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Comment by adam419 | Hacker News Reader

In my opinion, seeing an article like this is a huge display of weakness of behalf of the united states.

You don't see other nations who engage in adversarial ways against the US broadcasting their intentions in public theatre.

If the US and obama administration really wanted to demonstrate power and deter china from cyber attacks, they wouldn't go chatting about all the things they're going to do. They would go do it and it would be heard of after the fact.

Has the concept of the element of surprise been forgotten?

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  "One of the conclusions we’ve reached is that we need to be a bit more public about our responses, and one reason is deterrence," said one senior administration official involved in the debate

This sentiment should probably be read as "so as not to appear impotent to the citizens at home" instead.

What you're missing is that this has been publicized by someone inside the administration, who likely thinks the leak is the best way to force the action / inaction they want. It's not "the government" as a monolith showing their hand.

No it hasn't been forgotten. I think you've confused the purpose of the message.

This is meant as a last warning for China, and everyone else, that the US is going to begin aggressively attacking in response, instead of mostly just taking it. I don't think anybody is going to like what's going to come of it. Picture the US military, with its $600 billion budget, treating all global digital infrastructure as its new battlefield.

As a wise man once said, "The whole point of the doomsday machine is lost if keep it a secret."

You know we are masters of marketing, right?

No, it's not a display of weakness, not even close. It's purely an act of public opinion manipulation. They are trying to steer the public opinion to a certain direction.

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