Improving Information Operations in Iraq and the Global War on Terror
by Farook Ahmed and Oubai Shahbandar
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The Surge of US military forces in Iraq has delivered a tremendous level of success in providing security to areas of Iraq that were previously under insurgent control. In order to build on these successes in the future, the United States would greatly benefit from force multipliers that can help promote security and foster political reconciliation as the extra troops provided by the Surge withdraw.
A cheap and effective way to augment the Soldiers on the ground is to defeat radical extremist groups’ ideologies and continue to win over the Iraqi population. The first step in developing this capability will be for the United States to establish a strategic framework that provides a central role for information operations (IO). These operations are analogous to a political campaign; they revolve around putting together and conveying a coherent message that convinces people to be sympathetic to one group and oppose that group’s adversary. In Iraq and in the broader war against violent Jihadism, the United States not only needs the power to act, but also the power to influence how its actions are interpreted.
Comments (1)
My name is Tim Riggs, I am a Major in the United States Army with 17 years of experience (both officer and enlisted). I have been to both Iraq and Afghanistan (most recently coming back from Afghanistan in November) and have had the opportunity to see the IO campaign. From my perspective, at least at division and below, I believe there is a good IO effort in place and it is getting the good news story out to the local population. In my opinion, it is not the local in Iraq or Afghanistan that needs to be targeted, it is the local citizen in the U.S. I am a budget officer and was able to see on a daily basis, the money that was being put to good use to help the locals. I was able to see schools built, hospitals opened, and roads constructed (among other things). Unfortunately, the good news stories do not make the media money. I believe the strategic IO campaign needs to focus on the American media to get the good news story out to the American people.
The views expressed above are not the views of the Army, they are my personal opinion only.
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July 14, 2008 8:52 AM