Information Warfare

It's ironic and a little amusing that my post on propaganda warfare came just before CNN aired a segment with Blackfive's Jim Hanson. It's nice to know I'm in step with one of the greats. He redirected CNN away from their military-conspiracy hunt and on to the very relevant issue of information warfare:

Now the U.S. has never been good at information warfare. It's probably the weakest part of our military toolbox.

And another difficulty is any time the military gets involved in trying to change the information war, it becomes a question of, is this propaganda and is this a proper thing for the defense department or military to be doing to attempt to change the information scene in the way the information is put out?

I remember that during my time in Egypt, the TV stations constantly aired a propaganda segment about the military might of the region. The locals seemed to believe it. They vowed to give America a bigger fight than we bargained for. I remember that now, as Americans apparently are losing heart in this war. We can look at the numbers and tell the insurgents that they're outmatched, but they don't believe it, and many Americans don't believe it.

We raised such a fuss when the troops didn't have the armor they required, but we haven't fought to arm them with good morale. We haven't fought to arm ourselves with good morale and the knowledge that we can win this fight.

My hands are somewhat tied; I'm not a statesman or a journalist. But you have your own unique spheres of influence: military family associations, city governments, various military departments and even your own blogs. Let's get serious about our information warfare. It's our weakness and the terrorists are exploiting it. We can't afford to let it continue.