President Obama's cyber silence leaves US unprepared

[Commentary] Though many details of the massive cyberattack against US government personnel records are still not public, its strategic implications are plain. Washington remains unprepared in cyberspace, floundering and unable to articulate its intentions and capabilities on this new battlefield.

China is the likely culprit, and its cyberwarfare -- added to its near-belligerent behavior in the South and East China seas, its expanding military assets and its use of economic clout for political ends -- is part of a deeply troubling pattern. Unfortunately, President Barack Obama's response is also apparently part of a pattern of sustained inaction. There is obviously risk in any strong response to a cyberattack. But if America is unwilling to defend itself when the costs and risks are relatively low, there is no reason for Beijing and others to think it will do so when the potential consequences are far greater. North Korea's attack on Sony Pictures was a wake-up call. China's apparent capture of US government personnel records is like being upended out of bed to the floor. What else is it going to take?

[John Bolton, a former US ambassador to the United Nations, is a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute]