Pentagon Wages Information Warfare

www.latimes.com...">information warfare

On the evening of Oct. 14, a young Marine spokesman near Fallujah appeared on CNN and made a dramatic announcement. CNN, which had been alerted to expect a major news development, reported that the long-awaited offensive to retake the Iraqi city of Fallujah had begun.

In fact, the Fallujah offensive would not kick off for another three weeks. Gilbert's carefully worded announcement was an elaborate psychological operation -- or "psy-op" -- intended to dupe insurgents in Fallujah and allow U.S. commanders to see how guerrillas would react when they believed U.S. troops were entering the city, according to several Pentagon officials.

This is great, using the media to distract and then bieng able to read what the enemy will truly do. It shows that no matter what the technology, it is social investigation(good intel) that can still provide the edge in battle win a battle.

The Pentagon in 2002 was forced to shutter its controversial Office of Strategic Influence (OSI), which was opened shortly after the Sept. 11 attacks, after reports that the office intended to plant false news stories in the international media. But officials say that much of OSI's mission -- using information as a tool of war -- has been assumed by other offices throughout the U.S. government.

archives.cnn.com...

Why was the OSI shut down after such a short time, anyone got a good link? I found a few but not much, thanks....

Although most of the work remains classified, officials say that some of the ongoing efforts include having U.S. military spokesmen play a greater role in psychological operations in Iraq, as well as planting information with sources used by Arabic TV channels such as Al-Jazeera to help influence the portrayal of the United States.

Can anyone confirm that the US has that much influence on AJ. That would explain why the people who drop off the tapes are not bound and gagged.

All in all it shows that the media is a huge influence and not to believe CNN,l basically reaffirming what most people already believe and/or know

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Very interesting indeed, could the info supplied to the Arab stations especially be false to the point that the Arabs will not believe their own source?

You know, 16 aircraft shot down etc etc..??

Well, in my opinion, the incident provided was a brilliant strategy. Secrecy has been heavily compromised by news agencies with no respect for the nations they serve who readily provide news coverage to our enemies.

When Marines landed in Somalia, the news media were there to greet them. CNN announces that the Fallujah operation has begun and the insurgents spring into action. Only this time, it's a trick and the US military gets the goods on the enemy's size, organization and tactics. Bravisimo!

On the evening of Oct. 14, a young Marine spokesman near Fallujah appeared on CNN and made a dramatic announcement. CNN, which had been alerted to expect a major news development, reported that the long-awaited offensive to retake the Iraqi city of Fallujah had begun.

In fact, the Fallujah offensive would not kick off for another three weeks. Gilbert's carefully worded announcement was an elaborate psychological operation -- or "psy-op" -- intended to dupe insurgents in Fallujah and allow U.S. commanders to see how guerrillas would react when they believed U.S. troops were entering the city, according to several Pentagon officials.

Is that what happened at the start of the war?
More than a month before the start of the war, CBS was reporting that US troops were entering Iraq. Was that just propaganda to see how Saddam would react?

Here's the CBS clip:

U.S. Forces Inside Iraq | February 13, 2003 19:58:23 ���
David Martin reports that some U.S. forces are already inside Iraq, paving the way for
invasion and taking precautions against Saddam's possible scorched...

www.cbsnews.com...