WASHINGTON — They fight the war from computer consoles and video screens.
But the troops that launch the drone strikes and direct the cyberattacks that can kill or disable an enemy might never set foot in the combat zone. Now their battlefield contributions could be recognized.
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta announced Wednesday that for the first time the Pentagon is creating a medal that can be awarded to troops who have a direct impact on combat operations, but do it from afar.
“Modern tools, like remotely piloted platforms and cyber systems, have changed the way wars are fought,” Panetta said. “They’ve given our men and women the ability to engage the enemy and change the course of battle, even from afar.”
Not really. Destroying enemy lines of communication has been around forever, and the annihilation of civilians dates back to WWI at least (before, too, but we want war to look good, so....).
The new blue, red, and white-ribboned Distinguished Warfare Medal will be awarded for “extraordinary achievement.” But unlike other combat medals, it does not require the recipient to risk his or her life.
The medal will be the first combat-related award created since the Bronze Star in 1944.
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I know it's unfair, but I can't help but look at AmeriKa now and see Nazi Germany (the one I've been told about by the Zionist prism of ejoucation and media). Such worship of the warfare state, and any excuse to pin medals while the country goes down the toilet.
"Military halts medal production after veterans’ complaints" by Pauline Jelinek | Associated Press, March 13, 2013
WASHINGTON — The military has stopped production of a new medal for remote warfare troops — drone operators and cyber warfighters — as it considers complaints from veterans and lawmakers over the award, the Pentagon announced Tuesday.
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel has ordered a review of the Distinguished Warfare Medal, which was to be awarded to troops who operate drones and use other technological skills to fight America’s wars from afar.
Pentagon press secretary George Little said Hagel ordered another look in light of concerns by lawmakers and veterans groups that the medal has been ranked above medals for those who served on the front line in harm’s way, such as the Purple Heart given to wounded troops.
‘‘He’s heard their concerns, he’s heard the concerns of others,’’ Little said of Hagel.
If the review agrees with those complaints, the medal would probably have to be renamed and new medals manufactured, a government official said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak on the record....
The former defense secretary, Leon Panetta, announced the new medal last month, saying it was meant to recognize battlefield contributions in a world of changing warfare.
‘‘I’ve seen firsthand how modern tools, like remotely piloted platforms and cyber systems, have changed the way wars are fought,’’ Panetta said. ‘‘And they’ve given our men and women the ability to engage the enemy and change the course of battle, even from afar.’’
Over the last decade of war, remotely piloted Predator and Reaper drones have become critical weapons to gather intelligence and conduct airstrikes. They have been used in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as in Pakistan, Yemen, and northern Africa.
Over the same time, cyberattacks have become a growing national security threat, with Panetta and others warning that the next Pearl Harbor could well be a computer-based assault....
Oh, another Pearl Harbor, huh?
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PEARL HARBOR: MOTHER OF ALL CONSPIRACIES
Project For the New American Century
Wow, 9/11 really sped up their plans (cui bono)!
And who might possibly be behind another Pearl Harbor?
"US forming cyber teams to take offensive; General warns infrastructure threat is real" by Richard Lardner | Associated Press, March 13, 2013
WASHINGTON — The Defense Department is establishing a series of cyber teams charged with carrying out offensive operations to combat the threat of an electronic assault on the United States that could cause major damage and disruption to the country’s vital infrastructure, a senior military official said Tuesday.
General Keith Alexander, the top officer at US Cyber Command, warned during testimony that the potential for an attack against the nation’s electric grid and other essential systems is real and more aggressive steps need to be taken by the federal government and the private sector in order to improve digital defenses.
Who is getting the contract$?
Alexander told the Senate Armed Services Committee that foreign leaders are deterred from launching cyber attacks on the United States because they know such a strike could be traced to its source and would generate a robust response....
Then China is just being stupid or framed, huh?
Offensive cyber weapons are growing and evolving, Alexander said, and it is only a matter of time before tools developed by other nations wind up in the hands of extremist groups or even individuals who could do significant harm.
Related(?): Sunday Globe Special: Speaking Up For Swartz
Alexander said 13 cyber teams are being formed for the mission of guarding the nation in cyberspace. He described them as ‘‘defend-the-nation’’ teams but stressed their role would be offensive.
Then it isn't "defense," is it?
In comments to reporters after the hearing, Alexander likened the teams’ duties to knocking an incoming missile out of the sky before it hits a target. He also said the teams would work outside the United States, but he did not say where.
So if an attack is traced back.... sigh. The new cyber star wars!
He also said another 27 cyber teams are being established to support the military’s warfighting commands while others will protect Defense Department computer systems and data.
Meanwhile, social services are cut to support this massive empire built upon lies.
But even as Alexander detailed these moves, he pushed lawmakers to pass cyber security legislation that would make it easier for the government and the private sector — which controls critical infrastructure such as the electric grid, banking systems, chemical facilities, and water treatment systems — to share detailed information about who is getting hacked and what to do about it.
That is the notorious CISPA, and it quietly passed.
How much you wanna bey it is the BANKING SYSTEM that gets HACKED by the "enemy?"
Just when the private Ponzi scheme is collapsing and being exposed to the entire world. What a coincidence.
President Obama signed an executive order last month that relies heavily on participation from US industry in creating new voluntary standards for protecting information and expands the government’s effort to provide companies with threat data. But the order doesn’t do enough to address the threat, administration officials said. Unresolved issues include the legal liability facing companies if they divulge information, and whether companies should be compelled to meet certain security standards.
The general also told the committee that there needs to be a clear consensus on how the nation is organized to protect critical infrastructure from cyber attacks. ‘‘It takes a team to operate in cyberspace,’’ Alexander said. ‘‘But at times, I think, in talking about the team approach, we’re not clear on who’s in charge when.’’
That's what happens when you have a lying, false-flagging government.
Another issue that still needs to be settled is what constitutes an act of war in cyberspace, Alexander said. He does not consider cyber espionage and the theft of a corporation’s intellectual property to be acts of war. But Alexander said, ‘‘I think you’ve crossed the line’’ if the intent is to disrupt or destroy US infrastructure.
Senator Carl Levin, Democrat of Michigan, the committee’s chairman, noted that Obama recently issued a classified policy directive to govern cyber operations. The Pentagon also has developed a list of procedures on how to respond in ‘‘cyber crisis’’ situations, he added, and the Pentagon is expected to issue cyber rules of engagement for military commanders....
Looks like the CYBER-9/11 FALSE FLAG is A GOOOOO!!!!
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Related:
One in four US hackers 'is an FBI informer'
"Hackers often go to the National Security Agency, where they work on offensive digital attacks on foreign nations."
""Leaked emails from data security firm HBGary show the federal government is offering private intelligence companies contracts to create software to manage “fake people” on social media sites, possibly to manipulate public opinion or create the illusion of consensus on controversial issues."
Ha-rumph.
Who are the hackers again?
Related:
“a strong likelihood that the next Pearl Harbor’’ could well be a cyberattack that cripples the US power grid and financial and government systems...."
Also see: VIRTUAL 9-11: Will the US & Israel Hack The US Banking System Computers and Falsely Blame It On Iran (or Syria or Russia or China)?
Firm alleges cyberspy network
Also see: VIRTUAL 9-11: Will the US & Israel Hack The US Banking System Computers and Falsely Blame It On Iran (or Syria or Russia or China)?
Firm alleges cyberspy network
All clear now?
"White House eases stance on corporate cybersecurity" by Ellen Nakashima | Washington Post, April 27, 2013
WASHINGTON — The White House has backed away from its push for mandatory cybersecurity standards in favor of an approach that would combine voluntary measures with incentives for companies to comply with them.
That approach reflects recognition of the political reality of a divided Congress that makes mandated standards difficult to push through, and a belief that an executive order President Obama signed in February could improve companies’ cybersecurity.
Yeah, if you can't get what you want from Congress, be a dictator.
Now about getting those higher taxes on the rich....
‘‘This is a huge focus for my office right now — driving forward and staying on track with the executive order,’’ White House cybersecurity coordinator Michael Daniel said in an interview this week.
Obama issued the order after a failed effort to pass legislation to ensure that computer systems in critical private-sector operations met security standards. The bill died last year in the face of stiff opposition from industry, in particular the Chamber of Commerce.
The order directed the Commerce Department’s National Institute of Standards and Technology to lead a process in which critical industry sectors and the government jointly develop a set of standards to enhance the companies’ cybersecurity.
These are the same guys who fibbed the falldown of WTC 7, so how can we believe a word they say?
‘‘The most important thing right now is making that framework truly industry-led, truly a collaborative product, and truly something that is useful to companies,’’ Daniel said.
A preliminary framework is due in October, and a final version next February.
The White House’s focus now ‘‘is more about having discussions with Congress about the right incentives we could put in place to encourage the adoption of the framework,’’ a senior administration official said.
A range of possibilities exist, including tax breaks and immunity from lawsuits for failing to protect systems.
This is $uch a corporate-$erving government it's $ick.
The administration still wants cyber legislation, the official said, but that means creating incentives to meet voluntary standards, revised procedures for government cybersecurity, and the removal of barriers to the sharing of information about threats by industry and government.
Why not? Why not go whole hog into pure fascism, the perfect melding of state and corporations? Why pretend any longer?
The sharing of cyber-threat data is controversial because of concerns that doing so with noncivilian government agencies would risk a violation of privacy rights. The White House has threatened to veto a House data-sharing bill if its privacy protections are not strengthened. But the official said that threat does not mean the administration is averse to information sharing or working with the GOP-led House. ‘‘That’s a misinterpretation of the veto threat,’’ he said.
The official said he believes the Congress can pass a bill that Obama will sign. ‘‘I do actually see an opportunity here to get acceptable legislation,’’ he said.
Backing off the mandate, said Eric Chapman, associate director of the University of Maryland’s Cybersecurity Center, is a recognition of the ‘‘political realities that mandatory standards face on Capitol Hill: unlikely and unrealistic. Voluntary is politically more feasible, period.’’
Jacob Olcott, a cyber policy specialist at Good Harbor Consulting, said he still believes there will be advocates for mandating standards in particular sectors, such as energy or telecommunications. But he concedes that the White House-backed legislative proposal that envisioned the Department of Homeland Security ‘‘as uber-regulator’’ is dead.
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"Veterans leader admits wearing brother’s medals" Associated Press, May 02, 2013
CLAY, N.Y. — At the height of the Iraq War in 2006, President George Bush signed a law making it a crime for anyone to wear military medals that they had not earned. In 2012 the Supreme Court struck it down as a violation of the First Amendment.
Congress quickly acted with a new proposal, the Stolen Valor Act, which would make it a crime to lie about military service or make false claims about receiving military medals with the intent of benefiting from those claims. It would specifically exempt from punishment those who simply wear military medals or decorations that do not belong to them.
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