Archive: Information Warfare
In the Ideological War Against Terrorism,
the Military Has No Mission
It's not the military's job to engage in propaganda.
By William M. Arkin | January 24, 2008; 11:00 AM ET | Comments (27)
In Iraq, It's All About Strategic Communications
More on the Bush administration's campaign to portray the Iraq fighting as anything but a "civil war": The U.S. military on Wednesday joined the new line of argument that it is all al-Qaeda’s fault. So, on your toes people...
By William M. Arkin | August 18, 2006; 07:46 AM ET | Comments (51)
The F Bomb
My post "Free Speech and Patriotism" provoked many responses that took me to task for using the F word and being rude and childish in responding to a Marine Corps general who asked me whether I considered myself a journalist...
By William M. Arkin | April 3, 2006; 07:00 AM ET | Comments (7)
Free Speech and Patriotism
Am I a journalist or an American? That's the question I've gotten from numerous correspondents in response to the speech I gave in Denmark last week....
By William M. Arkin | March 23, 2006; 10:30 AM ET | Comments (77)
Losing the Information Battle
I'm back from Denmark, where I delivered a speech on "How the U.S. Military Shapes Public Opinion on the War in Iraq" at a forum sponsored by Danish Defense Forces, the Danish National Commission for UNESCO, and the Danish Union...
By William M. Arkin | March 20, 2006; 08:30 AM ET | Comments (23)
Rumsfeld's Incomplete Information War
An unfortunate contradiction about Donald Rumsfeld, and a debilitating handicap for America, is that the Secretary of Defense thinks like a futurist and acts like a Neanderthal. Rumsfeld, it is said, has fabulous intuition and the ability to clearly see...
By William M. Arkin | February 21, 2006; 09:00 AM ET | Comments (73)
The Army's Buying PR
Word comes from RL that the Army has hired PR firm Hass MS&L of Detroit to offer "exclusive editorial content" to blogs willing to run government propaganda. "The Army believes that military blogs are a valuable medium for reaching out,"...
By William M. Arkin | January 10, 2006; 07:30 AM ET | Comments (41)
When Stupidity Isn't Staged
As Congressman John Murtha said last week, senior military officers sometimes need a voice, someone to speak for them. Candor can incur the wrath of Rumsfeld or the White House. It can ruin a career. Remember when Marine Corps Lt....
By William M. Arkin | November 21, 2005; 10:00 AM ET | Comments (32)
Help for Karen Hughes
Codename of the Week: Global Harvest As Under Secretary of State Karen Hughes begins her monumental campaign to improve the world's opinion of the United States, not to worry, military information warriors are poised to jump in as soon...
By William M. Arkin | September 30, 2005; 09:45 AM ET | Comments (36)
