The German Bundeswehr (Army) is writing up what I'd call a war-plan for the future....which elements of this were leaked out this past week. The bulk of the plan (called “German Operational Plan”) will be made public in March.
I sat this morning and read the four 'pillars' of the focus. They are:
1. Guard against fake news and disinformation.
The suggestion is that Russia would try to influence politics and public opinion in Germany. To be honest, this has been going on for seventy years....so there's nothing much new.
2. Guard against 'hacking' probably aimed at energy companies and telecommunications.
3. Guard against spying.
4. Guard against sabotage. It was a wide topic....meaning electrical plants, bridges, communication targets, etc.
To be honest, if you'd gone to the old West German military of the 1980s....it was probably identical to what they'd written down as threats.
The chief problems? First, there's already so much fake news in the mix....I'm not sure if Russia came and introduced more....if people would really notice or be extra skeptical.
Second, there's already a ton of hacking going on. Every week, there's probably a thousand Germans who have their banking/credit information hacked, or some company which has a twenty-thousand Euro 'pinched' out of their account.
Third, there's already a ton of spying going on in the commercial world, and I'm pretty sure at least twenty-odd countries are spying already on Germany.
Fourth, there's so much aging and crappy craftsmanship going on in Germany....that I doubt people would notice the Russians involved in some type of sabotage.
But, here's the thing....you'd really like to believe that the military is doing something....even if this is a cut-and-paste act from 1984......from a document to protect West Germany from East Germany. Maybe there's still some folks still around to remember how all of this works.
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