 

“Cyberattacks on your PC — they can steal information and they can steal money, but they don’t cause physical damage, whereas cyberattacks in a UAV or a car can cause physical damage and we really don’t want to open that can of worms,” said Kathleen Fisher, the previous program manager of theDARPA project. The initiative, which launched in 2012, is called High-Assurance Cyber Military Systems.

A Steaming Cup of Joe Mentoring in the Millennial Era

https://medium.com/the-smoking-gun/a-steaming-cup-of-joe-2f620c5e3238

On an unseasonably cold morning in Fort Campbell in November 1988, my platoon sergeant and I walked the perimeter of our defensive sector in Training Area 17, checking each fighting position and verifying fields of fire as we slogged along in the mud. This was my first training exercise as a platoon leader and my first opportunity to demonstrate some semblance of tactical skill. So after occupying the position before sunrise, I'd spent hours on the perimeter fine-tuning range cards, talking to my soldiers, and preparing for the inevitable attack by an aggressor platoon that night.

As we turned away from the perimeter toward the command post, my platoon sergeant suggested we instead pay a visit to the old 5-ton “Expando Van” that served as battalion maintenance officer’s motor pool on wheels while we were in the field. If the expanse of woodland camouflage netting wasn't enough of a waypoint, the scent of percolating coffee wafting in the air was. We climbed the metal stairs, filled our canteen cups with hot coffee, and found a pair of tree stumps to sit and talk.

Over the next few years, we spent countless hours on other tree stumps, field chairs, vehicle bumpers, and even sandbags, almost always with a cup of coffee in hand. Our professional relationship was set in the chain of command, but our personal relationship was forged over hot coffee and field time. In those early days, the formative years of my career, I learned many lessons, but none more important than how to transform a simple cup of coffee into something far more valuable: a tool for building relationships, a vehicle for mentoring.

In the years that followed, that steaming cup of Joe became a staple in my kit bag. I used it to break the ice with new arrivals (even when the I was the new arrival), broker back office deals when progress seemed at a standstill, counsel subordinates (sometimes without them even knowing), and gauge the climate of the workplace (whether that workplace was in an office or in the dirt on some faraway Forward Operating Base). Where I went, my coffee came with me.

The steaming cup of Joe possesses an uncanny ability to disarm even the most tense situation. Close your eyes and say the words “Let’s get a cup of coffee.” You can feel the calm, smell the aroma, sense the serenity. It produces a moment of zen unlike any other.

Lead By Example The Three Most Important Words for Leader

https://medium.com/the-smoking-gun/lead-by-example-ca506b94d434

He stood alone, visibly shaken, chain smoking from a pack of borrowed cigarettes. We’d just taken our first hostile fire of the war, some inaccurate mortar rounds that peppered the rocky soil just outside the hastily-strewn concertina wire that formed our defensive perimeter. But that fire, combined with early reports of division casualties, was enough to push him to the edge. I approached him and stood by his side, facing the opposite direction as I watched the soldiers maneuver carefully to keep their distance from their commander.

“You doin’ alright?” I asked quietly.

“I’m fine,” he answered, his hands shaking noticeably as he took a hard pull on the cigarette.

“I’ve never seen you smoke,” I replied.

“I’m out of Copenhagen.”

“You know,” I said, easing into the meat of the conversation, “this isn’t a good look for you.” I nodded toward the nearby troops, “They’re watching you. They see you’re upset, and it’s upsetting them.”

“What do you want me to do about it?” He spat. “I’m not like you. I can’t just turn it off.”

“Sir,” I began, “they need you now more than ever. This is ‘go time.’ They need to know that you’re in control. They need to see that command presence.”

He took another long pull from the cigarette in his hand, threw it to the ground, and crushed it under the toe of his boot. He stuck his forefinger into the pack and fished out a fresh cigarette and lit it. He looked down at his feet for a moment, then took a breath and turned his head in my direction. “Are you through?” He asked.

I was. I left him there, standing alone, cigarette in trembling hand. 

Author, ethnographer, and leadership expert Simon Sinek published a book last year titled “Leaders Eat Last.” On the surface, the main point seems obvious, something we've all heard and most of us emulate. In reality, there is far more to leading by example than waiting for everyone else to eat before you fill your plate. (And, in truth, there is a lot more to the book than the title suggests.)

Oops: US Close-Air Support Bomb Doesn't Fit on the F-35

By Franz-Stefan Gady

March 14, 2015

Plus, the F-35 won’t receive the necessary software for full close-air support until 2022. 

The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter will not receive the software package required to operate the Pentagon’s top close-air support bomb until 2022, according tomilitary.com.

The article also stated that the JSF office already had discovered earlier that the precision-guided air-dropped Small Diameter Bomb II (SDB II) does not fit onto Joint Strike Fighter Marine Corps variant without modifications to the aircraft’s weapons bay.

Yet the Department of Defense will wait until the F-35 B (the Marine Corps variant of the F-35) reaches initial operability before modifying the F-35’s armament bay, since the weapon will be useless without the right software package.

The various systems of the plane require more than 10 billion individual lines of code, all of which are broken down by the developers into individual blocks numbered 1 to 4, then further subdivided into letters. Block 4 A will be ready by approximately 2022, and Block 4 B is slated to be completed by 2023.

Air Force Gen. Herbert “Hawk” Carlisle, Commander of Air Combat Command, noted cautiously: “When we get to the Block 4s of the F-35s those are going to be great CAS (close air support) platforms — when we get there. So we’ve got to continue to move down that with respect to the systems.”

He also reiterated the special capabilities of the new bomb, which includes a guidance system capable of directing the weapon using millimeter wave radar, among other cutting-edge technologies.

“Really, in the close-in CAS fight, and the most challenging being danger close where you have adversaries and friendlies in very close proximity — we have to be able to support the ground component at that point. We need the ability to deliver weapons rapidly. We need the high magazine, we need precision and we need to be able to control the yield,” the general notes.

The article quotes JSF officials who emphasize that that the F-35 will have close-air support capabilities by the time it reaches full operational capability in 2018 including, “the ability to fire an internal gun and drop a range of munitions including AIM-9X weapons, AMRAAMs, GBU 12s, GBU 31s and the Small Diameter Bomb I.”

WEEKEND READING: MARCH 13-15

WOTR Staff

March 13, 2015 

Another week down, another Friday reached. And like every Friday, it’s time for our Weekend Reading list: as dependable as a Swiss watch and much cooler than a gold Apple Watch. This Friday is extra special, though, because we’ve just announced the best (and booziest) referral relay on the Internet. Check out what we’ve got lined up for you if you can help us gin up support for our Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign!

Yours, &c. Ah, yes, the “Tom Cotton letter.” Signed by 47 Republican senators, the open letter “to the Leaders of the Islamic Republic of Iran” has given a partisan disagreement about the Obama administration’s Iran policy the look of one between two branches of government. At FPRI, Ronald J Granieri offers some thoughts. His main criticism is not of the substance of the claims made by Sen. Cotton and his compatriots, but the form it took as an open letter, which he says “is so inappropriate as to severely undermine any point the authors hoped to make.”

Well, I have never…! That was the sentiment of many in response to the Republican senators’ temerity, including members of the administration and the media. But for those expressing such outrage, Adam Elkus is here to provide a history lesson. Not only is the Cotton letter not without precedent (from members of both parties in Congress), but this is just the latest act in the ongoing and complicated story of congressional foreign policy activism.

Want more? The military satirists at The Duffel Blog have done it again, with an exclusive on the open letter Iran sent back to Tom Cotton: “Our English is not the best, but we believe we understand your main points. Thank you for your interest in joining the Revolutionary Guard…”

Iran has its own domestic politics. Think second-guessing of the president’s foreign policy by a legislative branch is bad? Imagine if a branch of the U.S. military were involved. Writing for the Bulleting of the Atomic Scientists, Ariane Tabatabai explores the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps’ position on the nuclear negotiations. The IRGC’s positioning might actually surprise some. In the United States, “the IRGC is often reduced to a caricature in the debates on Iran’s nuclear program…but its stance on the ongoing negotiations is clearly relatively centrist.”

(W)ARCHIVES: KNOWLEDGE WINS

Mark Stout

March 13, 2015

One of the most famous American posters of the World War I era depicts a soldier climbing up stairs made of books toward a bright future, all under the bold slogan “Knowledge Wins.” That is a slogan that we here at War on the Rocks firmly believe in. We know that it is impossible for any country to have a sound foreign and defense policy or to properly conduct its military operations without a solid basis of knowledge and insight. We hope and believe that in the nineteen months that we’ve been operating we have contributed to that knowledge and insight.

We can’t help noticing that nineteen months is the same amount of time that the United States was in World War I. Over that brief period, the country mobilized an enormous Army and sent some two million soldiers to France to fight alongside the Allies who were already totally committed to the great and terrible war. As lovers of history, the efforts of a hundred years ago inspire us.

Today we at War on the Rocks want to consolidate our gains and prepare for the next big push. We want to make this online magazine a permanent and even bigger part of the national security landscape across the English-speaking world. So, just as the United States and the Allies did when they needed to keep the war effort going, we turn to you, the public. We do this with the assistance of the crowdfunding website, Indiegogo, and, in true (W)Archives fashion, the World War I poster collection of the Library of Congress.

“What can you do?” Well, we created a platform for commentary and analysis that we’re proud of, and now you can “help us keep it.” We ask you to “sow the seeds” of War on the Rocks’ future growth. Not everyone can serve on the front lines of War on the Rocks, but “if you cannot put the ‘I’ in fight, you can put the pay in patriotism” by donating. We believe that “if you only knew” how vital your support is to War on the Rocks’ plans for the future “you’d give and give and give.”

Beijing’s Cat’s Paw: China may improve relations with India, but not at Pakistan’s expense

Nayan Chanda

March 14, 2015

Is China’s alliance with Pakistan in trouble? Pakistan’s recently announced intention to invite Chinese President Xi Jinping as chief guest at their joint military services parade and subsequent postponement has encouraged some to see cracks in the relationship. Like periodic reports about China’s unhappiness with Pakistani militants’ role in training and arming Xinjiang’s jihadi Uighurs or Beijing’s supposed distancing itself from Islamabad on the issue of Kashmir, this more recent flurry is also much ado about very little. Pakistan’s security situation and President Xi’s busy calendar may delay his first visit more than Islamabad would like, but the Sino-Pak friendship is based on too long a history of strategic cooperation to be affected by minor irritants.

Unlike the hyperbolic assertions about friendship between countries that sometimes dominate diplomatic discourse, the rather straightforward description of Sino-Pak relations as an ‘all-weather friendship’ is among the most accurate. It is a friendship that has lasted through 65 years of trials and tribulations, and as China challenges the post-Cold War global order, Pakistan is likely to become more – not less – indispensable as an ally. In his well-researched, ground-breaking book The China-Pakistan Axis: Asia’s New Geopolitics, Andrew Small says the ties are not only solid but set to become even stronger.

Small, who has had remarkable access to political, military and intelligence officials in both countries, writes that after nearly a decade of preparing PLA for ‘new historic missions’ across the world, Beijing is carefully weighing up which countries it can trust to facilitate the global projection of its power. He quotes a Chinese expert as saying: “If China decides to develop formal alliances, Pakistan would be the first place we would turn. It may be the only place we could turn”. This seemingly total trust in Pakistan is rooted in intimate and unwavering collaboration over decades from which both countries have benefited. It is also based, Small writes, on China’s “steady, long-term commitment to ensure that Pakistan has the capabilities it needs to play the role that China wants it to.”

Small details the early days of blossoming Sino-Pak military relations, focused at the time on mutual needs against a common strategic adversary – India. Mao passed away shortly after meeting Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and blessing nuclear cooperation with Islamabad. His funeral in September 1976 provided the occasion for A Q Khan, father of Pakistan’s nuclear bomb, to meet China’s top nuclear official in Beijing. Their secret collaboration has since enabled Pakistan to build an arsenal of warheads and long-range nuclear capable missiles. On the other hand Pakistani transfer of pilfered Western know-how – from centrifuge design to US Tomahawk and stealth helicopter technology – has given China ability to leapfrog the West.

Fighting Terrorism on Social Media

By Mina Sohail

March 13, 2015

Pakistan is trying to combat terrorist organizations online, with mixed results. 

Following the devastating attack on Peshawar’s Army Public School on December 16, 2014, where the Pakistan Taliban killed more than 130 children, military and political leaders formed a National Action Plan to counter terrorism. One point in the 20-point plan called for the formation of a committee to counter online terrorism, in a country estimated to have nearly 30 million Internet users.

The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has been taking action against pages on social media and online videos posted by terrorist groups. There are approximately 60 banned organizations in Pakistan, according to the National Internal Security Policy (NISP) document. Recently the federal government has been reluctant to confirm a reported ban on Jamat-ud-Dawa (JuD), but news reports say that the ban is part of the National Action Plan. The Twitter account of JUD chief Hafiz Saeed was suspended two months ago but the organization’s website can still be accessed and Twitter accounts with his name still exist. 

According to Ahmed Rashid, author of several books on Pakistan and Afghanistan and veteran policy critic, questions the priorities. “Social media is a very big part of recruitment in the West. In Pakistan it helps produce a point of view amongst those on Twitter and other such sites but doesn’t have the power to recruit.” Rashid says that access to social media is limited in Pakistan, as opposed to more developed societies in Europe where there are huge online followings.

“Before we get on to internet and social media, what is needed is better state control of mosques and seminaries,” says Rashid. “The real danger in Pakistan is from mosques that continue to deliver Friday sermons calling for jihad and extermination of India and America.” Rashid adds that most Muslim countries have a centralized system where the sermon is drafted and regulated by the state, unlike in Pakistan where, he says, “We have a free-for-all system which is extremely dangerous. It is from here that most of the hate material, posted online, actually finds inspiration.”

Yet addressing the mosque is but a fraction of the overall picture. There are a total of 22,052 seminaries in Pakistan, 15,954 in Punjab, 4,264 in Sindh, 1,400 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), 1,247 in Balochistan and 187 in Islamabad.

Rashid maintains that, “The government should bring seminaries under control. A large number are under the control of militant groups and their ideology and don’t serve as function of seminaries which is to produce religious scholars and not preach militants.”

Mapping the emergence of the Islamic State in Afghanistan

BY LWJ STAFF

March 5th, 2015

Source Link

Ever since disaffected Afghan and Pakistani Taliban insurgents began pledging allegiance to the Islamic State during the summer of 2014, rumors and reports have emerged indicating how the Islamic State has expanded its presence throughout South Asia. A chronological narrative of the rise of the jihadist group in Afghanistan follows below and the above graphic depicts its emergence.

In late September 2014, fierce battles raged between Afghan security forces and insurgents reported to be associated with the Islamic State in the Arjistan district of Ghazni province. At the time, Afghan officials reported that the insurgents had raised the black flag of the Islamic State and were burning down homes and beheading captured security forces and local residents alike. The incident in Arjistan is mired in controversy, as local Afghan officials allegedly recanted their versions of events and admitted to embellishing the presence of Islamic State fighters as a ploy to obtain more resources, according to a report by The New York Times.

It should also be noted that in early February 2015, the Chief of Police for Ghazni denied that the Islamic State had created a presence in the area, stating that the insurgents fighting against the Afghan Government were local Taliban members.

Osama bin Laden’s Files: The Pakistani government wanted to negotiate

BY THOMAS JOSCELYN

March 9th, 2015

Source Link

Recently released files recovered in Osama bin Laden’s compound show that parts of the Pakistani government made attempts to negotiate with al Qaeda in 2010. The letters were released as evidence in the trial of Abid Naseer, who was convicted on terrorism charges by a Brooklyn jury earlier this month.

One of the files is a letter written by Atiyah Abd al Rahman (“Mahmud”), who was then the general manager of al Qaeda, to Osama bin Laden (identified as Sheikh Abu Abdallah) in July 2010. The letter reveals a complicated game involving al Qaeda, the Pakistani Taliban, the brother of Pakistan’s current prime minister, and Pakistan’s intelligence service.

“Regarding the negotiations, dear Sheikh, I will give you an overview, may God support me in this,” Rahman wrote. “The Pakistani enemy has been corresponding with us and with Tahreek-i-Taliban (Hakeemullah) for a very short time, since the days of Hafiz, may God have mercy on him.” Hakeemullah Mehsud was the head of the Pakistani Taliban at the time. The “Hafiz” mentioned is Mustafa Abu Yazid (Sheikh Saeed al Masri), who served as al Qaeda’s general manager prior to his death in May 2010. Rahman succeeded Yazid in that role.

“We discussed the matter internally, then we talked with Abu-Muhammad later once we were able to resume correspondence with him,” Rahman explained. “Abu-Muhammad” is the nom de guerre of Ayman al Zawahiri. As a result of these discussions, al Qaeda was willing to broker a deal in which the jihadists’ would ease off the Pakistanis so long as the military and intelligence services stopped fighting al Qaeda and its allies.

South Asia's Hinge Moment

Robert M. Hathaway

March 13, 2015 

http://www.nationalinterest.org/feature/south-asias-hinge-moment-12410?page=show

Don't look now, but South Asia is getting its act together.

Nightmares of despair and disaster are an occupational hazard for those who follow developments in South Asia. But for once, the news from the region is not uniformly grim. Washington should take note.

National elections throughout the region have produced victors who, compared to their predecessors, appear to be agents of change. Elections last year in India and Afghanistan fit this pattern. But the starkest example is also the most recent: Sri Lankan voters, in an outcome anticipated by almost no one, summarily dispatched an autocratic ruler who had appeared entrenched for the long run this January. 

The encouraging signs go beyond elections. By some measures, India has surpassed China to boast the fastest growing economy in the world. The new prime minister, Narendra Modi, has taken a meat cleaver to bureaucracy and venality. In Pakistan, the army’s offensive against extremists in North Waziristan has proved far more sustained than most observers had expected. The December 16 massacre of 150 people in Peshawar, most of them young schoolchildren, seems to have reinforced Pakistan’s commitment to combating terrorist violence.