-Caveat Lector- http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2001/12/26/193522.shtml
WJPBR Email News List [EMAIL PROTECTED] Peace at any cost is a Prelude to War! U.S. Lags in Information Warfare NewsMax.com Wires Thursday, Dec. 27, 2001 WASHINGTON – "Guerrillas don't hold ground," a specialist in information warfare warns those who take comfort in the apparent success of the U.S. military campaign in Afghanistan. Osama bin Laden is a classic guerrilla leader, said Chuck deCaro, a former CNN correspondent who is adjunct lecturer of strategy and information warfare at National Defense University. Americans should not believe bin Laden's al-Qaeda terrorist network has been neutralized "just because you've swept over the top of Afghanistan, where this guy was a parasite on the ruling government." It's the nature of guerrilla movements that have been punished to emerge later at another place, he told United Press International. DeCaro is one of a small group of defense intellectuals who for years have been saying that "archaic" Cold War, machine-age solutions won't work against enemies that have adapted to the information age. Bin Laden, he says, is a four-dimensional "virtual" terrorist whose area of operations is global. America must fight him by making its case to the world. DeCaro said that the apparent success in Afghanistan won't be fully realized until after a lot of angry Taliban and al-Qaeda sympathizers who have dealt their way out of capture are convinced that post-Taliban Afghanistan is a better place to be. "You have to get at the reason for the guerrilla movement" and remove that as a motivation for potential recruits, he said. An information campaign is necessary, even if the message is: "You're not that good, and we'll come at you. And, Oh, by the way, here is a better, stable and prosperous Afghanistan after the Taliban." DeCaro envisages a continuous marketing campaign. One approach is the unending provision of video news releases documenting U.S. efforts in styles aimed at the various "demographics" within the Islamic world. If those news releases aren't enough, buy airtime, he said. "Women's issues could be especially highlighted, but it doesn't go 10 days and stop. This is long term." After Afghanistan, the United States should conduct similar information campaigns everywhere bin Laden might have a cell or a population from which to draw people – whether it be Indonesia, the Philippines or Trenton, N.J. – and demonstrate that "screwing with the United States is not a good idea while playing ball is a very good idea." DeCaro doesn't shrink from the word "propaganda." He does not advocate promulgating falsehood, however, but rather getting America's story out to the world. These information programs would play on every station or network that the U.S. government could successfully promote them. DeCaro also advocates buying air time on local television and, if necessary, starting or assisting competing networks beamed at the "target demographics." Such an effort would be somewhat like Radio Free Europe, he said, "but bigger, televised and more prolific." "If we're giving away powdered milk, I want to be there taping it," he said. "I want to follow that kid doing better in school. Make that available." In the machine age, this sort of thing was done with leaflets and posters. DeCaro used the advertising of Coca Cola to illustrate the need for constancy in information warfare. "They sponsor a program. And that gives you the hook to the demographic watching. Then you drop that commercial on them." He characterized Coke's unchanging message as: "You want to drink this really cold brown fizzy stuff from this can because it does this for you." "Do they do that once?" the information warfare specialist asked rhetorically. "Everybody in the world knows what Coca Cola is, and the company still spends billions of dollars a year to maintain its market share. And we need to do the same thing." Even a military success "does not engage the problem of a mind-set," he said. Asked what the U.S. government should be doing differently, he replied: "We could have a thoroughly modern global information campaign demonstrating what the United States is, what we're trying to do, where we're going, and what it is we can do to help you." This would be an interagency effort involving the Defense Department, the National Security Council, the State Department, the Commerce Department and others. "We ought to be selling our case, and not just the military case. We need to get the message across that we are a land of equal opportunity. We tolerate other religions. This is not a war against Islam. This must be done over and over and over, because not everybody's wired in and gets the message the first time." DeCaro said the United States represents economic opportunity. Washington's message: "We're not here to take away all your resources and strip you blind. We want to do business. We are a nation of businesses. In trading with us, we'll make your life better." This is a dynamic process that must be tailored to the target audience. Such public relations campaigns would change from place to place and season to season. The bodies politic are not all within geographic borders, he said. "You literally have to sell them your approach" with the steady reassurance: "We are not a threat to you." DeCaro is president of Aerobureau Corp., the heart of which is a four-engine, turboprop airliner that serves as a platform from which broadcast news can be gathered and transmitted. *COPYRIGHT NOTICE** In accordance with Title 17 U. S. C. 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