Changing the Lines in the Coloring Book

摘要

Operational Commanders may find themselves hamstrung by definitions rooted too firmly in the past. The ability to affect a nation's life and well- being through nonkinetic electronic means is a real and potent threat; therefore, the Operational Commander must advance the thinking to allow self- defensive actions in light of those threats, and not simply the punch in the nose required under existing State practice. The Operational Commander must think of hostile act, hostile intent, and lethal fires in a new environment, that of the electronic attack against ideals, and must propose to the Strategic level of command a rationale for departing from existing State practice. This paper gives some thoughts in those regards, reviewing existing law, examining potential future threats and means for further investigating them, and then setting out a good-faith basis for modification or extension of existing law.