Top Officer Fears Cyberwar, Hearts Karzai, Tweets With Help

ANDREWS AIR FORCE BASE, Maryland — America’s top military officer believes there’s a cyberwar already in progress. He believes that the Defense Department’s controversial new Cyber Command should become the “engine” of our national network security — not just the builder of better Pentagon firewalls. He believes it’s time to end Afghanistan’s drug war. He believes in the battered presidency of Hamid Karzai; “there is no plan B” in Afghanistan, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Admiral Mike Mullen tells Danger Room. And he believes in tweeting for himself (well, with a little help from his staff).

Those are just some of the surprising answers the Mullen provided in a wide-ranging interview with Danger Room, as we flew from Morgantown, West Virginia to Washington.

Danger Room: I’ve been following the creation of the military’s new Cyber Command for — ugh — almost three years now. And I still can’t figure out what the heck it’s really supposed to do: protect military networks, logic bomb other countries, handle civilian cybersecurity, or all of the above. Help?

Michael Mullen: It is focused most centrally on having a command that spends its time addressing a very, very significant challenge of our day: the whole cyberwar. It’s become such a large-scale concern that the Secretary of Defense and the President and others, including myself, thought it absolutely critical to stand up a command that devotes itself full-time to this challenge. [New White House network security czar Howard Schmidt, on the other hand, says "there is no cyberwar" -- ed.] I think initially, principally, it’ll be focused on defending. But there’s a blurring, if you will, in the speed of cyber between defense and offense. And so I think you’ll see that, as well.

But more than anything else, I believe Cyber Command will be the engine for us as a country to look a how we meet this challenge. [Others have described Cyber Command as focused almost exclusively on securing .mil domains -- ed.] And all of us — the senior leadership, the senior military leadership — recognize the growing threat that’s out there. And that’s why we think this new command is so critical to set up.

Danger Room: That new command is based at Ft. Meade, Maryland, the headquarters of the National Security Agency. It’s headed up by the NSA’s director, Lt. Gen. Keith Alexander. So how can Americans feel comfortable about what seems like the arm of an intelligence agency becoming the “engine” of our network defense?

Mullen: There’s no better agency or commander — there’s no better commander, there’s nobody who understands this better than Lt. Gen. Keith Alexander …

I understand the concern. I can only say that this command is stood up in full disclosure of everything that we’re doing. And it is focused on a threat that’s very real. We’re being attacked today, from other countries. I’m confident that both in its stand-up and in its oversight that we’ll be able to execute the mission successfully and keeping in mind those concerns you expressed in your question. Not just keeping in mind, but regarding them, paying an awful lot of attention, making sure we’re fully complying.

Danger Room: I’m almost as confused about Afghanistan as I am about Cyber Command. In a recent speech, you talked about wartime victories being “iterative.” So what would the next one or two iterations looks like over there? Because I have a hard time imagining what they might be.


Mullen: Well, I think the strategy that the president laid out — that we are now executing — is reversing the momentum of the Taliban. That’s really the goal this year. I think the operation in Kandahar, which ha[s] commenced, will go a long way towards doing that. So that’s sort of the next big step for me, is Kandahar.

But it’s not just the security aspect. It’s the governance piece. Y’know, I was in a shura with the governor of Kandahar and 60 or 70 elders three or four weeks ago, my last trip. They’re asking for goods and services. They want security, safety. They want their government to deliver for them. I think in the near term, that’s the next big step. Not to say that there aren’t significant operations going on in the east — there are, as well as [in] the north and the west. [Kandahar] is the next big one.

Danger Room: The Army recently commissioned a poll in Kandahar. It found that the people there trusted the Taliban more than the government. You’ve said in the past that we need the local people’s support before any big operation can start there. Is that still your thinking?

Mullen: We know what we need to do. Clearly, even in the shuras that I sat in, the governance issue was a significant issue. And I think that’s really key. And that’s been a big part of strategy from the beginning — not just the governance in Kabul, but how do you get down to the provinces, to the districts, and to the subdistricts. That’s very much part of the strategy. We know we’ve got to do that. And we have to do that, quite frankly, because of the backdrop you just described, where that hadn’t been in case, as evidenced by that poll.

Danger Room: So do you need have the elders’ or the people’s buy-in before an operation starts?

Mullen: I think you’ll see the same kind of approach that General McChrystal used in Marja [before the offensive there began]. They are going to meet with a lot of leaders before the operation. That approach worked there, and I think you’ll see it again.

Danger Room: I’m also mystified to our approach to drug policy over there. Do we have a single approach to narcotics there?

Mullen: The overall strategy is to replace the poppies with crops that will provide a standard of living for the farmers. I was there in Helmand [province] the other day … with a full-blown poppy crop sitting there. At the high level, the strategic approach is to create an agriculture capability that moves to what it used to be. Y’know, there was a time a few decades ago where they fed their own people and actually exported agriculture. So I think from an overall strategic approach, that’s where we’re headed. There are some tactical things that we’ve got to work our way through. But, as ambassador [Richard] Holbrooke said, we are out of the eradication business. That’s not the strategy any more.

Danger Room: And you agree with that?

Mullen: Yes, I do. I think it’s got to be a standard of living issue, be an income issue. These farmers, they’ve got to be able to feed their families.

Danger Room: There’s been a lot of talk lately about Karzai and whether he’s really a reliable partner. Do we have an alternative to him if he makes good on his threat to join the Taliban, or doesn’t clamp down on the corruption in his government?

Mullen: President Karzai is the duly elected leader of Afghanistan, and we support him.

Danger Room: Well, maybe he’s not so duly elected.

Mullen: We’ve been through the elections, he’s duly elected, he’s their president, we are very supportive of him. And at the same time, it is also clear that there are things in governance and in corruption, rule of law and security, quite frankly, that he has his ministers have to execute. We know that. We’re very supportive of that. And awfully lot of people are working very hard to try to make sure that that all heads in the right direction.

Danger Room: So what’s plan B if he’s plan A?

Mullen: The plan is to work with president Karzai. There is no plan B.

Danger Room: You’ve talked a lot about the need to minimize civilian casualties in both Afghanistan and Pakistan. But those casualties are on the rise in Afghanistan. And, if the reports are to be believed, they’ve been high for a long time in Pakistan. Is this good counterinsurgency?

Mullen: I think low civilian casualties is critical in counterinsurgency. We’ve worked it hard. There has been an uptick in Afghanistan. Some of that’s ties to an increased level of operations — we’ve got thousands of more troops there. But it’s an area we continue to focus on and that we have to get right. We cannot win this war if we keep killing Afghan civilians.

Danger Room: And how about Pakistani civilians?

Mullen: Well, I think there underlying principle of counterinsurgency is there. I know it’s a concern [Chief of Staff of the Pakistani Army] General [Ashfaq Parvez] Kiyani has, as well. He and I have talked about this.

Danger Room: Okay, finally: As the highest-ranking Twitter user in the military, folks want to know: Is that really you, or is it an aide tweeting? Or is it really you?

Mullen: I tweet. I personally tweet, yeah. But the staff also put tweets up.
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