Ads on METRO #3: Unrestricted Warfare

A few weeks ago I saw an ad for an Unrestricted Warfare Symposium. A bunch of smart people spent two days discussing ways to defend this country against the unrestricted threat.

Unrestricted warfare is a phrase coined by two Chinese colonels, Qiao Liang and Wang Xiangsui. They developed a strategy for defeating a vastly superior force (the USA). By abolishing traditional restrictions on warfare and attacking all aspects of a nation, a weaker country could successfully defeat a super-power. All forms of attack are on the table:


Osama Bin Laden and his accomplices may well have taken a page out of the unrestricted warfare playbook, but the threat does not stop with terrorism. In the late 90’s I read an article describing the efforts of a military aggressor team. These patriots attempt to defeat the security of critical networks in order to discover security vulnerabilities. Using Dell laptops and software downloaded off of the internet they managed to hack into the southern California power grid. With the click of a mouse, they could have shut it down. Who needs airplanes and bombs when some smart computer geeks with laptops can accomplish your enemy’s desired military effect?

Unrestricted warriors also use politics and the media in their efforts. Osama bin Laden declared that any state that voted for John Kerry in the 2004 presidential election would not be attacked. I suppose bin Laden has a vested interest in U.S. politics. Al Qaeda’s political ploy failed, but it is a simple example about how our enemies can attempt to manipulate our political process.

One of our nations biggest strengths can also be a weakness exploited by terrorists: the free press. They can use the American media to fuel their agenda. Excessively negative reporting of the war in Iraq certainly works to the benefit of our enemies. I am not accusing the mainstream media of being in collusion with terrorists. Most are just reporting the war the war through the lens of their own worldview. But, America often has to fight the war in the press as well as on the battlefield.

On another note, the war appropriations bill passed by the House and Senate gives me cause for concern. More on that later.