Computers and War

MF: lightly clean up to make the text more concise

This page is long and there are so many things to research. I paced it at 60-120 min, and marked it skippable. --MF, 5/31/20

On this page, you will consider several examples of computer-based military technology.

When you were listing military technologies, did you think of cryptography? GPS? Those technologies have other uses too, but they're of definite military importance, and were developed mainly for military use. Cryptography is older than computers, but modern cryptography depends on computers, and some of the earliest computers were developed for that purpose.

  1. What other computer-based military technology can you think of?

On this page we're going to focus on three really important computer-based military technologies.

Malware

You learned about malware on Unit 4 Lab 2 Page 5: Security Risks. This is a general name for all kinds of programs intended to do harm, including viruses (which copy themselves like real viruses), DNS spoofing, phishing, and denial of service software.

Malware is generally used either just to make trouble or to steal money. But various countries' military groups are actively developing malware to disrupt an enemy country's communications or technology centers.

  1. Look up "Stuxnet," which is the best-known military malware attack. You can also research other military malware.

Autonomous weapons

An autonomous weapon is one that can decide to fire itself without human decision-making. You can see why the military might want autonomous weapons.

  1. Look up the amount of time between the detection of a missile attack on the US and the actual explosion of the incoming missiles.

On the other hand, autonomous weapons raise the possibility that a programming error could start a nuclear war by accident.

  1. Look up "nuclear near misses" to read some of the stories about automated false alarms caused by a bear and other mishaps.

In all of these cases, what prevented the outbreak of World War III is that some human expert didn't trust the automatic missile detectors and, sometimes in violation of direct orders, refused to attack the other side.

In 1983, then-President Ronald Reagan announced a program called the "Strategic Defense Initiative" (SDI) that would have placed military satellites in orbit, equipped with both missile detectors and anti-missile weapons, including high-energy lasers. The satellites would be equipped with computers that would detect an enemy attack, aim its weapons at incoming missiles, and destroy them. The project became known by the (sarcastic) nickname "Star Wars."

  1. Look up "Strategic Defense Initiative," and some of the controversies surrounding it, both in 1983 and in later revivals of the idea.
  2. Look up the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, which SDI would have violated. Why would a treaty limit defensive weapons rather than offensive ones?
  3. For a more recent perspective, read this article about killer robots.

Drones

Drones are remotely piloted aircraft. They vary in size from toys for hobbyists to bombers used in warfare. The remote control depends on computers both in the airplane and on the ground.

"Many contend that President Bush's re-election and increased vote share prove that the Iraq War was either irrelevant or even an asset to him. We present evidence to the contrary. Focusing on the change in Bush’s 2004 showing compared to 2000, we discover that Iraq War casualties from a state significantly depressed the President’s vote share there. We infer that were it not for the approximately 10,000 U.S. dead and wounded in Iraq by Election Day, Bush would have won nearly 2% more of the popular vote, carrying several additional states and winning decisively... In contrast, National Guard/Reservist call-ups had no significant additional effect beyond the main casualty effect."

— "Iraq War Casualties and the 2004 U.S. Presidential Election," David Karol and Edward Miguel, 2004

For an elected president, there are political benefits and political costs to starting a war. A benefit is that when a war starts, especially if voters feel that their country is under attack, a war makes people feel patriotic, and that is reflected in greater approval of the president. That's the primary effect until American soldiers die. Voters disapprove of American deaths. In the study quoted above, the researchers examined George W. Bush's approval ratings state by state, and found that his rating was measurably lower in states from which more soldiers had died.

The risk of American deaths, leading to votes against the president's party, is what keeps presidents from fighting unnecessary wars. It's also why Barack Obama promised "no American boots on the ground" in the war against ISIS in Iraq and Syria.

Drone aircraft are important mainly because they make it easier to start a war in which no Americans die. The pilots are in the US, not in the country being bombed. It's not that the drones are faster or more accurate or otherwise better from a strictly military viewpoint; it's that they're politically valuable, making it easier to start a war.

  1. Discuss: Is making it easier for the US to start a war good or bad? Come up with some arguments on both sides before deciding on your answer.
  2. Discuss: "The US are the good guys, so we won't start a war unless it's in a good cause." This list of US wars may help.