http://frode.home.cern.ch/frode/ulfving/ulfving.html
This discusses Swedish decryption of a German crypto
machine.
Although the break was done without any hints, it was a
fairly
straightforward system of long-period XOR and fixed
transposition, and
eventual success was predicated on the laziness of the
operators (what
else is new?). Perhaps someone can make this into some form
of
game-theoretic research paper.
An interesting economic commentary, if somewhat off-topic,
is:
``Many analysts consider that war preparations serve only as
instruments of pressure during negotiations. However, that
ignore the
dynamics of future military developments which are created
by a
deployment as large as that which occurred here. Economic
factors and
military logistics make it almost impossible to keep large,
inactive
troop concentrations in place as a trump card during long
negotiations, just as it is damaging for the units' fighting
spirit.
It is too expensive not to use the troops, therefore they
must either
be used in combat or be demobilized and returned to civilian
life.
Only victory justifies the price -- even if it is high. For
example,
consider the collapse of the economic, political and
ecological
systems now affecting the states of the former Soviet Union
as a
consequence, during a long period, of a highly forced ``war
economy''
that did not result in any gains.''
Perhaps the "mission creep" seen in most large
bureaucracies need not
always be attributed to power-grabs and personal aspirations
of
department leaders, but to relatively benign economic
arguments that
"we already pay for it, we might as well use it".
Along with the idea
that capabilities must periodically be exercised in order to
prevent
atrophy, that probably explains a lot of otherwise puzzling
decisions
and apparent over-reactions on the part of decision-makers.
--
Enhance your calm, fellow citizen; it's just ones and
zeroes.
Unix "guru" for rent or hire -><- http://www.li
ghtconsulting.com/~travis/
GPG fingerprint: 9D3F 395A DAC5 5CCC 9066 151D 0A6B 4098
0C55 1484
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