...A recent unclassified study by the Army’s Intelligence and Security Command predicted, in a conceptual sense, what we have witnessed in the information war during the [recent] political campaign. In concert with the guerilla war in Iraq against Coalition forces, the leadership of global Islamofascism has executed a well thought-out IW campaign, since they realize that the armed forces of Western civilization cannot be defeated on the battlefield....
Al Qaeda (AQ) understands well the concepts of information warfare (IW). They not only want to achieve information dominance, but also understand that Psychological Operations (PSYOPs) are a critical part of IW, so that they can influence the target population’s emotions and objective reasoning. But IW is normally waged within the confines of the theater of war and consists of targeting the enemy’s command and control apparatus and attempting to influence his soldiers involved in the fight. The new IW is different.
If AQ wants to target a civilian population beyond its normal area of influence, that is, outside of the Middle East and Central Asia, it must establish its own network of groups who share in AQ’s goals and objectives, and capitalize on the efforts of independent actors whose own goals and activities also unwittingly serve AQ’s ends. Simply put, AQ understands and practices Netwar, which according to the Army Intelligence and Security Command study is,
Information-related conflict at a grand level between nations or societies. It means trying to disrupt or damage what a target population knows or thinks it knows about itself and the world around it. A Netwar may focus on public or elite opinion, or both [emphasis mine]. It may involve diplomacy, propaganda and psychological campaigns, political and cultural subversion, deception of or interference with local media, infiltration of computer networks and databases, and efforts to promote dissident or opposition movements across computer networks.
The Netwar battlefield is not confined to the internet, it involves using the entire array of communication and information infrastructure of “open societies” to achieve victory over the US and the Coalition. Misdirection is a key tactic. Understand that the Islamofascists have, in fact, chosen Iraq as the key physical battlefield for the global jihad. This is why they have staked their Netwar campaign on operations to portray Operation Iraqi Freedom as a “distraction” from the War on Terror. We are hurting them badly, and they want the American left, the EU, the UN, and other actors of the so-called international community to make it stop....
...An average of polling data just before the election was showing a Bush victory, and the new video of Osama Bin Laden, promising peace and prosperity to Blue states and death and destruction to Red states, certainly didn’t help matters for the Democrats. If one listened closely to some of bin Laden’s words, a reasonable person might ask if he were parroting the talking points of the DNC. Clearly, this was bin Laden’s last ditch attempt at PSYOPs on the American electorate. Most Americans thankfully took it as a challenge, and concluded that we were not going to be dissuaded from our decision by threats. John Kerry, after thinking about it for more than a week following his defeat, blamed the bin Laden tape for his loss....
This last year has witnessed just the beginning of intense fights in the ongoing Netwar. After all, it’s the only hope for the terrorists’ cause. The outcome of our Armed Forces conventional battles against Islamofascism will never be in doubt, but the Netwar battles in the ether are just as critical in fighting the War on Terror....
Strong stuff. Stronger stuff omitted. Hanson goes over the top in practically accusing the Left and the press of complicity with the enemy. But there's certainly nothing wrong with pointing out that the Left and the press, at times, advance the enemy's cause. Free speech works in both directions.
