[Nettime-bold] What Future War Looks Like

["ricardo dominguez" <rdom@thing.net>]

What Future War Looks Like
By Declan McCullagh and Ben Polen
2:00 a.m. Sep. 18, 2001 PDT

http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,46915,00.html

President Bush has warned of a "different type of war" on terrorism. Wired
News asked Stephen Sloan, a professor of
political science at the University of Oklahoma, what a 21st century war
might mean.
Sloan's books include Simulating Terrorism and the Historical Dictionary
of Terrorism. He has also served as a consultant to the U.S. military.

Wired News: President Bush called the Sept. 11 attacks a "declaration
of war against the United States." Who have we declared war against? If
we're fighting Osama bin Laden, how does the government fight a war
against an invisible enemy?

Stephen Sloan: The type of war we are dealing with ultimately is a
protracted form of warfare in which there won't be
decisive victories. It's often called "dark war" or "war in shadows,"
because we don't have an identifiable enemy or
battlefield. It's not the type of war the United States is used to waging.

The United States and its allies will have to have the resolve to engage the
enemy over a long and protracted period. That
doesn't mean there shouldn't be immediate strikes. But these strikes, unlike
the cruise missiles of the past, shouldn't be
merely symbolic. They need to be targeted and strategic. It is far more than
solely a military conflict. There will be an
absolute need for effective intelligence operations and Internet warfare. It
will require our ability to engage in sophisticated
warfare technology including a wide variety of clandestine and covert
operations.

WN: What are the effects of Bush declaring war against what is, essentially,
an unknown enemy?

Stephen Sloan: The positive effects will be that instead of essentially
reacting to incidents and viewing them, for
example, as a more of an enforcement issue, we now can and will consider
engaging in offensive operations. When we use
the military, as compared to the police, we will use the maximum amount of
force. We won't face the constraints with
police, which is the minimum use of force. That will open up more-prepared
operations in the long haul.

WN: What about the impact on civilian life?

Stephen Sloan: As you can see now, the National Guard and military are being
activated under the concept of "homeland
defense." There are serious debates -- should the military be involved in a
role in law enforcement or have an expanded
mission? This has already taken place in one way, earlier with the War on
Drugs, and later with weapons of mass
destruction.

With the tragedy just taking place, homeland defense is moving on at very
rapid rate. But as time goes on, there will be
serious issues of civil and military relations as to what shall be (the)
level of military involvement. If it is involved, it would
require intelligence for planning, and will it be involved in intelligence
collection?

WN: Are we going to have a loss of liberty?

Stephen Sloan: The Civil War period saw what was called a constitutional
dictatorship. There was a suspension of civil
liberties, including habeas corpus. World War II saw a crisis government.
When under massive assault, a democracy will
recognize the fact it will have to take measures it would not ordinarily use
in peace times, lessening civil rights and
suspension of due process. When the crisis is over, the liberties are
returned. The problem with this is: Who decides when
the crisis is over, or will it be over?

MORE
http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,46915,00.html


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