Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

internetworkers - Re: Stopping terrorism

internetworkers AT lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: Internetworkers: http://www.ibiblio.org/internetworkers/

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: mdthomas AT mindspring.com
  • To: InterNetWorkers <internetworkers AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
  • Subject: Re: Stopping terrorism
  • Date: Fri, 14 Sep 2001 13:07:04 -0400



The intellectual challenges here are:

* understanding a decentralized "enemy"
that isn't hierarchial and doesn't take
the form of a large, easy to distinguish
and attack nation-state, and which will
have many of the same advantages of de-
centralization that the Internet has;

* understanding the vulnerabilities
to our way of life;

* stepping above raw emotion. In the words
of an Oklahoma City victin when asked if
the McVeigh execution brought closure, she
said "You close on a house. You don't *get*
closure on something like this." Responses
that only strive to satisfy our bloodlust
are incorrect. The only good reason for
war is to acheive peace.

I think that the our knowledge of the Internet,
a vast, decentralized network originally designed
by the DOD to be hard to disable, can lend understanding
of this new "enemy."

For instance, disabling of one node (bin Laden) doesn't
destroy the Internet (the enemy).

Also, this attack was tactically simple and cheap against
an obvious vulnerability. I've flown in to Reagan-National
Airport, almost directly over the Pentagon, as I've flown
in to La Guardia within sight of the WTC. I'm also aware
that when planes crash they tend to burst in to flames.
I'm embarrassed that I've personally never made the intuitive
leap to forsee this kind of attack, which could have been
easily committed any time in the last 30 years (or more.)

Obviously, we'll shore up against this tactic -- we already
have with all of the new aviation security measures. But
what other tactics haven't we thought of which are just as
obvious vulnerabilities? Remember the score so far:

Them: 14, Us: 20,000 (?)

For instance, the Barbarians took Rome very simply -- they
cut the aquaducts going in to Rome. The city just folded
up and hundreds of years of the progress of civilization
dried up with it.

What is the "water" of our civilization? How about oil --
the very commodity that forces us to be so involved in
the Middle East (I've never heard of a terrorist attack
emerging from a region that doesn't have assets that
we aren't dependent on, like sub-saharan Africa), and which
is also necessary to fuel the kind of massive land war
initiatives that are being advocated.

Ethanol, anyone?


InterNetWorkers <internetworkers AT franklin.oit.unc.edu> wrote:
> So, we're a bunch of smart people with diversified outlooks and
attitudes (and I, for one, am seriously torn between morals/concerns
about collateral damage and kicking ass). Why not bring something
productive out of this discussion?

I propose a thought exercise for this think-tank: a comprehensive plan
to address military, economic, religious and social components of the
terrorism problem. We already have a start on defining the problem: A
decentralized fanatical base that is willing to die (for their God and
country) in order to harm their enemies.

The next step would be to define the causes of this problem, citing
facts, stats (note: these are not considered facts for a reason),
personalities, social attitudes, etc.
Example:
Niblet 1) Taliban has made even informally educating a woman illegal
until separate facilities can be made, but few facilities are being

built. This may be analagous to making it illegal to teach a slave how
to read in America in the 1850s.
Impact: One segment of Afghanistan has both been targeted for
subordination and is being robbed of one tool for resistance
Solution: ?

Would internetworkers be interested in setting up a separate list to
discuss this? Maybe a document storage spot at Yahoo?

Some real think-tank will be doing this somewhere, but our techno slant
may come up with some interesting solutions...

julie "I'd get out of the digest, but there's too many messages..."
waddle


---
Come and play at the InterNetWorkers Web site!
http://www.ibiblio.org/internetworkers/
You are currently subscribed to internetworkers as: mdthomas AT mindspring.com
To unsubscribe send a blank email to $subst('Email.Unsub')





Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page