On Nov. 28th, 2011, Roger Cohen wrote an op-ed for the New York Times on the Obama administration's "doctrine of silence." To Cohen, the doctrine of silence (as opposed to President Bush's decidedly…loud war on terror) is the Obama administration's shift to covert operations in areas like Pakistan and Iran. The doctrine is silent because, well, the Obama administration hasn't said much about it. Citing a recent explosion at an Iranian military base, the deaths of Iranian nuclear scientists, and the havoc caused by Stuxnet, Cohen believes that "an intense, well-funded cyberwar against Tehran is ongoing" to "sabotage Iran's efforts to develop a military nuclear capacity."
Cohen goes on to compare this "intense, well-funded cyberwar" to conventional conflicts (like in Iraq and Afghanistan), and finds that he prefers the silent, more precise, and far cheaper approach afforded by the doctrine of silence. The only problem? For Cohen, the legality behind the doctrine of silence is uncertain.
The rest of the editorial can be found here.
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