Donald, Musk and the Question of Guilt
Elon Musk's satellite-based internet network, Starlink, can currently only be used in Ukraine at reduced speeds during the war. Really?
Anyone either old enough or still very young will know this kid’s game. "Max stole the cookies from the jar!" someone shouts, then Max says: "Who, me?", and everyone responds: "Yeah, you!" Max: "Never!" Everyone else: "Then, who did it?" Max: "Susie stole the cookies from the jar!" Susie: "Who, me?" And so on, until it gets boring.
It is at this point that U.S. President Donald Trump and Elon Musk, the richest man in the world, are arguing over who is responsible for the fact that Musk's satellite-based internet network, Starlink's military version, can currently only be used at reduced speeds in Ukraine. But this is not very funny: Because there are either no advanced warnings of Russian attacks, or the warning time is severely reduced, people are dying on a daily basis in Ukraine. Musk claims that decisions on the Starshield program are made by the commander-in-chief, that is, Trump, who, in return, claims he has nothing to do with it.
Let's assume, against all experience and probability, that Trump was telling the truth. That would mean that Musk would now not only have the power to turn one of the biggest social networks into a stinking cesspool, not only spend millions upon millions to influence American voters in favor of the right in an election, but that he could also be an independent military actor, no longer bound by political directives. That would be dystopian. Imagine if Rheinmetall AG CEO Armin Papperger decided on his own that it would be better not to deliver the tanks recently ordered by the German government — or to deliver them to Russia instead — or to establish his own army. The use of military force and instruments of power would be beyond the last vestiges of democratic control.
So far it hasn’t come to that. It's more likely that Trump will just do what he always does: claim the glory for fabricated achievements and deny any responsibility for the real consequences of his policies, provided those consequences are demonstrably disastrous.
Intelligence agencies on all sides play the same game. In English its called "deniability" — the ability to deny responsibility — when operations have a threatening effect; for example, Russian hybrid warfare in Germany, without it being possible to definitively attribute it to the Kremlin. In the case of Starlink, they are now trying to do the same thing. Only this time its quite obvious that it was Trump who stole the cookies from the jar!
Anyone either old enough or still very young will know this kid’s game. "Max stole the cookies from the jar!" someone shouts, then Max says: "Who, me?", and everyone responds: "Yeah, you!" Max: "Never!" Everyone else: "Then, who did it?" Max: "Susie stole the cookies from the jar!" Susie: "Who, me?" And so on, until it gets boring.
It is at this point that U.S. President Donald Trump and Elon Musk, the richest man in the world, are arguing over who is responsible for the fact that Musk's satellite-based internet network, Starlink's military version, can currently only be used at reduced speeds in Ukraine. But this is not very funny: Because there are either no advanced warnings of Russian attacks, or the warning time is severely reduced, people are dying on a daily basis in Ukraine. Musk claims that decisions on the Starshield program are made by the commander-in-chief, that is, Trump, who, in return, claims he has nothing to do with it.
Let's assume, against all experience and probability, that Trump was telling the truth. That would mean that Musk would now not only have the power to turn one of the biggest social networks into a stinking cesspool, not only spend millions upon millions to influence American voters in favor of the right in an election, but that he could also be an independent military actor, no longer bound by political directives. That would be dystopian. Imagine if Rheinmetall AG CEO Armin Papperger decided on his own that it would be better not to deliver the tanks recently ordered by the German government — or to deliver them to Russia instead — or to establish his own army. The use of military force and instruments of power would be beyond the last vestiges of democratic control.
So far it hasn’t come to that. It's more likely that Trump will just do what he always does: claim the glory for fabricated achievements and deny any responsibility for the real consequences of his policies, provided those consequences are demonstrably disastrous.
Intelligence agencies on all sides play the same game. In English its called "deniability" — the ability to deny responsibility — when operations have a threatening effect; for example, Russian hybrid warfare in Germany, without it being possible to definitively attribute it to the Kremlin. In the case of Starlink, they are now trying to do the same thing. Only this time its quite obvious that it was Trump who stole the cookies from the jar!
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