Disinformation and the Internet.

The greatest weapon that terrorists have in their arsenal is fear and for the entire 20th century governments around the world tried to counter this weapon,with varying success,by denying terrorists the publicity needed to spread their fear amoungst the public.

So why now do western governments appear to be responsible for spreading fear themselves and what tools are they using to do it?

First let's remind remind everyone about the Office of Strategic Influence an organisation that was announced soon after 9/11.

news.bbc.co.uk...

Their main purpose was to spread "black propaganda" but they were disbanded soon after the story above came out in the NewYork Times.There is every reason to believe that an organisation with the same mission still exists under a different name covertly spreading "black propaganda".

The most obvious outlet for this disinformation is the internet and Conspiracy sites like this one are an ideal place to start false rumours and plant scare stories.

Stories on the internet have a trickle down effect.A scare story posted here can find itself all over the web as members pass on information until a rumour is prevalent and no one can remember it's source.

In short your desire to be informed is being manipulated.In the guise of "denying ignorance" you are embracing gullability and even being party to the deception process.
Don't get me wrong these are exceptions not the rule but it seems wise to be aware that these exceptions exist.

The term Al Qaeda is an example of disinformation that has permeated even the traditional media.
Al Qaeda is the name of a terrorist organisation led by Ossama Bin Laden which organised and carried out the attacks on 9/11.Since then many terrorist attacks around the world have been attributed to Al Qaeda.Al Qaeda is now being used in a wider philisophical sense by the US/UK governments(you may sometimes pick out the caveat "Al Qaeda like" in official briefings on attacks)
Al Qaeda is being used as a term that encompasses many disparate groups because of it's strong associations in the minds of many.

Most pieces of "black propaganda" on the internet are less subtle and normally seek to heighten concern around a sensitive time.

So the main question remains.Why?Why are the US and UK governments using the internet to spread fear?Why,when fear is the primary weapon of the terrorist?

Fear = Hate. The main goal is the spread of hatred towards "enemies" Works everytime.

You're quite right fear does equal hate but fear is the objective of the terrorist hate is it's natural consequence.
Hate is not something that will harm terrorists because they are oblivious to it.

Hate can unite but who do the governments hope to unite us against.Not terrorists because everyone is united against them anyway.
An enemy needs to always be defined.The danger is that they become stereotyped.

Anyway that wasn't my main point.My main point is that the internet and this site is being used to distribute/disseminate black propaganda on behalf of the US government.

Though I'm not going to mention any names at this point.

I'm just asking what can be achieved by instilling fear in the public.

Other than giving people a feeling of dependency of their protection and a carte blanche to act on their behalf.

1: The government seeks to unite the public in whomever & whatever goals it aims for. They define the enemy for you.

2:The goals the government aims for.

I really don't have any better way to say it.
The government controls the people instead of other way 'round. Mass media is far more effective than internet to sway public opinion, thus accomplish their goals.

you can normally smell a planted story a mile off, it just happens to appear just at the right time for the government, a lot of fuss is made in the media and it just vanishes pretty much overnight. I think thats the ministry of propaganda who make up such BS.