Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by gorbot 795 days ago
They said nimbus was for civilian use only, then time publishes an article saying they are dealing with the IDF directly and have a discount given that Nimbus exists…

https://time.com/6966102/google-contract-israel-defense-mini...

3 comments

That isn't at all what the article says.

Every liberal democracy subscribes to the idea of civilian control of the military, so the distinction between civilian leadership and the military they oversee isn't a new or foreign concept.

Why would you assume MoD use = IDF use? Do you also assume everything the DoD contracts for is used by the U.S. Army?

> Do you also assume everything the DoD contracts for is used by the U.S. Army?

tbh, I would expect most people assume that.

Oof. The DoD proper (as in the OSD and OUSDs) is a sprawling bureaucracy. And frankly it sure would be nice to be as well-funded as they are.
I also suspect that almost everything to do with actual military operations - intelligence, logistics, targeting, whatever - would be classified, and therefore could not run on civilian infrastructure.
The same contract the exists between CIA and aws for it's top secret regions. I always ponder why people protest against something that happens thousands of miles from their homes, while the same activity occurs in their own country.
Maybe they protested those things too? And maybe they have family that died or other connections to this topic? Or maybe they feel that there’s a better ROI on protesting this while the conflict is ongoing and the contract is newish versus protesting an American company doing business with America? Maybe they weren’t politically aware when those contracts were signed?

Just a few off the top

The correct answer is "both". Because the CIA and Mossad are very much intertwined.
It is because the CIA is not using AI to create strike target lists.
You'd rather Israel doesn't have the technology to target terrorists with precision, and instead will be forced to use crude methods to carpet-bomb large areas where they hide?
How are you so sure?
Because TikTok and social media brainwashed them to do it. Note these protests are for very specific topic - Israel. Plenty of countries and their militaries/agencies deal with US companies, dictatorships and authoritarian governments.
It's pretty weak proof. It only says some part of it was billed to the ministry of defense. Who knows what it was used for? It could be their HR, billing, etc.