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US Military's cyber command unit grapples with cluster of deaths by suicide

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231–240 of 319 posts

Re: US Military's cyber command unit grapples with cluster of deaths by suicide

#231
post #180

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well that would be fine if it was defence. But it's now the department of war, led by a person who has attacked two countries this year alone.

I'm against the U.S.'s broken leadership as much as any sensible person. But even in normal times with sane leadership, national defense is often a matter of "kill or be killed." This is certainly an uncomfortable truth, but that's the way of the world.

> national defense is often a matter of "kill or be killed."

You and Israel's current leadership are in agreement.

Re: US Military's cyber command unit grapples with cluster of deaths by suicide

#232
post #124
post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The US and Russia are allies.

No, despite what the conservatives and Fox News say, we are not

In what sense? Removing the embargo on russian oil? Inviting the gremlin from the kremlin to Alaska (of all places!) and rolling out the red carpet?

Re: US Military's cyber command unit grapples with cluster of deaths by suicide

#233

Glad to see this brought up! My entire Air Force experience is blocked to comment on besides basic training...Tech school and forward is NDA'd, read in, etc You don't really get to sneak a glimpse of operations and write a book like the SEALs seem get to (jk!)

What is it about being a Navy Seal that makes you want to become an influencer? From the books, podcasts, and misc media appearances you'd think that the Seal Teams were made for media like the Blue Angels.

Re: US Military's cyber command unit grapples with cluster of deaths by suicide

#234
post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is the implication here that we should take the moral high ground and let our adversaries murder us first?

[flagged]

I'm genuinely not sure how else to interpret your previous comment. Do you see any situations where defense by lethal force is appropriate?

Re: US Military's cyber command unit grapples with cluster of deaths by suicide

#235

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Used to work in this field. You're correct: not being able to talk about it is the worst part. This is equally true of successes as well as challenges. I did some cool, very impactful stuff in that job. I will go to jail for a long, long time if I ever go into detail about it.

Took me a year to get my secret clearance in the military, I promise you no one gives a s** about anything you say once you're out. It is a fun way to feel self-important though :-) I was a part of the world's largest illegal operation in history and again I promise you no one gives a s**.

Well go on then...

Re: US Military's cyber command unit grapples with cluster of deaths by suicide

#236
post #228

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No one runs into machine gun fire to bring democracy to someone else I can assure you of that.

That's probably false as you can see historically that ideological armies have far better morale and better effectiveness

"Bringing democracy" is a very weak ideological motivation. I would rather call it plausible deniability. As in "we're doing this to bring democracy" and people might be left with the doubt that it's true.

Re: US Military's cyber command unit grapples with cluster of deaths by suicide

#237
post #201

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Counterpoint, industry cyber security is so generally weak, if there were actually a secret "huge cold cyber war" on-going, we'd see real world impact. Since we don't, it probably isn't happening.

I mean, isn't that all counter-intelligence? They wouldn't want to be seen?

The entire US powergrid is so vulnerable right now, if there really was a cyber cold war the entire thing could be shut off overnight probably.

Given that it's not happening, then it's probably just not a thing.

Re: US Military's cyber command unit grapples with cluster of deaths by suicide

#238

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Used to work in this field. You're correct: not being able to talk about it is the worst part. This is equally true of successes as well as challenges. I did some cool, very impactful stuff in that job. I will go to jail for a long, long time if I ever go into detail about it.

Took me a year to get my secret clearance in the military, I promise you no one gives a s** about anything you say once you're out. It is a fun way to feel self-important though :-) I was a part of the world's largest illegal operation in history and again I promise you no one gives a s**.

Sounds like a good tip if someone wants to find themselves in jail

Re: US Military's cyber command unit grapples with cluster of deaths by suicide

#239

I suspect the Cold War of cyber warfare that is happening is orders of magnitude bigger than the public knows. Imagine knowing this and not being able to get emotional support from your friends and family.

This could be a factor, but there are other things that probably do more to explain the uptick in suicides.

1. There's a new hot war with Iran, a country that has put a large amount of resources into its cyberwarfare capabilities after previous U.S. cyberstrikes (e.g. stuxnet). Iran is likely a lot tougher target than it was ten years ago and that means pressure for members of the U.S.'s cyber command to perform.

2. Computer nerds probably struggle with getting respect from the rest of the military even at the best of times. That just got a lot harder with Hegseth as secretary.

3. The U.S. is likely not targeting just Iran right now. Imagine being called upon to go to work against countries you consider to be allies, like Denmark, Greenland, Canada, Spain, etc..

Re: US Military's cyber command unit grapples with cluster of deaths by suicide

#240

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The new US policy under Trump is to burn everything down while extracting as much wealth for himself and his cronies as possible.

And creating so much chaos afterwards that it becomes impossible to recover any of it

That's more of a side effect if anything
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