war as network

One of the paradoxes of the beginning of this century is how a group of people living in some of the most remote places on earth seem to be having the upper hand in adjusting their operations to the technology of the day. This otherwise fascistic conservative enemy, is somehow apt at using the newest in technologies and ways of working in their fight, by:

1- Using the internet as much a possible to communicate, train, and propaganda (now, even Second Life)
2- Working as a loose network of independent cells, making them hard to track

The same as any military advance it will take some time to adjust, a task that seems like it would be hard for a body of government that is known for its centralized systems and top-down management. However, the best and brightest in uniform are theorizing and developing ways to move forward. If you are interested, check out this very detailed report on complexity theory as it applies to the war with AlQaeda by Lieutenant Colonel Michael F. Beech, United States Army Report (PDF). The Department of Defense is also looking into ways of weaponizing the web.

I hope that as we wake up from the ongoing nightmare that is Iraq, we come up with the ways of thinking we need to develop to ultimately beat this enemy that shows the will to adapt quickly. From Roman military settlements, to moats, to the suburbs, war technologies and systems always end up influencing the way we experience our built environment, as we develop the new systems we need to beat AlQaeda I wonder how they will influence our design practices.

Articles used throughout this blog entry:
CS Monitor | Internet jihad: tackling terror on the Web
Economist | A world wide web of terror
BBC | U.S. plans to 'fight the web' revealed
Washington Post | The web as weapon

Air War College