Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
Washington Times
October 19, 2007
Pg. 9
By Shaun Waterman, United Press International
Recent pronouncements by U.S. Air Force officials about their view of cyberspace as a "war-fighting domain" have attracted little attention, but the questions they raise for U.S. military policy and doctrine are profound.
"Cyber[space] is important to the nation," said Air Force Lt. Gen. Robert J. Elder, the military officer in charge of the Air Force's daily cyberspace operations, acknowledging the dependence of U.S. commerce and banking on the Internet. "But to the Air Force, it's really important."
Gen. Elder told a recent briefing organized by the Air Force Association that cyberspace was vital because it is the key to the U.S. military's fabled cross-domain dominance.
"When we talk about the speed range and flexibility of air power" to deliver satellite-guided strikes to affect the outcome of a battle on the ground, for example, "the thing that enables this for us is the fact of our cyber-dominance," the ability to move data and control signals through cyberspace, which, as the Air Force defines it, is the entire electromagnetic spectrum.
The Air Force is in the process of establishing a fully fledged Cyberspace Command alongside its space and air commands. But Gen. Elder, like other senior officials, denied that the move was a turf grab.
He elaborated on the consequences of the Air Force's view of cyberspace as a war-fighting domain by comparing it to the maritime and air domains, both which simultaneously were the venues for commerce and daily life, and potential vectors for military action by or against the U.S.
"We in the Air Force think the air is a war-fighting domain," he said. "But that doesn't mean we expect Delta or United [Airlines] to think it is."
He said that there was a diverse and overlapping series of authorities and legal frameworks for activities in cyberspace and that the full policy implications of seeing it as a war-fighting domain are yet to be worked through.
"We have had situations before where the intersections [with other agencies] ... have been difficult," he said.
He said there were "shades of gray from law enforcement [to] homeland security, [to] homeland defense to some kind of expeditionary operation [like Iraq]. Where do we say, 'We've crossed the line now' " into the war-fighting realm.
He said there also was tension between war-fighting objectives and intelligence-gathering ones.
Gen. Elder said partnership with such civilian agencies as law enforcement and the Department of Homeland Security, which has the lead in securing the nation's critical infrastructure, including its cybercapacity, was key for the Air Force.
"What we're really trying to do with these partnerships is close the gaps" between military and civilian authorities and agencies, he said.
Some thought the laws governing cyberspace might need to be changed, he said. "Ultimately they may, but until we fully understand how it works between these very different areas of business law enforcement, homeland security, commerce, we can't just say, 'Here's what we should change.' "
Other Air Force officials see current U.S. military policy as too timid.
"Legislation, policies and international law are lagging the technology" in the cyberdomain, Lani Kass, a senior adviser to U.S. Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. T. Michael Moseley, told another recent conference. "The United States is late to the fight."
October 19, 2007
Pg. 9
By Shaun Waterman, United Press International
Recent pronouncements by U.S. Air Force officials about their view of cyberspace as a "war-fighting domain" have attracted little attention, but the questions they raise for U.S. military policy and doctrine are profound.
"Cyber[space] is important to the nation," said Air Force Lt. Gen. Robert J. Elder, the military officer in charge of the Air Force's daily cyberspace operations, acknowledging the dependence of U.S. commerce and banking on the Internet. "But to the Air Force, it's really important."
Gen. Elder told a recent briefing organized by the Air Force Association that cyberspace was vital because it is the key to the U.S. military's fabled cross-domain dominance.
"When we talk about the speed range and flexibility of air power" to deliver satellite-guided strikes to affect the outcome of a battle on the ground, for example, "the thing that enables this for us is the fact of our cyber-dominance," the ability to move data and control signals through cyberspace, which, as the Air Force defines it, is the entire electromagnetic spectrum.
The Air Force is in the process of establishing a fully fledged Cyberspace Command alongside its space and air commands. But Gen. Elder, like other senior officials, denied that the move was a turf grab.
He elaborated on the consequences of the Air Force's view of cyberspace as a war-fighting domain by comparing it to the maritime and air domains, both which simultaneously were the venues for commerce and daily life, and potential vectors for military action by or against the U.S.
"We in the Air Force think the air is a war-fighting domain," he said. "But that doesn't mean we expect Delta or United [Airlines] to think it is."
He said that there was a diverse and overlapping series of authorities and legal frameworks for activities in cyberspace and that the full policy implications of seeing it as a war-fighting domain are yet to be worked through.
"We have had situations before where the intersections [with other agencies] ... have been difficult," he said.
He said there were "shades of gray from law enforcement [to] homeland security, [to] homeland defense to some kind of expeditionary operation [like Iraq]. Where do we say, 'We've crossed the line now' " into the war-fighting realm.
He said there also was tension between war-fighting objectives and intelligence-gathering ones.
Gen. Elder said partnership with such civilian agencies as law enforcement and the Department of Homeland Security, which has the lead in securing the nation's critical infrastructure, including its cybercapacity, was key for the Air Force.
"What we're really trying to do with these partnerships is close the gaps" between military and civilian authorities and agencies, he said.
Some thought the laws governing cyberspace might need to be changed, he said. "Ultimately they may, but until we fully understand how it works between these very different areas of business law enforcement, homeland security, commerce, we can't just say, 'Here's what we should change.' "
Other Air Force officials see current U.S. military policy as too timid.
"Legislation, policies and international law are lagging the technology" in the cyberdomain, Lani Kass, a senior adviser to U.S. Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. T. Michael Moseley, told another recent conference. "The United States is late to the fight."