Cyber Command is the newest global combatant and its sole mission is cyberspace, outside the traditional battlefields of land, sea, air and space.

And by sunset Jack had explored the traditional battlefields, three places along the only route across the mountains for a considerable body of men, above all for men pulling a gun.

Mr. Obama's senior counterterrorism adviser, John O. Brennan, made clear in a recent speech that, outside traditional battlefields, the United States targets only individuals who threaten American security.

Rather than a traditional multiplayer battlefield, Unearthed is part of the game's Firefight mode, which pits a team of players against a brief, computer-controlled alien invasion.

The creation of the secret list is part of the expanded C.I.A. effort to hunt and kill or capture Qaeda operatives far from traditional battlefields, in countries like Yemen.

IT became clear last week that President Bush has provided expanded authority for the Central Intelligence Agency and the military to range far from traditional battlefields to hunt and kill terrorists.

On a traditional battlefield, the goal is to seize territory, but in urban warfare, government buildings, palaces and other multi-story structures become the quarry.

"Both attacked the Bush administration's view that a war metaphor can justify restrictions on basic criminal justice rights away from a traditional battlefield," Mr. Roth said.

Yet given the international reach of the enemy, its networked cells, the absence of a traditional battlefield and the resilience of terrorist passions, that military heritage may be challenged.

Officials declined to describe potential offensive operations, but said they now viewed cyberspace as comparable to more traditional battlefields.