"A Cyber-Pearl Harbor that would cause physical destruction and the loss of life, an attack that would paralyze and shock the nation and create a profound new sense of vulnerability."However, as Michael Tanji, writing for Wired, pointed out over two years ago, the electric grid and the public water supply are not at all vulnerable to a cyber attack, despite what Mr. Panetta may say to incite fear in the ill-informed populous. Instilling fear isn't enough though, as The Secretary of Defense alluded to Congress' failure to pass Cybersecurity legislation.
Panetta, during a speech at the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum in New York, said his response was to increased aggressiveness and technological advances by America's adversaries, identified as China, Russia, Iran and militant groups, The New York Times reported.
"An aggressor nation or extremist group could use these kinds of cyber tools to gain control of critical switches," Panetta said. "They could derail passenger trains, or even more dangerous, derail passenger trains loaded with lethal chemicals. They could contaminate the water supply in major cities, or shut down the power grid across large parts of the country."
In a classic Hagelian Dialectic situation, the government has provided us with the problem of cybersecurity, will likely stage something that approximates an attack which can be blamed on enemies, and then will offer the solution--a heavily regulated internet, stripped of any freedom or anonymity.
This has all played out before. Prior to 9/11, in that barely recognizable world, a neocon think tank came up with a plan to impose Western hegemony throughout the world, while subjugating Americans under a brand new scripted and imaginary threat. All that was needed, according to the authors, was "some catastrophic and catalyzing event--like a new Pearl Harbor."
Comment: So, Obama it is then? Looking forward to another four years of 'hope' and 'change'? In the end it should be remembered that the U.S. is a one-party system, both sides financed and controlled by the same players. Debate become little more than circus acts offered up for our democratic entertainment.