Government should fix all the braindead policy that guarantees contracts are only awarded to the 'old boy crowd' or new entrants that don't have the skill/talent to do the work.
The DOD outsources nearly everything that requires specialized skill and/or knowledge. Which is fine but the FAR (Federal Acquisition Regulations) are completely screwed.
18F and the USDS are showing a lot of promise in this domain. But, 'fixing the government' shouldn't be limited only to teams that have been blessed by presidental decree.
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Is this so-called encrypted messaging app that doesn't exist really the issue here.
ISIS doesn't have the talent to build such a thing. What they have is a lot of money and a lot of young guys to run a mass propaganda campaign.
When they're not doing that they're playing video games and communicating over team chat.
Want to hit them where it hurts, block Syria's access to the XBox and PS4 online gaming platforms. Better yet, block FB and Twitter.
Hypothetically, lets say money does solve the problem of developing a secure, encrypted communication.
How would ISIS go about distributing and training hundreds and thousands of grunts to use said app. Assuming most of their force is technically illiterate and/or literally illiterate. And, manages to do so without leaking the information to opposition intel.
For every developer willing to create such a tool for financial incentives there are likely an order of magnitude more grunts who would be willing to leak the information for a cash payout.
Make no mistake. For as much as ISIS loves to preach that their cause is purely ideologically driven, their existence depends on the ability to pay their troops a living wage.
You know what form of communication suffers from none of those issues? What their grunts likely already use? Gaming systems and voice chat. Considering the demographic of their fighting force, that's the first place I'd look.
Don't get me wrong. I respect John McCain for his service. I just think his motivations lately are focused more on policy and less on the war effort. The end goal being, to once again outlaw the non-government sanctioned use of encryption.
While you make some good points, I find implausible the argument that the average grunt is too technically/literally illiterate to use a chat app, yet competent enough to use "gaming systems and voice chat".
In addition for wishing that, what actions can regular citizens take to prevent more of them from propagating and mongering for war?
- Vote for peaceful / isolationism candidates (and talk about this with your friends)
- Vote for penalties for conflict of interest/corruption related to war (owning stock in weapons companies that sell weapons to wars you legislated for)
- Eliminate the need for war by making it obsolete, e.g. providing all would-be war-joiners with better options (spend money on libraries, positive media, startups..?)
> This position is ideologically motivated and profit-driven, though not without merit
They also have a clue what the hell they are talking about.
Politicians should shut the fuck up in the face of experts.
I also don't understand why they think that ISIS and the like would have trouble accessing encryption because the US government says they get to control things now. The technology is freely available.