Wildfire
I believe that when Russian bots are attacking our conversations with each other in ways that are meant to drive us to poles and separate us right down the middle, I worry a lot that that is a threat to the Constitution of the United States. … I worry deeply that some of the norms that have kept us strong and have put us in a position of leadership around the world have eroded over time. … We’ve got to be honest with ourselves. We’re playing with fire if we can’t figure this out as a people and come together and figure out a way to work out our differences peaceably.Lt. Gen. S. Clinton Hinote on DOD’s formulation of guidelines to root out extremism in the troops, Washington Times, Nov. 6.
Find the ‘Weak Spot’
Start with the psychology of the aggressor … not what we think would make a difference to us. Public shaming might mean nothing in some of these countries, right? But what makes a difference to them? You need to start there and you need to bring to bear all the instruments of power. But [adversaries] need to be properly mobilized and enabled by some degree of timeliness.
The first U.S. National Cyber Director, John “Chris” Inglis, on how he wants his office to operate.
Gotcha
In execution of those offensive [cyber] operations, it’s given us an opportunity to impose costs. Measurements in this space can be challenging, but when we know there was something we stopped, that’s something we can measure.Lt. Gen. Charles Moore, deputy commander of US Cyber Command, at C4ISRNet’s CyberCon, Nov. 10, speaking about the threat posed by China in cyberspace.
Can We Talk
We had a hotline to the Russians because we were very concerned that a miscommunication with aircraft flying in close proximity in Syria would lead to a problem. … I don’t see any reason why a similar approach couldn’t work for the space domain. … The hotline that we used was to make as many of our operations as transparent as possible and attempt to avoid those miscommunications. … A civilian satellite conducting surveillance, for example, could be mistaken for a hostile counterspace weapon.Lt. Gen. B. Chance Saltzman, U.S. Space Force’s deputy chief of space operations for operations, cyber and nuclear, Global Milsatcom 2021 conference in London, Nov. 3.
No F-16s Either, Please
As long as President [Recep Tayyip] Erdoğan advances his expansionist project in the Eastern Mediterranean, Turkey will continue to threaten our national security and the security of our closest allies in the region—Greece, Israel, and Cyprus. We urge you to act in our national interest and for the sake of stability in the Eastern Mediterranean by refusing to reinforce Turkey’s aging arsenal of fighter jets, and we look forward to receiving your response.Letter from 11 representatives in Congress objecting to any consideration of selling Turkey F-16s. Turkey had planned to buy F-35s, but was dropped from the program after accepting delivery of Russia’s S-400 air defense system.
Four (More)Years
My dad always told me that four years never hurt anybody. Twenty-nine years later, I’m still trying to figure out [which] four years he was talking about.CMSAF JoAnne S. Bass, recalling advice from her father, a retired Army warrant officer, Nov. 11.
You Shall Not Pass
Any attempts and acts of interfering in China’s internal affairs or bullying against China are doomed to failure before the Great Wall of steel of the PLA.Senior Colonel Wu Qian, spokesperson, Chinese Ministry of National Defense, Nov. 5., response to report on Chinese military and security developments released by the U.S. Department of Defense.