War in the Information Age

[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld]
[Commentary] In the global war on terror, some of the most critical battles may not be in the mountains of Afghanistan or the streets of Iraq but in newsrooms in New York, London, Cairo and elsewhere. Our enemies have skillfully adapted to fighting wars in today's media age, but for the most part we -- our government, the media or our society in general -- have not. The standard U.S. government public affairs operation was designed primarily to respond to individual requests for information. It tends to be reactive, rather than proactive, and it operates for the most part on an eighthour, five-days-a-week basis, while world events -- and our enemies -- are operating 24/7 across every time zone. That is an unacceptably dangerous deficiency. We have become somewhat more adept in these areas, but progress is slow. In Iraq, for example, the U.S. military command, working closely with the Iraqi government and the U.S. Embassy, has sought nontraditional means to provide accurate information to the Iraqi people in the face of an aggressive campaign of disinformation. Yet this has been portrayed as inappropriate: for example, the allegations of "buying news." The resulting explosion of critical media stories then causes all activity, all initiative, to stop. Even worse, it leads to a "chilling effect" among those who are asked to serve in the military public affairs field. Although the enemy is increasingly skillful at manipulating the media and using the tools of communications to its advantage, it should be noted that we have an advantage as well. And that is, quite simply, that truth is on our side. Ultimately, the truth wins out. I believe with every bone in my body that free people, exposed to sufficient information, will, over time, find their way to the right decisions. We are fighting a battle in which the survival of our free way of life is at stake. It is a test of wills, and it will be won or lost with our public and the publics of free nations around the world. We need to do all we can to correct the lies being told, shatter the appeal of the enemy and attract supporters to our noble and necessary efforts to defeat violent extremism around the globe.
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/opinion/la-oe-rumsfeld23feb23,1...
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See also --
* WOODWARD WARNS OF SECRECY TREND
[SOURCE: San Antonio Express-News, AUTHOR: Tracy Idell Hamilton]
The greatest threat to America's democracy is not terrorism but governmental secrecy, said Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Bob Woodward, whose reporting 35 years ago pierced the veil of secrecy behind Richard Nixon's presidency. The Bush Administration has cloaked its decision-making in "an immense amount of secrecy," he said, "too much, in my view." He also faulted a round-the-clock news cycle that emphasizes speed over accuracy and demands that journalists not just report but predict the future.
http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/metro/stories/MYSA022206.01B.woodward.1...