(Ed note: for the rest of the world, the headline on this story was The Iron Fist in the Patent Leather Glove. I wonder why ZDNet US didn’t want to use it?)
COMMENTARY–It can take a long time to realize that war is in the air. Is that a sword being unsheathed or merely a saber being rattled? A field exercise or the first stage of mobilization? Are those defensive forces digging in at the border, or shock troops readying a surprise onslaught?
These issues consumed military planners during the Cold War, but they all boil down to one simple question: what is in the mind of the opposition? Until the first shot is fired, there is always an element of ambiguity in even the most offensive posturing–and you can be sure that an aggressive foe will use that ambiguity to the full.
Link: ZDNet.com
