NAVAL WAR COLLEGE Newport RI WAR COM THE INTERNET AND OPERATIONS by Angela Maria Lungu Major US Army A paper submitted to the Faculty of the Naval War College in partial satisfaction of the requirements of the Department of Joint Military Operations The contents of this paper reflect my own personal views and are not necessarily endorsed by the Naval War College or the Department of the Navy Signature 5 February 2001 CAPTAIN Patrick T Tooey Professor JMO Department REPORT DOCUMENTATION PAGE 1 Report Security Classi cation UNCLASSIFIED 2 Security Classi cation Authority 3 Declassi cation Downgrading Schedule 4 Distribution Availability of Report DISTRIBUTION STATEMENT A APPROVED FOR PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION IS UNLIMITED 5 Name of Performing Organization JOINT MILITARY OPERATIONS DEPARTMENT 6 Of ce Symbol 7 Address NAVAL WAR COLLEGE 686 CUSHING ROAD NEWPORT RI 02841-1207 8 Title Include Security Classification WAR COMI THE INTERNET AND OPERATIONS UNCLASSIFIED 9 Personal Authors MAJOR ANGELA MARIA LUNGU US ARMY 10 Type of Report FINAL 11 Date of Report 5 FEB 01 12 Page Count 17 12A Paper Advisor if any CAPTAIN PATRICK H TOOEY 13 Supplementary Notation A paper submitted to the Faculty of the NWC in partial satisfaction of the requirements of the JMO Department The contents of this paper re ect my own personal views and are not necessarily endorsed by the NWC or the Department of the Navy 14 Ten key words that relate to your paper INTERNET PSYOP OPERATIONS FUTURE WARFARE PUBLIC DIPLOMACY PROPAGANDA LEGAL 15 Abstract As an information medium and vehicle of in uence the Internet is a powerful tool in both open societies as well as in those whose only glimpse of the outside world is increasingly viewed and shaped through webpages E-mail and electronic chat rooms Moreover the sword cuts both ways as unconstrained legally socially politically adversaries nd the Internet an effective vehicle for in uencing popular support for their cause or inciting the opposite against the US or its interests Consequently the realm of military operations PSYOP must be expanded to include the Internet Just as obvious is the need for action to remove or update current policy and legal constraints on the use of the Internet by military PSYOP forces allowing them to embrace the full range of media so that the US will not be placed at a disadvantage Although current international law restricts many aspects of PSYOP either through ambiguity or non currency there is ample legal room for both the US and others to conduct PSYOP using modern technology and media such as the Internet Existing policy and legal restrictions however must be changed allowing military PSYOP forces to both defend and counter adversarial disinformation and propaganda attacks which impact on the achievement of military objectives By examining this issue I hope to highlight the importance of the Internet for PSYOP and foment further discussion 16 Distribution Unclassi ed Same As DTIC Users Availability of Abstract 17 Abstract Security Classi cation UNCLASSIFIED 18 Name of Responsible Individual CHAIRMAN JOINT MILITARY OPERATIONS DEPARTMENT 19 Telephone 841-6461 20 0f ce Symbol Security Classi cation of This Page Unclassi ed Abstract WAR COM THE INTERNET AND OPERATIONS As an information medium and vehicle of in uence the Internet is a powerful tool in both open societies as well as in those whose only glimpse of the outside world is increasingly viewed and shaped through webpages E-mail and electronic chat rooms Moreover the sword cuts both ways as unconstrained legally socially politically adversaries find the Internet an effective vehicle for in uencing popular support for their cause or inciting the opposite against the US or its interests Consequently the realm of military operations PSYOP must be expanded to include the Internet Just as obvious is the need for action to remove or update current policy and legal constraints on the use of the Internet by military PSYOP forces allowing them to embrace the full range of media so that the US will not be placed at a disadvantage Although current international law restricts many aspects of PSYOP either through ambiguity or non currency there is ample legal room for both the US and others to conduct PSYOP using modern technology and media such as the Internet Existing policy and legal restrictions however must be changed allowing military PSYOP forces to both defend and counter adversarial disinformation and propaganda attacks which impact on the achievement of military objectives By examining this issue I hope to highlight the importance of the Internet for PSYOP and foment further discussion ii TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract ii TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 INTRODUCTION 2 PSYOP AND PUBLIC DIPLOMACY 2 Growing Popularity of PSYOP 2 3 PSYOP AND THE LAW 3 Domestic Law 4 International Law 5 Counterargurnents 6 4 PSYOP AND THE INTERNET 7 Internet Proliferation 7 Future Warfare and PSYOP 8 Implications for PSYOP 9 5 PSYOP AND THE FUTURE l4 6 CONCLUSIONS l6 NOTES 18 BIBLIOGRAPHY 24 1 INTRODUCTION Subcomandante Marcos of the Zapatista National Liberation Army uses a laptop computer amidst the jungles of Chiapas to send carefully written communiqu s and appeals to international organizations and journalists ultimately garnering domestic and international support 1 Only a few years later and a continent away a dark-haired girl scowls from the wheelbarrow her father is pushing across the Kosovo border into Albania in a photo on the U S Information Agency s2 Kosovo website A few clicks away on a Serb website another little girl is seen smiling in a snapshot with the caption Brutally killed by NATO a few days before her birthday 3 These two vignettes demonstrate a modern twist on von Clausewitz the Internet as an increasing continuation of war by other means This cyberspace represents a dramatic shift in strategic thinking regarding national security and changes the ways of looking at warfare One defense analyst notes we have to get beyond the notion that warfare is only about hurling mass and energy at our opponents -it s also about hurling information 6 From the Amazon jungle to Kosovo new technologies are enabling organizations to use information power to counter or fortify raw power As an information medium and vehicle of in uence the Internet is a powerful tool in both open societies as well as in those whose only glimpse of the outside world is increasingly viewed and shaped through webpages E-mail and electronic chat rooms Moreover the sword cuts both ways as unconstrained legally socially and politically adversaries find the Internet an effective vehicle for in uencing popular support for their cause or inciting the opposite against the US or its interests Consequently the realm of military operations PSYOP must be expanded to include the Internet By examining this issue I hope to highlight the importance of the Internet for PSYOP and foment further discussion 2 PSYOP AND PUBLIC DIPLOMACY US public diplomacy plays an important role in national power as a component of both the diplomatic and informational elements and military PSYOP can be used to exercise public diplomacy within the scope of military operations speci cally within a de ned operational area outside the US As de ned by Joint Publication 3 53 PSYOP are operations planned to convey selected information and indicators to foreign audiences to in uence their emotions motives objective reasoning and ultimately the behavior of foreign governments organizations groups and individuals The purpose of PSYOP is to induce or reinforce foreign attitudes and behavior favorable to the originator s objectivesfg One of the principal missions of PSYOP personnel is to serve as the supported military commander's voice to foreign populations to convey intent including political decision makers military commanders forces and civilian populations as well as sources of external support 9 Similarly public diplomacy is de ned as promoting the national interest of the 0 sharing the US through understanding informing and in uencing foreign audiences same objective as PSYOP Moreover it is critical that all themes and objectives re ect and fully support the US national policy and national informational programs must integrate Department of Defense DOD PSYOP efforts into all international information programs to ensure consistent non-contradictory messages or information 11 Growing Popularity of PS YOP There is presently a renewed interest in the use of coordinated information programs military PSYOP in particular due to three compelling reasons First there is a politically driven movement to prevent a potential adversary s escalation towards violent resolution of differences Second due to the Internet and technology it is almost impossible for governments to regulate the flow of information across their borders thus making potential target audiences more accessible to PSYOP messages both friendly and otherwise Third the growing world trend towards urbanization particularly in the third world 12 coupled with the ubiquitous and scrutinizing international media makes the use of overwhelming repower far less palatable in view of large noncombatant populations Moreover especially in the context of actions in Mogadishu and Grozny these lessons have been learned and applied by potential adversaries of the U S In all of these situations the requirement for U S forces to be able to communicate effectively and persuasively with local groups organizations and leaders is key to achieving both military and political goals More importantly in many cases the destructiveness of conventional weaponry is too much and diplomacy is not enough in which case non lethal weapons such as PSYOP could be used to fill that gap and at the same time reduce the risk of military overkill international censure political repercussions or media criticism neatly fitting the gap between diplomacy and combat 1 3 3 PSYOP AND THE LAW Despite this growing interest there are still significant legal boundaries constraining PSYOP Currently both U S policy and law prohibit military forces from conducting PSYOP against American citizens 14 in addition to restrictions imposed by international law This becomes a crucial point since today s public diplomacy messages are increasingly delivered to both domestic and foreign audiences by many of the same media CNN the World Wide Web and international wire services and can be accessed on the Internet from anywhere which in turn have a significant impact on PSYOP forces dissemination means Domestic Law There are several laws that govern public diplomacy which because many PSYOP products and their dissemination constitute a form of public diplomacy also govern military PSYOP The Smith Mundt Act16 was introduced in 1948 as an outgrowth of President Wilson s Committee on Public Information17 and President Truman s Campaign of Truth programs 18 It was passed unanimously by Congress becoming the basic charter for postwar public diplomacy policy and established of the US Information Agency USIA whose two fold mission was to project an accurate image of American society and explain to foreign audiences the nature meaning and rationale of our foreign policies 19 The oreign Relations Act of 1972 amended the Smith Mundt Act to include a ban on disseminating within the US any information about the US its people and its policies 20 prepared for dissemination abroad and the Zorinksy Amendment further restricted public diplomacy by prohibiting any funds to be used to in uence public opinion in the and no program material shall be distributed within the Additionally the 1998 Foreign Relations Restructuring Act merged several agencies to include the USIA under the Department of State DOS and authorized the DOS to conduct Foreign Public Diplomacy 22 The point of contention rests on the difficulty of sending one message to international audiences while sending another to domestic media particularly when viewed through the legal lens 23 The charter of Presidential Decision Directive PDD 68 1nternati0nal Public Information focused on this point making clear that international public information IPI activities are overt and address foreign audiences only while at the same time noting that domestic information should be decon icted and so as not to send a contradictory message As one administration official said In the old days the and State were the main agencies for communicating internationally With the information revolution all agencies now have the ability to communicate internationally and interact with foreign populations IPI is a mechanism that has been established to make sure that these various actors are working in a coordinated manner 24 International Law In addition to the domestic limitations there exist international legal barriers to using the Internet for PSYOP Both explicit regulations of particular actions or more general principles of international law may constrain PSYOP due to the fact that information technology is far newer than existing laws resulting in ambiguity of what is legally defined as war and an absence of provisions that explicitly prohibit information attacks Consequently there exist several areas of contention in the realm of information warfare 25 There are several reasons for the difficulty in resolving these issues While the perpetrators of cyberwar knowledge related con ict at the military level attacks may be formal military forces netwar societal struggles most often associated with low intensity conflict attacks may not even be traditional military forces 26 but instead may often involve non state paramilitary and irregular forces 27 Additionally it has not been established that information attacks especially when they are not directly lethal or physically destructive constitute the use of force or armed attack under such provisions as the United Nations UN Charter 28 and may thus be legal forms of coercion even in peacetime 29 Distorting enemy perceptions may also be illegal or limited by laws against perfidy 30 In spite of the legal constraints there are many areas of PSYOP that are considered within the realm of international law For example the rules of the International Telecommunication Union do not apply between belligerents making wartime communications fair game Specifically relating to PSYOP manipulating enemy perceptions spreading confusion or disaffection by covertly altering official announcements or news broadcasts or confusing or frightening leaders by spoofing intelligence or other government communications in principle would not violate the laws of war However manipulating an adversary nation to the extent that its citizens or leaders become unhinged from reality or using propaganda video morphing or deceptive broadcasts to the extent that they spur unrestrained civil war or genocide may also be illegal 31 Counterarguments The major arguments against Internet PSYOP primarily concern isolation of target audiences namely preventing Americans from viewing Internet products Using traditional media whose dissemination can be somewhat controlled target audiences can be pinpointed with relative assuredness Historically the use of language as well as geographic ranges and reach of dissemination devices have been the primary means for targeting specific audiences The changing linguistic demographics within the US rise of Spanish and other non English languages as well as an increasingly global culture and media network ala Hollywood and CNN make this approach progressively impractical The Internet plainly is only one albeit the most obviously least restricted of many other platforms Central news services Associated Press Reuters the more economical yet less diverse sharing of foreign TV correspondents and bureaus and a dominant US in uence globally Americanization are primarily responsible for this situation Collectively these media have a far greater reach and are far less controllable than ever before Today the transmission of data is almost instant regardless of where sender and receiver are 62 Since narrowing the target audience is almost impossible many of these unintended consequences can be avoided by focusing on dissemination of credible information primarily 6 in response to adversarial propaganda as well as development of messages appealing to speci c groups Up until its incorporation into the DOS in 1999 for example the USIS maintained two separate websites one for American citizens with its USIA title and the other intended for foreign audiences under its US Information Service title Even today the English language website of the Office of International Information Programs formerly USIA differs from its French and Spanish language websites primarily in that the non English sites contain links to articles on human rights specifically on abuses in Cuba and Peru drugs and corruption as well as reports with such titles as Towards a Community of Democracies and The World AIDS Epidemic none of which appear on the English site Of particular note is that both the French and Spanish sites also contain links to the Voice of America site which by law cannot be broadcast into the US Additional content differences are obviously selected based on regional interest and relevancy This cursory content analysis is not intended to discredit the DOS but rather to highlight how they are currently handling the issues of Internet target audiences Clearly current policies have become obsolete and must be reexamined Without changing the restrictions against specifically targeting American citizens it is still possible to change existing policies prohibiting the use of the Internet by these forces thereby enabling them to disseminate relevant and timely products to target audiences best reached through the Internet as well as to effectively counter propaganda directed against the US 4 PSYOP AND THE INTERNET Internet Proliferation The Internet is an important medium for reaching and influencing audiences Currently the backbone of the Internet moves information at gigabits per second 3 and involves access to information through a variety of means including newsgroups World Wide Web E mail gopher Telnet file transfer protocol and Internet relay chat There are currently 375 million Internet users worldwide 36% in the U S growing to 840 million by 2005 and over 1 8 billion by 2010 34 Between 2002 and 2005 broadband connections web cellular phones web entertainment appliances and web interactive TV service will be among the most important factors driving the growth of the Internet 35 The next generation cellular technology 3G may be the biggest broadband of them all and is estimated to be deployed in Japan and Europe two years ahead of the U S extending the number of web users with web cellular phones most notably in developing countries where xed phone lines are limited 36 These factors are particularly relevant since greater multimedia content can be transferred to a greater number of people especially in previously inaccessible regions with larger audiences being in uenced by Internet media Future Warfare and PS YOP Increasingly information technology rather than traditional military means will be the preferred method of attacking US interests attempting to manipulate policy and decision makers by attacking our information infrastructure through selected discriminate releases via both legitimate news organs and nontraditional means 37 This can be accomplished in a variety of ways as the President s Commission on Critical Infrastructure Protection describes Offensive information warfare is attractive to any because it is cheap in relation to the cost of developing maintaining and using advanced military capabilities It may cost little to suborn bribe an insider create false information or manipulate an information system connected to the globally shared information infrastructure 38 This theme was further expanded in a prescient 1989Marine Gazette article examining the evolution of warfare which predicted that in the fourth generation the battle eld would envelop entire societies military objectives would no longer involve annihilating tidy enemy lines but rather eroding popular support for the war within the enemy s society collapsing the enemy internally rather than physically destroying him Although the Internet was not yet a driving force in 1989 the authors warned that highly sophisticated PSYOP might become the dominant operational and strategic weapon in the form of media information intervention especially through manipulation of the media 10 What is alarming is that against this non traditional warfare a lot of capabilities we have just simply aren t relevant says Michael G Vickers director of strategic studies at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments 41 Implications for PSYOP There is without a doubt a growing relevance of the Internet as a medium for not only information but as a means of reaching and in uencing decision makers and their constituencies According to a senior defense analyst today s battle-space is people s minds with the criteria for winning or losing heavily culture dependent Weapons of mass destruction are weapons of mass disruption and the combat zones are now Usenet newsgroups 42 The consumer s center of gravity is rapidly shifting to the Internet broadcasting is no longer how the media works continues a recent Defense Science Board report and radio and TV transmissions are increasingly irrelevant in molding public opinion 43 Today in order to remain relevant PSYOP must demonstrably in uence audiences in an increasingly sophisticated international information a fundamental change in the way PSYOP forces are permitted to conduct day to day functions they can never co opt the information cycle of a sophisticated 44 adversary such as the indigenous media in Bosnia 9 The Internet as an increasingly more potent in uence medium is also an increasingly more relevant PSYOP tool The capabilities of the Internet as a medium for PSYOP are further enhanced when viewed in terms of audience and objectives State and non state actors are increasingly turning to the Internet as a means for garnering domestic and international support and approval which in turn helps legitimize the issue among international organizations As the executive agency for the 1997 Dayton Accord for example the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe OSCE used the Internet to complement more conventional public information and voter information efforts as a means of reinforcing its legitimacy as an international organization while also gaining continued supportf15 It is of particular interest in how the Internet was used to indirectly distribute information to both local and international media as recounted by Peter Clarey OSCE Public Information Of cer All Bosnia and Herzegovina media use our webpage to gather information on the OSCE and elections and in turn distribute it to the public As well over 100 000 out-of-country voters in more than 80 countries use our webpage as a source of information on the elections with the OSCE webpage general election information and election results which would normally be impossible to nd is only as far away as their ngertips In the month leading up to the last election the OSCE webpage received over two million hits but the majority of these were from outside of rather than within 46 Going beyond simply providing information the Mexican Zapatistas also used this technique as did the Serbs and Kosovars in what has been described as the rst online war in which both sides used websites and E mail lists to make their case to set goals retell histories and make stands 47 As information operations48 become more popular and more re ned it is apparent that instead of simple denial of service 10 Information operations should increasingly be about affecting the perceptions and thus the resultant behavior of a selected human target set done by manipulating the information available to the target so that in a given situation the behavior we desire on the part of the target will occur 49 Potential adversaries recognize this as well and Arquilla and Ronfeldt note Protagonists are more interested in keeping the Net up than taking it down so they can use it to mobilize their forces disseminate their views and try to affect the beliefs and opinions of other people 50 After NATO bombed Serb media outlets considered a source of Milosevic propaganda for example the US government decided not to cut off Serb Internet sites DOS spokesman James Rubin responded Full and open access to the Internet can only help the Serbian people know the ugly truth about the atrocities and crimes against humanity being perpetrated in Kosovo by the Milosevic regime 61 However as noted by many and commanders at the start of the con ict Serbia maintained information superiority over the minds of its citizens and to a lesser extent outside Serbia Admiral Ellis Commander-in- Chief of Allied Forces Southern Europe recounted not being able to counter Milosevic s state-controlled media or his attempts to gain international sympathy as well as having to respond to collateral damage problem while Milosevic s forces killed hundreds of people 52 The Serbs also used the Internet to spread various campaign themes causing the USIA to expend great efforts to control the fallout effects on US credibility 53 In this way Milosevic was able to asymmetrically respond to US and NATO actions Yet another implication is the changing dynamic of how the media sees and reports on con icts which is significantly affected by the interactivity of the Internet Talking to the enemy without the intervention of propaganda or governments during the NATO bombing of Serbia via E-mail and chat rooms for example evoked interesting responses from media leaders The international editor of the site maintained an ongoing ll conversation with about 36 Serbs and stated that it was a revelation for him to see how it has given people on both sides of this struggle incredible access to news decision makers 54 According to the New York editor of the online magazine Slate who published the diary of a Slate correspondent in Belgrade during the bombing It does change the terms of the engagement It is very democratizing It makes it much more difficult to demonize the enemy 55 In this way the more traditional media is being ever more in uenced by online media and non journalists often with a personal interest in how the war if fought and how it 56 ultimately impacting public opinion and decision-makers at the highest levels ends Rather than exploit the Internet through webpage content however some countries attempt to restrict or control access to the Internet in order to reduce or eliminate the in uence of controversial or adversarial groups In China the Ministry of State Security shut down the website of the New Culture Forum accusing the group of posting counter revolutionary content the latest of a supposedly ongoing attempt to contain the spread of political dissidence and pornography on the Internet 7 This was quickly followed by a call to arms by the People s Daily in Beijing against enemy forces at home and abroad that use the Internet as a battlefront to infiltrate China China employs other tactics as well such as blocking undesirable websites to limit release of information from China based Internet content providers and has also deliberately slowed down Internet traffic on its international routes 58 The country has expended vast resources to contain its perceived Internet threat helping to earn China the title of one of the 20 enemies of the Internet in 1999 9 Interestingly the Chinese government recognizing the role of the Internet has invested a great deal in establishing a national telecom infrastructure China Telecom a Government Online Project bringing government agencies to the Internet and a similar Enterprise 12 Online Project for Chinese industry Through these initiatives and America Online-type promotions China although an Internet latecomer is now fth in international rankings of Internet users with a 4 2% share ahead of Canada South Korea France and Australia 0 It is clear that this is a coherent and targeted strategy as Major General Wang Pufeng outlined In situations of information defense we must strive for an active approach in a reactive situation and use every means possible to destroy the opponent s information superiority and transform our inferior position in information Other examples of restricting the Internet include Britain's Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act that gives its police sweeping access to E mail and other online communications the outlaw of access to gambling websites in South Korea and even the US law requiring computer ltering software in federally funded schools and libraries to block material harmful to the young 62 Most recently notable has been the French ruling against Yahoo that ordered the company to either nd some way to prevent French users from seeing the Nazi memorabilia posted on its American sites or else pay a daily ne of r100 000 63 A government can also use the Internet to censor 64 Singapore began attempts to censor the Internet and other Asian countries such as Vietnam China Indonesia and Malaysia soon followed suit Russia attempted to remove the Chechen site from a US server by launching a diplomatic offensive just before the Russian attack on Chechnya and the US server complied saying the Chechen site contained terrorist propaganda and hate material 65 Censoring is only temporary though since the affected group or organization can quickly nd a publicly accessible news server that carries the censored newsgroup via webpage or E-mail take out an account with an Internet service provider ISP in a different country or employ third parties to send and receive newsgroup contributions 13 When the Serb government cut off the independent radio station B92 for example which was being used to coordinate protest demonstrations over the Milosevic government s refusal to accept the local election results the leaders of the demonstrations rerouted B92 s broadcasts to the Internet whose Real Audio transmissions were then picked up by Voice of America and the British Broadcasting Corporation in the Netherlands and rebroadcast back into Serbia A thus allowing the demonstrators to continue Radio Belgrade similarly rerouted their broadcasts after NATO bombing of their radio stations through Germany 7 Whether used offensively or defensively it is clear that the Internet is an important tool for PSYOP and can bring tremendous capabilities and informational advantage to forces employing this medium It is easy to see that the most powerful state or entity will be the one that controls and manages information the most effectively 5 PSYOP AND THE FUTURE Given the strategic opportunities afforded by the Internet there are several options for employing this medium DOD in particular could use the Internet offensively to help achieve unconventional warfare objectives as well as to address and counter adversarial propaganda disinformation and neutral party information During the Kosovo crisis former USIA chief information officer Jonathan Spalter stated the measure of success is the extent to which we are perceived not as propaganda but In addition to websites pre empting messages and developing Internet products such as streaming audio video online video games mediated newsgroups and ad banners can also be leveraged for their strategic value and reach The recent Defense Science Board report on PSYOP also suggested some less obvious potential tools using emerging media technologies such as chat rooms and instant messaging services 14 that could be used for guided discussions to in uence how citizens thinks about certain topics and even noted that both US presidential candidates and the Chinese government have used similar Internet technologies for information dissemination 70 Information could also be transmitted over the Internet to sympathetic groups operating in areas of concern that allow them to conduct operations themselves that the US might otherwise have to send its own special forces to accomplish 71 During con ict the Internet is invaluable for getting news out of the region and into the US government getting information from the US and other nations into the region and cultivating political and even operational support for the US side and opposition to the other side 72 Because journalists may not always have access to the crisis locations they may also rely on Internet sites for information which serves to further multiply the effectiveness of whatever side was able to get its story out The crises in Kosovo as well as in Chechnya are two good examples Both the Serb government and the Kosova Liberation Army KLA are using websites and e mail lists to make their case with both sides competing for international support The Serb and KLA sites report daily events that differ so completely they seem to come from separate planets 73 In January 1999 the KLA posted disturbingly graphic photos of what they claim to be the Racak Massacre while the Serbs offer reports from an Italian journal and French newspapers Le Figaro Le Monde that offer proof that there was no massacre in Racak that it was a setup 74 The Chechen site kavkaz org run by the former Chechen information minister takes lessons from the Serbs and features footage of Russia s bombing and shelling campaign Putin atly Russian tanks had red on a bus in northeastern dozens of civilians But the Chechens had already posted 15 photographs on the Internet showing a bus shot to pieces and the mangled corpses of several female passengers 75 As a result then Prime Minister Putin launched the Russian Information Center RIC to combat the Chechen site putting out only Russian government information and limited access to the region by journalists After losing the propaganda war in 1994 96 senior Russian strategists developed a concentrated media plan using the RIC to target Russian popular support for Moscow's actions during the second Chechen war The results have been dramatic with a complete reversal in the ratio of Russians who support military force in Chechnya 76 The Internet can also be used as a defensive technique primarily guarding against defacement of official websites and databases Filtering and blocking software can be installed on individual computers at an ISP or on country gateways linking to the rest of the world and websites themselves can block users based on the user's Internet protocol address which can identify particular computers as well as their locations 77 Acting more offensively PSYOP forces could use the Internet to address and counter adversarial propaganda disinformation and neutral party information 78 6 CONCLUSIONS No law can change as swiftly as can technology unless law is to somehow stop technology s seemingly inexorable worldwide progress it cannot fully control the use of its fruits for warfare 9 It is clear that the Internet is a potentially valuable medium for PSYOP given the trends in today s world and increasing numbers of state and non-state actors are taking full advantage of this opportunity The Internet is an inevitable extension of today s battlefield and using this medium for operations during war is a critical capability that must be employed Just as obvious is the need for action to remove or update 16 current policy and legal constraints on the use of the Internet by military PSYOP forces allowing them to embrace the full range of contemporary media and not place the US at a disadvantage in future con icts It is critical that U S decision makers balance offensive opportunities against defensive vulnerabilities when considering policy options 80 Although current international law restricts many aspects of PSYOP either through ambiguity or non currency there is ample legal room for both the US and others like the double edged sword it can cut both ways to conduct PSYOP using modern technology and media such as the Internet Current policy and legal restrictions however must be changed allowing military PSYOP forces to both defend and counter adversarial disinformation and propaganda attacks which impact on the achievement of military objectives As warned by the Defense Science Board while the US is years ahead of its competitors in terms of military technology in terms of PSYOP there are already competitors on a par with or even arguably more sophisticated than the It is therefore necessary for the DOD to address PSYOP use of the Internet directly and explicitly as an integral asset instead of as an uncontrollable element of the environment whose role is determined by happenstance or as an afterthought in order to use it in the most productive manner possible Furthermore if viewed as a resource and systematically integrated into US planning and operations the Internet can make some important contributions to conflict management and assuring the success of US foreign policy 82 Bombs and missiles will still determine who militarily wins or loses a con ict PSYOPS sic though will help determine how long a con ict lasts and the impact of a military struggle on long-term US strategic interests 83 17 NOTES 1 Angela Maria Giordano Study of a Storm An Analysis of Zapati sta Propaganda Unpublished Master s Thesis US Naval Postgraduate School Monterey CA 1997 2 The US Information Agency was reorganized into the International Information Programs Department within the Department of State on 1 October 1999 as part of the Department of State Reorganization Act 3 David Briscoe Like Air War Propaganda War Over Kosovo Has No Clear Winner lee Associated Press 17 May 1999 in Eden-Webster Passports Lexis Nexis database online World News library 7 January 2001 4 Rod Nordland War E Zone Combat Hostilities May End On The Battle eld But There s Never A Truce On The Internet Newsweek International 1 1 October 1999 72 in Eden Webster Passports Expanded Academic ASAP database online 7 January 2001 5 Michael Satchell Captain Dragan s Serbian Cybercorps Serbs Used Internet For Propaganda While NATO Drops US News World Report 126 10 May 1999 42 in Eden-Webster Passports Expanded Academic ASAP database online 7 January 2001 6 John Arquilla as quoted in Lloyd Robertson Waging War On The World Wide Web C Television National News Pleasanton CA Community Television 31 March 1999 in Eden-Webster Passports Lexis- Nexis transcript online World News library 7 January 2001 7 David Rothkopf Cyberpolitik The Changing Nature Of Power In The Information Age Journal of International Affairs 51 1998 Spring in Columbia International Affairs Online database online 7 January 2001 8 Joint Chiefs of Staff Joint Operations Joint Pub 3 53 Washington DC GPO 10 July 1996 I- 1 9 Department of the Army Operations FM 3 05 30 Washington DC GPO 19 June 2000 1-2 through 1-3 and 1-6 10 According to the Planning Group for Integration of USIA into the Department of State From What is Public Diplomacy 20 June 1997 htm 28 December 2000 Public diplomacy also differs from public affairs whose purpose is primarily to inform domestic audiences and from traditional diplomacy in that public diplomacy deals largely with non-governmental organizations and individuals in addition to government representatives This need for unity of effort and unity of themes has long been recognized as critical to the success of any PSYOP plan and is procedurally outlined in President Clinton s Presidential Decision Directive 68 International Public Information 30 April 1999 PDD 68 established a standing international public information IPI sub-group that works to coordinate anddeconflict international information initiatives of the various government agencies CIA FBI and State Treasury Commerce Justice and Defense departments Additionally military PSYOP activity was specifically addressed under this sub group and within the interagency arena it is to be called international military information IMI This interagency mechanism was designed to coordinate more rapidly and thoroughly on regional plans and programs and is working to develop a national IPI strategy supportive of the National Security Strategy From Tom Timmes Policy Planning timmest@mail policy osd mil Re E-mail to author June 9 1999 Speci cally the IPI sub-group will design information campaigns to support policy initiatives and submit them to the Deputies Committee or Principals Committee for approval and implementation by the various agencies thus providing the policy framework and directive authority necessary for mutually supportive works and deeds on a truly strategic level From Charles A Williamson Operations In The 18 Information Age in Cyberwar 2 0 Mysteries and Reality edited by Alan D Campen and Douglas H Dearth Fairfax VA AFCEA International Press 1998 179 189 12 Given current population trends by 2015 24 of 27 cities with over a 10 million population will be in the Third World and almost 70% of the world s population will be urban From United Nations Population Division World Urbanization Prospects The I 994 Revision 1 995 as quoted in Tom Bowman War Games In NC Prepare Marines For The 21St Century Baltimore Sun 28 December 1997 7 January 2001 13 David Shukrnan Tomorrow s War The Threat of'High-Technology Weapons New York Harcourt Brace Company 1996 220 and 227 14 The use of military PSYOP equipment and personnel however has been allowed during times of national emergency for assisting other lead U S agencies with the dissemination of public safety and health information such as during Hurricane Andrew in the Southeast US in August 1992 15 Military PSYOP forces are assigned to the US Special Operations Command and are largely found in the Army The other Services have limited PSYOP resources such as the Air Force s EC- 130 Commando Solo aircraft the Navy s Fleet Information Warfare Center and the Marine Reserve Civil Affairs Group which have small PSYOP units to advise on PSYOP Additionally approximately three quarters of the Army PSYOP forces are in the Reserve 16 The of cial title was the United States International Information and Educational Exchange Act of 1948 Public Law 80-402 but is better known and referenced simply as the Smith-Mundt Act of 1948 17 This was American s rst of cial government propaganda program that sold the American public on entering the First World War The stated task was to inform and in uence the world at large including American citizens about the democratic goals of US policy and the threat the world of the imperialistic goals of the enemy states especially the German Empire See John S Gibson Public Diplomacy 1nternational Educator VII Spring 1998 from Debra Weltz weltzd@soc mil Re Research E-mail to author 14 December 2000 18 This program was designed to counter Soviet propaganda From Dr Nancy Snow The Smith-Mundt Act of 1948 A Fifty-year Legacy of US Propaganda an abridged version from Debra Weltz weltzd@soc mil Re Research E mail to author 14 December 2000 The article originally appeared in Propaganda Inc Selling America s Culture to the World Seven Stories Press and later appeared as The Smith Mundt Act of 1948 in Peace Review 10 December 1998 19 According to then-Director Charles Z Wick as quoted in Gibson 20 President William J Clinton Reorganization Plan and Report to the Congress regarding the Foreign Affairs Reform and Restructuring Act of 1998 30 December 1998 dos htm 5 January 2001 2 Ibid 22 The DOS Of ce of International Information Programs IIP is now the principal international strategic communications service for the foreign affairs community developing and implementing information initiatives and strategic communications programs to include Internet publications and websites See Department of State About the Of ce of International Information Programs aboutiip htm 5 January 2001 Furthermore in her con rmation hearing statement Undersecretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Evelyn Lieberman testi ed to the role of new media technologies in the realm of public diplomacy and the growing list of participants in foreign relations which includes non- government organizations multi-national corporations private nonpro t organization foundations and 19 cultural educational and advocacy groups She noted In the world of the Internet and satellite television policy makers are less and less able to make decisions behind closed doors From Evelyn S Lieberman Con rmation Hearing Statement US Congress Senate Foreign Relations Committee 27 July 1999 7_lieberman_conf html 5 January 2001 23 See Science Applications International Corporation SAIC Information Warfare Legal Regulatory Policy and Organizational Considerations for Assurance Washington D C SAIC 4 July 1995 for discussion of these legal issues and the potential con ict between individual liberties including freedom of expression under the First Amendment and national security 24 Ben Barber Group will battle propaganda abroad The Washington Times 28 July 1999 in Northern Light database online 7 January 2001 25 There are four main areas First there is the dif culty distinguishing between intended targets as military and thus general legitimate targets or civilian generally forbidden and the issues of secondary and tertiary order effects only serve to compound this idea Second the intangible nature of damages from information attacks may be analytically different from the physical damage caused by traditional warfare Third the concepts of national territorial sovereignty take on new meaning in terms of the nature of information and the Internet to travel across international networks or through the atmosphere as radio waves Finally the injuries resulting from information warfare attacks may not be the same as described in existing humanitarian law for protection noncombatants In Lawrence T Greenberg Seymour E Goodman and Kevin Soo Hoo Information Warfare and International Law Washington DC DOD Command and Control Research Program National Defense University 1998 10 1 1 26 It is estimated that 95% of the telecommunications of the DOD travel through the Public Switched Network In Richard W Aldrich The International Legal Implications of Information Warfare Occasional Paper 9 US Air Force Institute for National Security Studies Colorado Springs US Air Force Institute for National Security Studies April 1999 3 As Vice Admiral ArthurCebrowski observed There is no logical distinction between military or civil systems or technologies Therefore there is also no technical distinction between exploitation attack or defense of the information warfare target set In Information Revolution Spawns Revolution in Security Affairs Defense Daily Washington DC GPO 8 June 1995 27 John Arquilla and David Ronfeldt New Epoch-wand Spectrum-wof Con ict in John Arquilla and David Ronfeldt ed In Athena s Camp Preparingfor Con ict in the Information Age Santa Monica CA RAND 1997 3 April 2000 28 Article 51 of the UN Charter allows for unilateral retaliation in kind if an armed attack occurs against a Member of the while Article 41 discusses measures not involving the use of armed force such as economic relations From Charles J Dunlap The Law Of Cyberwar A Case Study From The Future in Campen and Dearth 139-150 29 The UN Charter does not explicitly define armed attacks nor has the International Court of Justice outlined a comprehensive de nition The elements of armed forces force violence and interference with a nation s sovereign rights appear to be elements yet neither economic coercion nor cumulative guerrilla and terrorist attacks have been recognized as an armed attack Greenberg Goodman andSoo Hoo xvii and 84 If the manipulation of data however directly results in signi cant destructive effects that are indistinguishable in any meaningful way from those caused by traditional kinetic weapons then those actions would constitute an armed attack under Article 51 of the UN Charter Dunlap 140-142 30 Examples include making an adversary believe US troops are surrendering or that combat vehicles were medical vehicles or manipulating identification signals so that a nation s forces believe that the approaching enemy personnel are actually friendly forces See Greenberg Goodman andSoo Hoo 35-37 31 Ibid 20 32 Special The Internet and the Law Stop Signs on the Web The Economist 11 January 2001 15 January 2001 33 This is roughly the equivalent of sending the entire Library of Congress if it were digitized over the Internet in one minute From Kurt Mills Cybernations The Internet Virtual Reality and SelfiDetermination conference proceedings at the International Studies Association location not given 17-21 March 1998 in Columbia International Affairs Online database online 7 January 2001 34 ETForecasts Internet User Forecast by Country 7 May 2000 intusers htm 9 January 2001 Furthermore the goal of the European Union seEurope Action Plan June 2000 is to close the current Internet gap between the US and Europe dramatically increasing the current levels of household Internet access in Europe 22% today FromAri-Veikko Anttiroiko Toward European Information Society Communications of the Association for Computing Machinery January 2001 in Proquest database online UMI 7 January 2001 35 Ibid 36 Ibid 37 Paul R M Brooks Jr vision for PSYOP in the information age Special Warfare 13 Winter 2000 20 38 President Commission on Critical Infrastructure Protection Critical Foundations Protecting America s Infrastructures Robert T Marsh Chairman Washington DC GPO October 1997 sec com pccip 28 December 2000 39 William S Lind and others The Changing Face of War Into the Fourth Generation Marine Corps Gazette October 1989 23 40 Ibid 24 26 41 Stan Crock Commentary Sticks and Stones Can Break an Army Business Week Online 27 October 2000 from James M Winters jim winters@monr0e army mil News Sticks and Stones Can Break an Army E-mail to author 27 October 2000 42 E Anders Eriksson Information Warfare Hype or Reality Center for Nonproliferation Studies The Nonproliferation Review VI Spring-Summer 1999 in Columbia International Affairs Online database online 28 December 2000 Usenet groups are electronic bulletin boards and make up a section of the Internet with tens of thousands of newsgroups arranged around special-interest subjects such as human rights and the environment 43 Defense Science Board The Creation and Dissemination of'All Forms of'Information in Support of Operations in Time of'Military Con ict Washington D C GPO May 2000 23 44 Steve Collins Army PSYOP in Bosnia Capabilities and Constraints Parameters 29 Summer 1999 57 45 Debra Weltz Senior Doctrine Writer PSYOP Division US Army John F Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School weltzd@soc mil Law Reviews Combined Smith-Mundt E mail to author 14 December 2000 46 It was also estimated that only 25 000 homes in out of approximately 3 5 million had Internet access From Peter Clarey OSCE Public Information Of cer Re Research Question Elections and the Internet in what do you E-mail to author 30 January 2001 21 47 Vesna Peric-Zimonjic Media-Yugoslavia Kosovo Combatants Fight New War In Cyberspace World News 7 August 1998 10 December 2000 48 PSYOP is one of six capabilities of information operations which also include deception physical destruction electronic warfare operations security and computer network attack Civil affairs and public affairs are the two related activities From Joint Chiefs of Staff Information Operations Joint Pub 3-13 Washington DC GPO 9 October 1998 49 Williamson 181 50 Arquilla and Ronfeldt 51 Briscoe Jon Swartz Administration Drops Idea of Blocking Serb Net San Francisco Chronicle 15 May 1999 in Eden-Webster Passports Lexis Nexis database online World News library 27 December 2000 52 Timothy Thomas Kosovo and the Current of Information Superiority Parameters Spring 2000 16 December 2000 53 Ibid 54 Tom Regan Web War Christian Science Monitor 22 April 1999 18 December 2000 55 Ibid 56 Ibid 57 Dali L Yang The Great Net of China Harvard International Review Winter 2001 in Proquest database online UMI 10 January 2001 58 Ibid 59 According to the Paris-based Reporters Sans Frontiers as quoted in Yang 60 eTForecasts 6 Major General Wang Pufeng The Challenge of Information Warfare China Military Science Spring 1995 in Chinese Intelligence-Related D0cuments Federation ofAmerican Scientists irp world china docsxiw_mg_wang htm 8 January 2001 62 The Economist 63 This is approximately $13 000 Ibid 64 This can be done by applying pressure to an Internet service provider ISP to shut down a user or newsgroup by gaining the cooperation of domestic ISPs other local telecommunications providers and or administrators of computing services within organizations such as a university or by blocking access to a particular server using software designed to block general access to speci ed material Surf Watch or Cyber Sentry 65 Askold Chechnya Rebels Use Internet in Propaganda War with Russians Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty 11 May 2000 18 December 2000 22 66 Gary Rodan The Internet and Political Control in Singapore Political Science Quarterly 113 Spring 199 8 in Columbia International Affairs Online database online 9 January 2001 67 David J Rothkopf Cyberpolitik The Changing Nature of Power in the Information Age Journal of International Affairs 51 Spring 199 8 in Columbia International Affairs Online database online 9 January 2001 68 Brooks 69 Briscoe 70 Defense Science Board Information in Support of Operations Dupont 71 Charles Swett Assistant for Strategic Assessment Of ce of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations and Low-Intensity Con ict Policy Planning Strategic Assessment The Internet Federation of American Scientists 17 Julyl995 5 December 2000 72 Ibid 73 Anne Thompson Spin Control InKosovo s Capital the War Is All About Words with Yugoslavia he Associated Press 8 August 1998 in Eden-Webster Passports Lexis Nexis database online World News library 7 January 2001 74 Renaud Girard Kosovo Obscure Areas of a Massacre Le Figaro 20 January 1999 Christophe Chatelot Were the Racak Dead Really Coldly Monde 21 January 1999 Translations of both articles can be found at International Action Center Press Review from DianaJohnstone in Paris 75 Robyn Dixon Chechens Use Net in Publicity War with Russia Putin Meanwhile Launches Information Center That Reports Only the Kremlin s Take on Con ict Los Angeles Times 8 October 1999 in Eden- Webster Passports Lexis Nexis database online World News library 3 December 2000 76 Emil Pain The Second Chechen War The Information Component translated by Robert R Love Military Review July-August 2000 3 December 2000 77 The Economist 78 Additionally due to the stigma attached to information attacks which includes PSYOP many senior information warfare IW planners in Washington feel that IW should be normalized with strict Rules of Engagement thereby allowing it to be employed like any other weapon system From Christopher D Boeting Brain Storming Jane s Defence Weekly 16 August 2000 from James M Winters jim winters@ monroe army mil AF IO article E-mail to author 16 August 2000 79 Greenberg Goodman and $00 H00 103 80 Ibid 8 Defense Science Board Information in Support Operations 82 Swett 83 Defense Science Board Information in Support Operations 23 BIBLIOGRAPHY Boeting Christopher D Brain Storming Jane s Defence Weekly 16 August 2000 Briscoe David Like Air War Propaganda War Over Kosovo Has No Clear Winner The Associated Press 17 May 1999 Eden Webster Passports Lexis Nexis database online World News library 7 January 2001 Brooks Paul R M Jr vision for PSYOP in the information age Special Warfare 13 Winter 2000 20 24 Clarey Peter OSCE Public Information Of cer Re Research Question Elections and the Internet in what do you E-mail to author 30 January 2001 Clinton President William J Reorganization Plan and Report to the Congress regarding the Foreign Affairs Reform and Restructuring Act of 1998 30 December 1998 5 January 2001 Collins Steve Army PSYOP in Bosnia Capabilities and Constraints Parameters 29 Summer 1999 57 73 Crock Stan Commentary Sticks and Stones Can Break an Army Business Week Online 27 October 2000 nf20001027_861 htm 5 December 2000 Campen Alan D and Douglas H Dearth eds Cyberwar 2 0 Mysteries and Reality Fairfax VA AF CEA International Press 1998 Dupont Daniel G Outdated Equipment Organizational Issues Hamper Effective Inside the Pentagon 5 28 September 2000 Eriksson E Anders Information Warfare Hype or Reality Center for Nonproliferation Studies The Nonproliferation Review VI Spring Summer 1999 Columbia International Affairs Online database online 28 December 2000 ETForecasts Internet User Forecast by Country 7 May 2000 9 January 2001 Gibson John S Public Diplomacy International Educator VII Spring 1998 Giordano Angela Maria Study of a Storm An Analysis of Zapatista Propaganda Unpublished Master s Thesis US Naval Postgraduate School Monterey CA 1997 Greenberg Lawrence T Seymour E Goodman and Kevin J Soo Hoo Information Warfare and International Law Washington DC DOD Command and Control Research Program National Defense University 1998 24 Askold Chechnya Rebels Use Internet in Propaganda War with Russians Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty 11 May 2000 18 December 2000 Lind William S and others The Changing Face of War Into the Fourth Generation Marine Corps Gazette October 1989 22-26 Milam Thomas A Jr Deputy Director US Army John F Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School milamt@soc mil Research Questions E-mail to author 14 December 2000 Nordland Rod War E Zone Combat Hostilities May End On The Battle eld But There s Never A Truce On The Internet Newsweek International 11 October 1999 Eden-Webster Passports Expanded Academic ASAP database online 7 January 2001 Pain Emil The Second Chechen War The Information Component Translated by Robert R Love Military Review J uly August 2000 JulAug00 love htm 3 December 2000 Peric-Zimonjic Vesna Media Yugoslavia Kosovo Combatants Fight New War In Cyberspace World News 7 August 1998 12_15w039 htm1 10 December 2000 President s Commission on Critical Infrastructure Protection Critical Foundations Protecting America s Infrastructures Robert T Marsh Chairman Washington DC GPO October 1997 28 December 2000 Pufeng Major General Wang The Challenge of Information Warfare China Military Science Spring 1995 In Chinese Intelligence-Related Documents Federation of American Scientists 8 January 2001 Robertson Lloyd Waging War On The World Wide Web CT Television National News Pleasanton CA Community Television 31 March 1999 Eden-Webster Passports Lexis- Nexis transcript online World News library 7 January 2001 Rodan Gary The Internet and Political Control in Singapore Political Science Quarterly 113 Spring 1998 Columbia International Affairs Online database online 9 January 2001 Rothkopf David J Cyberpolitik The Changing Nature of Power in the Information Age Journal of International Affairs 51 Spring 1998 Columbia International Affairs Online database online 9 January 2001 Satchell Michael Captain Dragan s Serbian Cybercorps Serbs Used Internet For Propaganda While NATO Drops Lea ets US News World Report 126 10 May 1999 Eden Webster Passports Expanded Academic ASAP database online 7 January 2001 Shukman David Tomorrow s War The Threat of High-Technology Weapons New York Harcourt Brace Company 1996 25 Snow Dr Nancy The Smith Mundt Act of 1948 A ifty year Legacy of US Propaganda Peace Review 10 December 1998 Special The Internet and the Law Stop Signs on the Web The Economist 11 January 2001 15 January 2001 Swett Charles Assistant for Strategic Assessment Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations and Low Intensity Conflict Policy Planning Strategic Assessment The Internet Federation of American Scientists 17 July 1995 swett html 18 December 2000 Thomas Timothy L Kosovo and the Current of Information Superiority Parameters Spring 2000 16 December 2000 Thompson Anne Spin Control In Kosovo s Capital the War Is All About Words with Yugoslavia The Associated Press 8 August 1998 Eden Webster Passports Lexis Nexis database online World News library 7 January 2001 Timmes Tom Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations and Low Intensity Con ict Policy Planning timmest@mail policy osd mil Re mail to author June 9 1999 US Defense Science Board The Creation and Dissemination of All Forms of Information in Support of Operations in Time of Military Conflict Washington DC GPO May 2000 US Department of State About the Of ce of International Information Programs 5 January 2001 US Department of the Army Operations FM 3 05 30 Washington DC GPO 19 June 2000 US Joint Chiefs of Staff Joint Operations Joint Pub 3 53 Washington DC GPO 10 July 1996 Weltz Debra Senior Doctrine Writer PSYOP Division US Army John F Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School Weltzd@soc mil Law Reviews Combined Smith Mundt E-mail to author 14 December 2000 What is Public Diplomacy 20 June 1997 28 December 2000 Yang Dali L The Great Net of China Harvard International Review Winter 2001 Proquest database online UMI 10 January 2001 26                     National Security Archive    Suite 701  Gelman Library  The George Washington University    2130 H Street  NW  Washington  D C  20037    Phone  202 994‐7000  Fax  202 994‐7005  nsarchiv@gwu edu