September 15, 2008 • Vol. 14, No. 1 Download Now! (pdf)

 

EDITORIAL
Thanks, Guys
by William Kristol

SCRAPBOOK
Sarah Palin's Foreign Policy Team

ARTICLES
McCain Finds the Right Wingman
by Stephen F. Hayes

A Party of Mavericks
by Fred Barnes

Axis of Honor
by Noemie Emery

Punishing Russia
by Gary Schmitt

Biden's One Accomplishment
by Eli Lehrer

Tax Cuts, Real and Imaginary
by Newt Gingrich & Peter Ferrara

FEATURES
Game Changer
by Jessica Gavora

Among the Paultards
by Matt Labash

Why They Hate Her
by Jeffrey Bell

BOOKS & ARTS
Who Gets In
by Peter Skerry

Alien Nation
by Shawn Macomber

Founders Afloat
by Joseph F. Callo

Poet of Reason
by Wyatt Prunty

Dearly Beloved
by Erin Montgomery

CASUAL
Down in the Boondocks
by Philip Terzian

CORRESPONDENCE
Campaign finance and more

PARODY
'US Weekly' Salutes Stalin


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I Could Have Told You That

Air Force Cyber Command's mission remains unclear:

While the U.S. Air Force is busy setting up a cyber command, defense experts are busy debating what, exactly, a cyber command should do...

When describing the new command's mission, its chief, Air Force Maj. Gen. William Lord, said it is defending "the whole electromagnetic spectrum."

The whole spectrum eh? From radio to gamma rays? I thought we were just talking about cyberspace here. This has been a real problem with the Air Force as of late. The service has been inundated with bureaucratic edifices that clog up productivity while having a negligible impact on the war.

The Air Force's need to hack and to defend against hacks is obvious, so I doubt that anyone challenges Cyber Command's utility. What is questionable is the value of standing up the enormous administrative component needed to support a Major Command. The Air Force is hard-pressed for money right now, yet they continue to bloat the service with highly expensive, officer-heavy support and administrative units instead of concentrating on the basic mission essentials.

Ergo, you've got an entire Major Command whose mission is "uncertain."

Cyber Command could be ahead of its time. But if it does exist to defend our networks and hack our enemies back to the stone age, then CC's battle geeks will need to be quick, adaptable, and surprising in their actions. Unfortunately, excessive administrative bureaucracy specializes in making operations slow, rigid, and highly predictable. Best idea I've heard yet on Cyber Command? Stick them in the now-vacant Cheyenne Mountain complex, and put a crazy cigar chomping general in charge of geek-ops.

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