Minister Al-X

EPA announces to Terrorists- Go after our Sewage and Drinking Water, cause we don't give a shit.

Something that I enjoy studying is security, and within these studies one thing that has fascinated me is the idea of non-traditional security. Basically, non-traditional security studies are predicated on the idea that since the collapse of the Soviet Union and the ascendancy of America to an unparalleled position of global power, that the threats to America will not come from a big state that we can meet on a field of battle, but rather from smaller states or non-state actors (terrorists), and in the form of asymmetric threats which is a version of not "fighting fair," which can include the use of surprise in all its operational and strategic dimensions and the use of weapons in ways unplanned by the United States. Not fighting fair also includes the prospect of an opponent designing a strategy that fundamentally alters the terrain on which a conflict is fought. The typical asymmetric threats that people talk about are, of course, terrorism and WMD, but what fascinates and scares the living bejesus out of me are Cyber based threats to the critical infrastructure of the United States. While the threat to our electric and internet systems are probably the most frightening, the only known cyber based attack against a utility (at least known to me), happened in Queensland, Australia, when a former sanitation department employee remotely released hundreds of thousands of gallons of raw sewage into rivers and streams.

So, in response to this threat, the EPA has just announced that it plans on taking the lead on securing our critical infrastructures, by passing the buck to industry. Yes, that's right, the US Government has just announced that it will ask American sewage companies to voluntarily secure our nation from threats to our sewage and water waste disposal. I'm still unsure if the words "pretty please" were added to the guidelines, but it definitely didn't give the federal government any authority to ensure that the American public is safe from attack.

Well, at least our food is safe. Oh... Shit.

posted by Anonymous @ 12:04 PM