Rumsfeld is trying to take over the internet

[robertpaulsen]

I saw this article last week. It's a long article, but buried in there is this startling information:

A secret Pentagon "Information Operations Roadmap," approved by Rumsfeld in October 2003, calls for "full spectrum" information operations and notes that "information intended for foreign audiences, including public diplomacy and PSYOP, increasingly is consumed by our domestic audience and vice versa."

snip

The Pentagon plan also includes a strategy for taking over the internet and controlling the flow of information, viewing the web as a potential military adversary. The "roadmap" speaks of "fighting the net," and implies that the internet is the equivalent of "an enemy weapons system."

In a speech on Feb. 17 to the Council on Foreign Relations, Rumsfeld elaborated on the administration's perception that the battle over information would be a crucial front in the War on Terror, or as Rumsfeld calls it, the Long War.

"Let there be no doubt, the longer it takes to put a strategic communication framework into place, the more we can be certain that the vacuum will be filled by the enemy and by news informers that most assuredly will not paint an accurate picture of what is actually taking place," Rumsfeld said.

more...

http://www.alternet.org/story/32647



Then today, I found more detailed info at this article:

Rumsfeld’s comments are intended to awaken his constituents to the massive information war that is being waged to transform the Internet into the progeny of the MSM; a reliable partner for the dissemination of establishment-friendly news.

The Associated Press reported recently that the US government conducted a massive simulated attack on the Internet called “Cyber-Storm”. The wargame was designed, among other things, to “respond to misinformation campaigns and activist calls by internet bloggers, online diarists whose ‘Web logs” include political rantings and musings about current events”.

Before Bush took office, “political rantings and musings about current events” were protected under the 1st amendment.

No more.

The War Department is planning to insert itself into every area of the Internet from blogs to chat rooms, from leftist web sites to editorial commentary. Their rapid response team will be on hair-trigger alert to dispute any tidbit of information that challenges the official storyline.

more...

http://informationclearinghouse.info/article12060.htm


I think this is another war that will not end in our lifetimes that we NEED to prepare for!

[zeemike]

1. We are the enemy

I guess it had to come down to that.

[robertpaulsen]

2. Yes, DU is a misinformation campaign.

We are a much bigger target than Osama.

[bobthedrummer]

8. I think we're more like an open source with many firefights and this

is growing more each news cycle.

on edit:
The Roadmap
http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB177/index.htm

Perception management
http://www.au.af.mil/info-ops/perception.htm#

[KT2000]

3. Always wondered

if what is said on the internet, especially blogs have much influence. Guess this answers the question - the influence is greater than I thought.
He'll have to "take the internet from our cold dead hands" though.

[DeadManInc]

4. We need a new web that they have no control over.

Companies need to tell them to go Cheney themselves when they ask for access.

[cliss]

5. I wouldn't worry too much.

I've been following this story. Rumsfailed feels that the Internet is a huge threat to the USA propaganda message. He has said that "lies are spread around the world in a matter of seconds", meaning, the Pentagon can never win against such a powerful enemy.

Rumsfailed has accused Al Qaida of having committees 'which work tirelessly to spread the message of disinformation and hate'.

He has said that the US is like a "Five and Dime" in an Ebay World. You can tell this statement came from an old man. There are a lot of young people who don't even know what a Five and Dime is. Meaning = the US is woefully behind the enemy in terms of the latest technology which is a ridiuclous statement. Most of the stuff comes from here.

I read Rumsfailed's entire speech, and I was struck by how many errors there were. There were the paranoid rantings of an uninformed, ignorant old man.

[robertpaulsen]

6. Tuesday kick

:kick:

[mattclearing]

7. Three words: "Bring. It. On."

"The War Department is planning to insert itself into every area of the Internet from blogs to chat rooms, from leftist web sites to editorial commentary. Their rapid response team will be on hair-trigger alert to dispute any tidbit of information that challenges the official storyline."

DOD is not prepared for a battle of wits against the Internet's finest. If it's an infowar they want, they'll lose.

:D