The First Casualty of the Next Major Conflict may be the Internet

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The Neo-Con authors of the famous white paper of strategies for the "New American Century" proposed military control of the internet. That was nearly ten years ago, and the use of the internet to promote public education and resistance of the misdeeds of government has only increased. It must be assumed that the patience of lying government officials with promulgation of unflattering truth via emails and the internet must be short.

Therefore, if another major conflict erupts, such as a shooting war with Iran, it should be expected that the U.S. government may very well attempt to shut down or control the internet. If the public cannot access accurate information, and if war resisters cannot organize and communicate via the internet, government control and manipulation will be easier to secure.

The day is coming when use of the internet to communicate concepts opposing government lies could be made a crime.

The day is coming when email users and internet users known to be dissidents or to have tendencies towards dissidence may be banned and electronically disconnected from the internet altogether.

The Bush administration prizes secrecy and depends on lies and a misinformed and disinformed population.

The internet is the enemy of liars and secretive deceivers and the Bush administration should be expected to be planning a shutdown of the entire internet under the guise of "national security".

Perhaps low power broadcasting at the local level will allow future communications under such circumstances. Activists should expect and be prepared for the worst as tough times surely lie ahead.