The question of why the Internet still works in the Islamic State's stronghold of Raqqa, Syria, came up during the House Armed Services Committee hearing on the military’s cyber operations yesterday, and the answer was less than reassuring. ...
Rep. Martha McSally, a retired fighter pilot, posed the question to the assistant secretary of defense for homeland defense and global security, Thomas Atkin[.] ...
Atkin noted that he would give a more detailed answer during the closed-door hearing in the afternoon, but answered in general terms. “Certainly going after specific nodes to hamper and stop the use of the Internet by ISIS is important, but we also have to respect the rights of citizens to have access to the Internet,” he said. “So it’s a careful balance, even in Raqqa.”
But it helps to act like we are that bone-headed. Outside of closed-door hearings.
And it helps that much of the right is so against our president (and rightly so) that the worst explanation based on idiocy and blindness seems perfectly rational.
I have no doubt that leaving the Internet up in Raqqa provides us with lots of intelligence as ISIL uses the Internet. If not, we'd take it down.
Perhaps I'm a boundless optimist, but I don't believe the open-door answer.
