Is the U.S. military now on an offensive war footing against the cyber-jihadis and cyber-terrorists? Maybe, but Magic 8-ball says YES. As you know, I've been advocating--no more than just advocating, agitating--for precisely the offensive strategy since day one. And you know what? People read this blog.

What kind of people? Top men. Sorry, whenever I get excited I break into dialogue from Raiders of the Lost Ark.

In any event, those top men also read Internet Haganah. And Aaron's agitation far precedes our own. And the strategy, at least in theory, seems to go back at least to 2003.

There are few times when we at The Jawa Report get so stoked that we, literally, break into the robot dance. Okay, so it's just me who is that lame, but we are all excited about this news that our official Iranophobe "John Doe" dug up this morning.

I still am of the opinion that, organizationally, the decentralized nature of the cyber-jihad requires a decentralized fix---"cyber-privateering" as it were. But with the right leadership, the right values, the right equipment, the right operators, and the right sized set of cajones, the "cyber-scorched earth" approach could work.

Keep your fingers crossed and remember to smile when you call me Dr. William Tecumseh Sherman, partner. I don't usually throw up an entire article, but many online publications don't archive older stories. This one we're going to keep for posterity's sake.

CIO Today:

The U.S. military is quietly expanding capabilities to attack terrorists' computer networks, including Web sites that glorify insurgent attacks on U.S. forces in Iraq, military officials and experts say.

The move comes as al-Qaeda and other groups fighting in Iraq and elsewhere have expanded their activities on the Internet and increased the sophistication and volume of their videos and messages. Much of the material is designed to raise money and recruit fighters for Iraq.

"You should not let them operate uncontested" on the Internet and elsewhere in cyberspace, said Marine Brig. Gen. John Davis, who heads a military command located at the National Security Agency. The command was established to develop ways to attack computer networks.

Davis and other officials declined to say whether the military has actually attacked any networks, which would require presidential authorization. The techniques are highly classified.

Pentagon contract documents show the military asks companies to develop a "full spectrum ... of computer network attack techniques." Run by the Air Force Research Laboratory, this program aims to spend $40 million over four years, documents show.

The growth in offensive capabilities signals a shift in military thinking from just monitoring terrorists' Web sites for intelligence to attacking those sites.

"The offensive is increasingly on leaders' minds," said John Arquilla, a professor at the Naval Postgraduate School who also works for the Defense Department on cyberwar issues.

Some officials say cyberattacks can result in losing critical intelligence.

"You always have the built-in tension between the operator who wants to destroy the target and the intelligence officer who wants to use the target to gain more information," said Lani Kass, director of the Air Force's cyberspace task force.

"Our opponents do a heck of a lot more than just watch us in cyberspace," Davis said. "They are acting in cyberspace. We need to develop options so that we can ... dominate cyberspace."

Cyberattacks can take different forms, including eliminating terrorists' Web sites and creating doubts among insurgents about their networks' security Relevant Products/Services, said Arquilla, who favors an offensive approach he calls a "virtual scorched-earth policy."

Armed groups in Iraq videotape nearly all of their attacks on U.S. forces to help magnify their impact.

"Everything they do in Iraq and Afghanistan is geared toward propaganda," said Rep. Jim Saxton, R-N.J., who's on the House Armed Services Committee.

The videos and messages are "getting more and more professional," said Andretta Summerville of iDefense, a private contractor that monitors terrorist activity on the Internet.

Some sites find recruits and push "them toward a pipeline that ends in suicide attacks," said Lt. Col. Matthew McLaughlin, a spokesman for Central Command, which runs the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Attacking Web sites may have limited value, said Ben Venzke of IntelCenter, a contractor that monitors terrorist Web sites and Internet forums. "The problem is the nature of the Internet itself," he said. "It can always come back up in 10 seconds."

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