Thomas P.M. Barnett :: Weblog

Good on her. Despite various naysayings about how America can no longer compete (be it in manufacturing, information technology, or military matters) in the world, I remain firmly convinced that enterprising Americans will always perform well, if only allowed to. I'll put our best and brightest up against anyone, anyday.

I applaud the initiative and level of effort, but she and those like her (SITE, Internet Haganah, etc.) are adding to the chaos, not solving a problem. Indeed that it is a problem that needs solving is debatable.

These sites are an intelligence boon, and shutting them down does nothing to advance the intelligence war (which is a growing if not dominant part of this particular as well as future fights). All the stories of USG telecom and ‘Net surveillance and now we’re to believe that our Uncle is deaf and blind to this activity?

It is all well and good to get indignant about e-jihadists hosting their madness on US-based sites, but chase them away and then they get harder to reach. Knowing what they are up to beats not knowing, and driving them further underground isn’t in anyone’s interest but theirs.

This is also not much of a guerrilla movement. You can count on your fingers with digits left over who is engaged in the fight, and there is no discernible strategy. If GG’s are aiming to hollow out the state to make it safe and lucrative to operate, what are these folks aiming for?

The baddies are parasites that strike at legit targets; the good guys (if they opt to strike) are targeting the innocent hosts. The losers in the cyber war are the connected, not those who are used to being in the dark.