Truth About Computer Security Hysteria

It's obvious when you compare the two (part 4)

[continued from part 3]

BEAR WITH ME: this photo illustrates one of my points about an oft-predicted "cyber-war."

Here we see Cadet 1st Class Scott Crellin removing a goblet from its case during a Doolittle Tokyo Raiders reunion marking their 65^th anniversary. When a Raider dies, his goblet is turned over in the case. Only fourteen of the eighty Raiders' goblets now stand upright. When only two Raiders live to tell their tale, those men will open a bottle of cognac (vintage 1896, the year Doolittle was born) and raise a final toast to their departed comrades.

It's a moving photo for a moving story of eighty men who risked their lives in World War II to bomb the imperial homeland. The raid itself did little damage, but it gave America its first feel-good retaliatory strike after Pearl Harbor. And it deeply wounded Japan's pride — imagine getting so irate that you slaughter a quarter-million Chinese while searching for those 80 men!

Books & movies tell the tale of Doolittle's Raiders. Doolittle himself earned the Medal of Honor for his brilliant plan and heroic leadership. The surviving crewmen have never been forgotten; even their toasting goblets hold a special place at the National Museum of the United States Air Force.

Do you honestly think the mem­bers of some daring "cyber­space mis­sion" will gather to­gether every anni­ver­sary for 65 years to toast their feat with gleaming silver goblets?

Okay...

Now the Air Force trumpets its new "cyberspace" mission. Read USAF's sales brochures and you'll learn cyberspace is ultra-important and it must be exploited before Cyber-War v1.0 kicks off. USAF must be given the money & authority to attack & defend cyberspace from Osama's über-hackers who are at this very moment plotting a major cyber-terror event, blah blah blah.

So here's a little food for thought. When Cyber-War v1.0 kicks off, do you honestly think eighty cyberspace airmen will risk their lives in a daring mission? Do you honestly think the planner/leader of that mission will earn an extraordinary medal for displaying conspicuous gallantry while engaged in a cyberspace action against an enemy of the United States? Do you honestly think that cyberspace mission will inflate America's sagging resolve? Do you honestly think that cyberspace mission will stab the enemy's pride enough for them to slaughter 250,000 people in a neighboring country?