Information Warfare: October 23, 2001

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The War on Terrorism brought out a lot of information war. Not just the expected attacks (mostly harmless) on the internet, but also the use of false information. Shortly after September 11, stories began to appear that 4,000 Israelis who worked in the World Trade Center did not show up for work on September 11 and that the attack was actually orchestrated by the Israeli Mossad (secret service.) While this is absurd to Westerners, recent opinion surveys in Pakistan indicate that half the population believes that the attack was the work of the Israelis. Another story, openly spread by Israeli authorities, was that the September 11 attack had all the hallmarks of veteran Hizbollah terrorist Imad Mughniyeh. There was no real proof of this, but Israel wanted to make it clear that the Hizbollah and Palestinian terrorist groups are somehow connected with bin Laden (which they are, but only on a small scale. ) With so many all news TV and radio networks, where were eager consumers of the most outrageous stories and, in true Information War fashion, many operators were quick to put stories out that supported their cause. So be careful what you believe during wartime.

 

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