[(Continued from p.5)]
of neutralizing anti-ballistic defense systems developed by the U.S. The development of a Czech technology ("Tamara") enabled the downing in Yugoslavia of the supposedly invulnerable American "Stealth."
Advanced technology and sophisticated weaponry do not constitute an adequate substitute for critical territorial features. They constitute a temporary and tenuous support, which depends on factors that are uncontrollable by Israel.
Syria can import superior technology from China, Russia, Iran, Pakistan, France, and others. But Syria cannot import a topographical edge over the Golan Heights.
The acquisition of sophisticated technology and weaponry increases dependency on foreign suppliers and on changing and unpredictable political, security, and economic realities in the U.S. and the world. For example, up to 1967 the U.S. refused to supply advanced weaponry to Israel. On the eve of the Six Day War, the U.S. warned Israel against initiating a preemptive war. In 1981, the U.S. delayed Israel's acquisition of critically needed weaponry as a sanction for the bombing of the nuclear reactor in Iraq. During the Gulf War (1991),
Territorial features are permanent, fixed factors that are exclusively under Israeli control, strengthening Israel's independence of action.
On the other hand, territorial features are permanent, fixed factors that are exclusively under Israeli control, strengthening Israel's independence of action. A topographical edge compensates for temporary (and eventual) technological inferiority.
In 1967, Israel achieved victory due to the element of surprise and the technological superiority of its air force. Yet, within six years the trounced military forces of Syria and Egypt were reconstructed. In 1973, they almost defeated Israel with the help of surface-to-air and antitank missiles, whose effectiveness surprised Israel and the U.S.
Microsoft and other technological giants were unable to stop the recent wave of hacker attacks, which revealed the vulnerability of the most sophisticated commercial and military systems in the U.S., while causing billions of dollars in damages.
The book Unrestricted War, which was published in 1999 by the Chinese PLA, claims that the U.S. and its allies will be defeated on the technological battlefield with sophisticated "virus" attacks that will jam radar, missiles communications, banking, and logistic systems. The more sophisticated the technology, the more vulnerable it is to injection of false data and to military hackers.
The U.S. is the technological superpower of the world. The U.S. does not face an existential or territorial threat and it stretches over a continent. Still, the U.S. has chosen to control some one hundred overseas military bases and installations situated at vital geographical and topographical locations. Indeed, the U.S. does not depend on technology as an adequate substitute for a geographical or topographical edge.
* Early-warning facilities, advanced technology, sophisticated weaponry, and the human factor are fallible. Topographical advantages provide the security margin that enables one to make up for that fallibility.
* Defense technology, just like commercial technology is an obsolescent product with a short shelf-life. The High-Tech of today will be the Low-Tech of tomorrow, but the High-Ground of today will be the High-Ground of tomorrow.
* Even the most sophisticated technology and weaponry can be jammed. But there is no way to jam the Golan Heights.
* There is no precedent for any country agreeing to exchange a topographical edge for sophisticated early-warning devices and technologies.
Outpost - 6 - March 2000