http://www.exile.ru/2007-June-01/remember_the_maine_frame.htmlThe link above is serious but pretty ironic. I absolutely love the eXile editorial in their latest issue:
Enough is Enough
Following the terror attacks on September 11, 2001, NATO invoked Article 5 of its charter for the first time, calling on the alliance's combined military forces to attack and destroy the Taliban and the terrorist bases it harbored. The result: peace and democracy in Afghanistan. Number of subsequent terror attacks on American soil: Zero.
Now NATO faces another test of its commitment to its alliance members. Last month, tiny Estonia fell under attack from its giant, menacing neighbor, Russia. The attack came in the form of a cyber-invasion, the first ever instance of cyber-warfare waged by one nation against another. Of all the horrors of warfare in mankind's bloody history, nothing could have prepared the world for the shock of cyber-warfare, in which Estonia's government web sites stopped working for hours, in some cases days, at a time. We suspect that the Kremlin was behind this attack because the Estonians suspect it, and the Estonians are our friends. Our friends don't lie.
If NATO is to maintain its credibility as the guarantor of peace and security in Europe, it must respond to this flagrant act of Russian aggression. A NATO member has been attacked, its web sites invaded, occupied and plundered. Some reports from the cyber-front speak of Russian government hackers not only flooding websites, but also of waging a campaign of mass virtual-rape. Unconfirmed reports tell of literally tens of thousands of Estonian women suffering this fate. This the first instance of 21st century virtual-gender warfare, something unheard of in the annals of history. And almost everything has been heard of in the annals of history - but virtual mass rape? Where does it end?
Calling all NATO patriots: It's time to defend our Estonian brothers under cyberattack.
NATO must respond to this attack at once. It must again invoke Article 5 of the alliance's charter and launch an immediate pre-emptive full-scale nuclear attack upon Russia, followed by a ground assault to mop up any hostile elements that may have survived the nuclear attack. The nuclear strike must be a surprise attack, so that Russia will not have the chance to respond. In order to effect this, NATO must launch everything in its arsenal, including sea-born Trident II nuclear missiles, Peacekeeper ICBMs, and nuclear gravity bombs, destroying not only Russia's military and nuclear capability, but also its Russia's entire population and industrial capacity. France and Great Britain should be encouraged to launch their own, smaller nuclear arsenals as well, in order to lift those nations' self-esteem.
While we do not rejoice over the consequences of such a NATO assault - tens of millions of Russians will die - the consequences of inaction are far more dangerous. Imagine the unimaginable: You're in your office, surfing the internet, and you decide to access the website of, say, Lithuania's Minister of Transport, or Bulbank, one of Bulgaria's top banks. But instead of seeing a middle-aged man in a suit announcing his ministry's/bank's projects for 2007, instead your screen says, "Problem Accessing This Site."
Yes, it's a terrifying scenario, one that is all too likely, unless a full-scale nuclear attack stops Russia now - before the smoking gun is a host not found .
