Note: The following text is a quote:
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/NewsArticle.aspx?ID=1845
England: Technological Development Critical to Outpacing Terrorists
By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Oct. 26, 2006 – The same globalization that’s created vast opportunities for economic growth and information sharing among freedom-loving people has become a favorite tool of terrorists trying to destroy their way of life, Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England told industry representatives here yesterday.
Speaking at the Military Communications Conference 2006, England called rapid technological change, and particularly the ways it can be abused, “the fundamental technical and operational challenge of our time.”
Terrorists are “technologically very savvy,” he said, and see no conflict in using their technological expertise to close doors it’s helped opened.
“Though they aim to undo centuries’ worth of progress, they are not at all reluctant to take full advantage of that progress,” he told the group, who he described as “today’s rock stars of science and technology.”
Terrorists “use the latest technological innovations to communicate, recruit and transfer money,” the deputy secretary said. “They keep Web sites, and they update them in real time to share their lessons learned.”
As latecomers to these cutting-edge technologies, terrorists didn’t have to go through the long process of developing or studying them, England noted. Instead, they simply download them from the Internet and use them for their own purposes.
“The very technologies that you develop and the technologies that make globalization possible are used by terrorists throughout the world against freedom-loving nations,” England told the group.
Faced with this reality, it’s critical that the United States and its coalition partners and allies continually keep a step ahead, he said. He called on the industry leaders to help lead that charge.
England cited the Defense Department’s ongoing, long-term transformation effort and the 2006 Defense Quadrennial Review and its focus on, among other topics, “netcentricity.”
“Netcentric capabilities are about getting people the information they need, when and where they need it,” he said. “Just as it is in business, information has become a strategic asset for the department, and using it effectively is essential to the success of our mission.”
DoD is examining its system capabilities on the macro level to identify gaps and seams, eliminate unintentional redundancies and ensure interoperability, England told the group. It’s also working to improve its integration with coalition partners and allies, he said.
As these efforts move forward, England acknowledged, “antagonists out there who would be delighted to take down our systems (and) are trying, to the tune of thousands of incidents daily.”
Among them, he said, are recreational hackers who hack into DoD systems for fun, “cyber-vigilantes” out to prove a misguided point, small-interest groups pushing ideological issues, transnational terrorist networks aiming to destroy the system, and hostile nation-states.
“These efforts to degrade our systems are expected to continue,” England said.
England closed by calling on industry leaders to continue protecting the United States and its partners from what he called the greatest long-term threat they face: “falling behind in science and technology.”
“Science and technology are the bedrock of our knowledge-based economy, as well as our military capabilities,” he said.
England urged audience members to build on that bedrock by taking every opportunity to encourage science education, research and application. “America’s future, and the future of our partners, does depend on it,” he said.
Note: The following text is a quote:
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/NewsArticle.aspx?ID=1846
Rumsfeld: Terrorists Use Media to Manipulate American People
By Sgt. Sara Wood, USA
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Oct. 26, 2006 – The “center of gravity” in the Iraq war is in America with the American people, not on the battlefield, and the media is a powerful tool that influences the people’s will, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said Oct. 24 in various radio interviews.
“This is the first war that's been conducted in the 21st century with all the new media realities of 24-hour talk radio and Sony cams and digital cameras and news constantly on television,” Rumsfeld said in an interview with Inga Barks on KERN News/Talk Radio in Bakersfield, Calif. “But the American people have a pretty good center of gravity. They've got a good inner gyroscope. And it may be disorienting for a time; it may blow us off course somewhat, but we tend to re-center.”
Rumsfeld did several radio interviews as part of White House Radio Day, where various administration officials talked with representatives from radio stations around the country.
America’s wars have always had critics, but the difference in this war is the prevalence of the media, Rumsfeld said in his interviews. Terrorists recognize the influence the media has, so they use their own media committees to determine how best to manipulate the American public through the media, he said.
The terrorists plan their attacks to deliberately dishearten the American people and make them think the cause isn’t right or that America makes terrorism worse, Rumsfeld said.
“I just don't happen to believe that America is what’s wrong with the world. And I know that's a fact,” he said in an interview with Scott Hennen on “Hot Talk” WDAY AM 970 in Fargo, N.D. “And these terrorists have been determined to dishearten the American people, and we simply must not let that happen.”
Despite negative media reports, Iraq is making progress, Rumsfeld noted. An aerial tour over the country will show people going about their daily activities, such as driving, shopping and eating in restaurants, he said. The troops also see the progress made, he said.
“Everywhere I go with the troops around the world -- in Iraq, Afghanistan, the Horn of Africa -- invariably they will ask me, ‘Why is the impression in the United States so notably different from what they see? Why is the general impression of what's taking place so different?’ And it's because of the media. They decide to do that,” he said.
The insurgency in Iraq is tough right now, and as more progress is made, the terrorists become more determined to throw the government off track, Rumsfeld said. However, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is a strong person who is committed to the country’s success, and U.S. troops serving on the ground are doing amazing things, the secretary said.
“I never cease to be impressed. If I want to be inspired, I go visit the troops,” Rumsfeld said in the interview with Hennen. “And they are doing just a superb job for the country. They're proud of what they're doing. They're professional. They are highly skilled at what they do.”
The U.S. is constantly changing its tactics to better fight terrorists, who are a smart enemy and adjust their tactics, Rumsfeld said. However tough the fight might be, the coalition and Iraqi government are committed to defeating the terrorists and bringing peace to the country, he said.
“It's serious, and it's important, and our task is to see that our country prevails and that we succeed in this effort,” he said. “The consequences for our country were Iraq to be turned over to the terrorists and terrorist training camp, as Afghanistan was, with their water and their oil and their size and their geographic location -- it would impose an enormous threat to our country and to our friends and allies around the world.”