With respect to the U.S. Air Force’s program to replace its aging aerial refueling tankers, it may be time to expect the unexpected: that this big acquisition program may proceed hereafter without a major hitch. Sheer necessity may make it so, according to a defense analyst who has spoken with senior Air Force officials about the program. That driving necessity: “They do not have the money to keep this competition going” indefinitely, said Loren Thompson of the Lexington Institute, an Arlington, Va.-based think tank. The Air Force had been very close to wrapping up a tanker replacement deal with The [...]
Two items I came across today tell two sides of the same story: Computer network attack and defense are a growing part of 21st century warfare. The first item adds to the mounting body of evidence that Islamists and terrorists are seeking to use computers and the Internet to wage holy war. The Jamestown Foundation’s Terrorism Focus yesterday reported that Islamists, sparked by the Pope’s recent comments, have set up a new Web site “to help organize an electronic jihad against websites that insult Islam and Islamic sacred figures.” The Terrorism Focus story continues: The site has been well publicized [...]
The North Korean foreign minister announced Tuesday his country will conduct a nuclear test, the Associated Press reports. We managed to get our hands on the English version of the nuclear test announcement put out by North Korea’s state-controlled media organ, the Korean Central News Agency. The release doesn’t appear to be posted on the KCNA’s Web site as yet. Reading the announcement gives one a sense of the regime’s propaganda style, and the paranoid, almost desperate, voice that characterizes it: DPRK Foreign Ministry Clarifies Stand on New Measure to Bolster War Deterrent Pyongyang, October 3 (KCNA) — The Foreign [...]
