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17 May 2007

The unbearable lightness of the bench

We do not normally comment on active cases or current intelligence matters, but this news item from the United Kingdom simply beggars belief. Apparently, the judge which is responsible for perhaps the most significant trial testing the civilized world’s response to the proliferation of terrorism support activities in the Parallel World is completely unfamiliar with even the most basic features of the environment.

We find it amazing that in this day an age, a system can be so flawed as to assign the responsibility of objective and balanced discernment to an individual who lacks even a layman’s understanding of the substance of the issues at hand.

This however underscores even more clearly the abject failure of the legal approach in counter-terrorism operations. In the Long War, the network is just another element of the battlespace, and it is futile to attempt to use structures designed centuries ago to obtain victory in this new age. Moving forward, deeper into the 21st century evolution of 4th and 5th generation warfare, it will no longer be merely futile but, like this incident illustrates, entirely absurd.

The judge is a national embarrassment for a key US ally. Regrettably, it is equally likely had such a case been brought on this side of the pond that a similar clueless individual would have been the one to hear arguments.

Our enemies have no doubt taken note. It is precisely this sort of event which provokes "lawfare" and other 5GW attempts to use our most revered Western institutions against us.

h/t Slashdot, LGF

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