The Technological Advantage
By Cynthia L. Webb
washingtonpost.com Staff Writer
Wednesday, March 19, 2003; 9:56 AM
Souped-up smart bombs, fancy predator drones, pumped-up missiles and rifles equipped with laser pointers are among the advanced weaponry U.S. troops will take into Iraq, marking the military's significant technology advances since the 1991 Persian Gulf War.
Night vision gadgetry could prove to be one of the most important advantages for American forces. For ground troops, there's are monocular night-vision goggles that cover only one eye -- a design that improves depth perception for wearers and prevents troops from being "temporarily blinded by bright artillery fire," explained The San Jose Mercury News in a recent article. U.S. fighter pilots are also equipped with high-tech night-vision goggles to help with missions in the darkness.
The ability for U.S. troops to know exactly where friendly forces are located is boosted by the wider-availability of Global Positioning Systems for soldiers and better thermal sensors in Army tanks and scouting vehicles. "It's the difference between seeing a camel and a vehicle on the horizon," Capt. Mike Adams said. "Ninety percent of the weapons being used this time are precision-guided as opposed to nine percent" in 1991, Col. Christopher Langton of the International Institute for Strategic Studies told Reuters. "The great revolution in this coming war is the ability to see the battlefield," retired Maj. Gen. Robert Scales, former commandant of the Army War College, told The Associated Press. "Air superiority now means you have an unblinking eye in the sky that verifies what's down below."
• San Jose Mercury News: Technology Makes U.S. Soldiers 'Masters of the Night'
• Reuters: Gulf War II: A Very Different Battleground
• The Associated Press via The Malaysia Star: Technology Gives U.S. Forces In Iraq An Edge, Not Invincibility
• GovExec.com: In the Air War, An Overwhelming Information Advantage
Another addition to the military tool kit is the "e-bomb," an explosive device that discharges a flood of electromagnetic pulses to disable nearby electric circuits and jam telecom networks. According to the Washington Post, new microwave-type beams have the potential to fry electronic circuits. "A war with Iraq could allow the United States to debut a new -- and perhaps revolutionary -- class of weapons that can cripple an enemy's ability to fight without harming people or destroying buildings. They are known collectively as 'high-powered microwave weapons' (HPM). They use bursts of electromagnetic energy, delivered by low-impact bombs or 'ray gun'-like devices, to disable or destroy the electronics that control everything from an enemy's radar to its laptops," The Post reported. "These weapons are designed almost exclusively for destroying electronic systems," defense analyst Loren Thompson told the newspaper. Thompson authored a recent study on high-powered microwaves for weaponry. "They minimize collateral damage, overkilling and wasted effort. I tend to think this could make war more humane."
• The Washington Post: Military May Microwave Iraqi Electronic Circuits
• United Press International via Military.com: Officials Deny New 'E-Bomb' (Link is from March 5)
Not all people agree on that point. In a column, InfoWorld's senior editor wrote about the ethical dilemma of using an e-bomb: "Although such a device would certainly achieve its goal of rendering the opposition helpless to conduct any type of war other than with sticks and stones, it could also have a tremendously devastating effect on civilians, depending on how it was used. ... If such a device, having a very limited range, was used against solely military targets, its use would probably present no grave ethical concerns -- accomplishing the goal of destroying military installations. However, if the range were larger or if it were used in civilian areas, the damage would be almost incalculable. It's a bit glib to claim that the bomb is humane because it doesn't physically take lives. Loss of life would certainly follow if hospitals were unable to function or if water and sewage treatment plants were to fail as the result of an EMP detonation. There could be no communications, no electricity, and possibly no clean water available to civilians."
• InfoWorld: Assessing The Technology of War
Too Reliant on High-Tech?
Wired reports that the military's increased reliance on technology could be a weakness during battle as well. "U.S. precision weapons, Predator drones, and the like were less responsible for recent victories in Afghanistan and in the first Gulf War than is generally assumed, they argue. And increasing American dependence on technology leaves U.S. troops dangerously vulnerable to low-tech attacks," Wired reported. "Just as technology gives you capabilities, it also gives you an Achilles heel," Deborah Avant, a George Washington University international affairs professor, told Wired. "It becomes something you have to protect."
The Associated Press article cited above sounded a similar note: "[H]igh-tech weapons don't guarantee targets are always legitimate. In Afghanistan, U.S. warplanes killed dozens of civilians at a wedding party, and twice bombed a Red Cross compound." Nor does technology outweigh training and guts. "It's nice to have robots and bunker busters. In a critical juncture they can carry the day," retired Col. Mike Turner, the Air Force's air operations briefer during the first Gulf War, told The Associated Press. "But you can be lulled into this feeling of invincibility because of your technology. Fundamentally, none of it may be able to be employed. It still comes down to basic warrior skills."
• Wired: Taking Aim At Military Technology
Perhaps because of the limits of technology -- and the potential for a stand-off in the streets of Baghdad -- some old-fashioned war fighting techniques will also be employed in the upcoming Iraq war. The Charlotte Observer reports in a dispatch from Kuwait that soldiers are training for hand-to-hand combat through practice sparring rounds while deployed in the Middle East. "With the technology, it doesn't happen that much anymore," said Pfc. John Butina of Fort Bragg's 325th Infantry Regiment. "But you have to train for that possibility." The newspaper continued: "Just as the Gulf War demonstrated the value of technology, the 'Black Hawk Down' debacle in Somalia two years later proved the nightmare of urban warfare. American soldiers in Iraq could end up being drawn into street fighting and building searches."
• The Charlotte Observer: Hand-to-hand Training For Technology-Laden War
GPS to Offer Hint of War?
Agence France-Presse reports that people who have cars equipped with Global Positioning Systems "may be the first to know when war breaks out against Iraq. ... The German automobile club AvD said experts fear that just before military action against Iraq, which seems likely to start later this week, [GPS] signals will be encoded in order to make them less accurate" -- potentially tipping off civilians who rely on GPS that something is awry with the system. "The argument is that by doing so, the enemy -- in this case Iraq -- would not be able to exploit the system to pinpoint US-led forces sweeping into the country," the news agency said. A Gulf News report, which was picked up by Wireless Week and others, said that satellite-based communications services could be disrupted should a war break out. GPS could be the first system to be impacted, senior industry sources told the news agency.
• AFP via SpaceDaily.com: Iraq war could send German cars in wrong directionclub
• U.K. Tech site The Register: US To Disrupt GPS, Satellite Comms In Gulf?
• Gulf News via Wireless Week: GPS May Be Disrupted
No Such Thing as "Free" Porn
Federal prosecutors accused three people yesterday, including alleged mobster Richard Martino of the Gambino crime family, with allegedly bilking $230 million from Internet surfers who took what they thought were "free" tours of porn sites. "A federal indictment said Web sites that were run by the men and by five companies that were also charged asked visitors for their credit card numbers, ostensibly to obtain proof of their ages. The indictment said the men ensnared their virtual visitors in the Web sites by disabling the 'back' buttons on the users' Internet browsers," The New York Times reported. "Martino, who made millions as a phone sex pioneer before joining the Internet revolution, and his pals allegedly shared more than $230 million in illegal revenues, according to an indictment filed in Brooklyn Federal Court," the New York Daily News reported. The New York Post said that a "mobbed-up smut tycoon and a powerful skin-mag publisher teamed up in a $230 million Internet porn scam - luring lusty visitors onto Web sites like 'playgirl.com' with promises of free peeks and then charging them through the nose, feds say. Reputed wiseguy Richard Martino and Bruce Chew - a CEO of the company that publishes Playgirl and High Society magazines - were arrested yesterday for allegedly lining their pockets with money ripped off from thousands of Web site visitors."
• The New York Times: 3 Are Accused Of Swindling Visitors To Internet Sex Sites (Registration required)
• The New York Daily News: Nab 3 In Porn Scam
• The New York Post: Porn Kings $230M Credit-Card 'Scam'
Ted Turner's Turn-About?
Ted Turner has had one foot out the door at AOL Time Warner ever since he announced in January that he will step down as vice chairman of the media conglomerate in May. But the build-up for war has caused Turner to think twice about departing so soon, according to remarks he made yesterday at a media breakfast in New York. Turner, "vice chairman of AOL Time Warner, said for the first time yesterday that he would most likely remain on the board even after he leaves his executive role in May. And he offered some of the comments that he has shared with his fellow directors, like suggesting that AOL Time Warner might be better off without its troubled America Online division," The New York Times said. A company spokesman told the newspaper that AOL Time Warner head honcho Richard Parsons hoped that Turner would stay on the board of directors. Turner has two weeks to decide, since the company is mailing proxy statements with its list of candidates for new directors.
The Wall Street Journal reported: that Turner "said the threat of war with Iraq has prompted him to lean toward staying on the board. 'I don't want to leave them in the lurch, so maybe I'll stay for a while,' he said. He added that he hasn't made any 'final decision.'" Turner also "disclosed that he had recently volunteered to go to Iraq as a reporter for CNN, the network he founded and subsequently sold to the company that is now AOL Time Warner," the Journal said. But Turner's offer was turned down by CNN, The New York Post said in its coverage of the breakfast remarks.
• The New York Times: Turner Jabs AOL Time Warner (Registration required)
• The Wall Street Journal: War Threat Prompts Turner To Consider Staying at AOL (Subscription required)
• The New York Post: Ted Turned Down As Baghdad Bait
• The Associated Press via The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Turner Ponders Staying on AOL Time Warner Board
The Internet's New Top Dog
ICANN, the controversial group that oversees the Internet's global addressing system, has named Australian Paul Twomey to lead the organization. Twomey is a former Australian government official and a technology company executive. ICANN stands for the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers. Twomey is the first non-U.S. citizen to hold the post, washingtonpost.com said. He already has chaired ICANN's government advisory committee.
• washingtonpost.com: Australian Tapped To Run Internet Group
• Australian IT: Twomey Gets ICANN Gig
• The Sydney Morning Herald: Australian Chosen To Head ICANN
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