OUR PICKSCivilian Cyber Reserve | Deadly Fungi Spreading | Pulling the Plug on TikTok Will Be Hard, and more

Published 21 March 2023

·  Bad Decision, Badly Executed: America’s War of Choice in Iraq
Two decades after the war began, there is no consensus regarding its legacy

·  Pulling the Plug on TikTok Will Be Harder Than It Looks
Making TikTok safe from Chinese exploitation turns out to be harder than it looks

·  Politicized Intelligence and the Origins of the Coronavirus
It is advisable to consider how much difference resolving the question would or would not make

·  Quantum Sensing Has ‘Critical’ Potential for Electrical Grid, Official Says
Quantum information sciences can contribute to a more secure energy economy and infrastructure

·  Deadly Fungi Are the Newest Emerging Microbe Threat All Over the World
These pathogens already kill 1.6 million people every year, and we have few defenses against them

·  Lawmakers Propose Civilian Cyber Reserve to Bolster DOD and DHS
Civilian cybersecurity reserve pilot programs within DOD and DHS to help bolster the federal government’s cyber resilience

·  Leader of White Supremacist Group Arrested for Threatening Journalist Because of His Reporting on Feuerkrieg Division
Former leader of Feuerkrieg Division posted death threats against a Brooklyn-based journalist

·  Nerds, Ninjas, and Neutrons: The Story of the Nuclear Emergency Support Team
The team was created in 1974 to ensure that the government could deal with domestic nuclear threats

·  Violent Extremists Are Living Among Us
In recent decades, we have seen the rise of racially motivated and anti-government/anti-authority violent extremists

·  Majority of Radicalized People Didn’t Get Mental Health Care
A majority of people radicalized to hold extremist views needed mental health services that they hadn’t previously received

Bad Decision, Badly Executed: America’s War of Choice in Iraq  (Richard N. Haass, The Strategist)
The advantage that historians have over journalists concerns time, not so much in the sense that they are free from urgent deadlines, but that they have the deeper perspective conferred by the years—or decades—between events and the act of writing about them. Twenty years is not a lot of time in historical terms, of course. But when it comes to understanding the war that the United States launched against Iraq in March 2003, it is all we have.
Not surprisingly, even two decades after the war began, there is no consensus regarding its legacy. This is to be expected, because all wars are fought three times. First comes the political and domestic struggle over the decision to go to war. Then comes the actual war, and all that happens on the battlefield. Finally, a long debate over the war’s significance ensues: weighing the costs and benefits, determining the lessons learned, and issuing forward-looking policy recommendations.

Pulling the Plug on TikTok Will Be Harder Than It Looks  (David E. Sanger, David McCabe and Sapna Maheshwari, New York Times)
The tensions over the Chinese-owned social media app will come to a head on Thursday, when the company’s chief executive testifies on Capitol Hill.

Politicized Intelligence and the Origins of the Coronavirus  (Paul R. Pillar, National Interest)
The origin of Covid-19 is very much a technical question, but American politicians have seized it and turned it into a political question.

Quantum Sensing Has ‘Critical’ Potential for Electrical Grid, Official Says  (Alexandra Kelley, Nextgov)
Quantum information technologies could be applied to the electrical grid for security and sustainability improvements.

Deadly Fungi Are the Newest Emerging Microbe Threat All Over the World  (Maryn McKenna, Scientific American)
The dangerous fungus Candida auris is spreading rapidly in hospitals and other health care facilities, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned on Monday. This Scientific American June 2021 feature story explains why C. auris can be so lethal and who is most at risk. It also describes why this pathogen and other deadly fungi are spreading throughout the world.

Lawmakers Propose Civilian Cyber Reserve to Bolster DOD and DHS  (Edward Graham, Defense One)
Bipartisan bills aim to allow the agencies to bolster cybersecurity by recruiting skilled civilians to serve as reservists.