Disinformation technology

The use of information as a means to subvert one`s enemy so that their cause may look morally weaker and to degrade their ability to fight has been a military strategy for millennia.

The classic example of information use was the ancient Romans` defeat of Carthage`s General Hannibal during the Punic Wars. The Romans intercepted a letter sent by Hanibal`s brother, Hasribal, and then managed to kill the latter.

Information is playing a huge part in the Iraq war and no one knows how to manage it like the US government.

Paul Vecchiatto, Journalist, ITWeb

Hanibal, who did not know that his brother was in Italy, only found out when the Romans catapulted the head of the decapitated Carthagenian into his camp in a ploy to enrage him. This tactic worked well, as Hanibal attacked prematurely and the Romans defeated him and the Carthagenians were forced to leave Italy. And as the saying goes: "The rest is history."

Information is playing a huge part in the Iraq war and no one knows how to manage it like the US government. Don`t forget, the US government is run by people who are elected into power and they never lose sight of the importance of the role of the media in shaping people`s perceptions.

Conscious of how politicised the Iraq war has become, the US Department of Defence has spent $1.5 million to build a media centre in Doha, Qatar.

Reportedly this was designed by a movie set designer, and rapidly constructed by Naval Construction troops, the centre features an impressive set for presentations on how the war is going, as well as room for over 300 journalists to work and file their stories.

The set, seen constantly on television during the war coverage, features huge plasma screens and striking lighting effects. The centre has high-speed data lines for Internet and other communications. They can also bring in live video from the battlefield via satellite links with remotely operated aircraft and video cameras on the ground.

The interesting thing about the US bombing campaign of Iraq is that it took quite a while before starting to target the domestic broadcasting services in that country. Iraqi TV, radio and print media have been under the thumb of President Saddam Hussein`s government and one of his sons owns the country`s main newspaper.

While broadcasting may seem to be a civilian target, it is a vital link in the campaign and the thinking by some strategists is that the US wanted to keep it intact so that they could use it once they controlled the country. However, footage of captured and dead US troops was not good for morale and they have since tried to cut off that avenue of news.

E-mail has also come of age as a weapon in this war, although its real effect will only be judged later. E-mail was initially seen as another way to get subversive messages to senior Iraqi officials. The country has only had e-mail access since 1999, and only 12 000 Iraqis have access.

Along with leaflets, the mass media and personal contacts via Iraqi exiles, the object was to convince Iraqi officers not to fight, to not use chemical and biological weapons and to state that the US was liberating Iraq, not conquering it.

But before long, it was noted that some of the e-mail was getting answered. The Iraqi exiles were then used as couriers as well as e-mail correspondents and by the time American and British troops entered Iraq, negotiations were under way with numerous Iraqi officers and officials.

There have also been reports of an Iraqi in Baghdad who has been e-mailing various US news media about the situation in the capital. However, his or her anti-Hussein stance makes it difficult to determine if this is genuine.

Reports of cyber-attacks on US and UK military Internet sites, as well as Arabic news sites, have increased. Steps have been taken to protect the sites and recently Pakistan set up its own cyber-warfare unit that it hopes will do the same for it.

And then, those who depend on GPS (Global Positioning System) to get their expensive cars from Houghton to Sandton will find that those fancy gadgets are not quite as accurate as they were a few weeks ago.

The US Air Force, which owns and operates the satellites that emit the GPS signals, increases the "wobble", or inaccuracy of the system for users other than the US military. The wobble is a deliberate inaccuracy in the signal that can increase or reduce the error in the co-ordinates from a minimum of 10m to about 10km.

The US has announced that it has destroyed a number of GPS jammers in and around Baghdad that were supplied by a Russian company. The jammers deliberately block the signal so that the GPS-guided bombs miss their targets.

As the war continues, expect revelations about the use of technology in winning or losing it. But as is usual with warfare of any kind, the history of this use will be written by the winners and the true facts will emerge only years from now.