The geopolitical ramifications of the attack and its consequences, for Israel, Turkey, the United States, and the rest of the region, have been parsed to death. Nevertheless, the methods used by Israel and the IHH in the immediate aftermath of the attack offer lessons on IO and, as Mountain Runner likes to call it, “Now Media.”

As the New York Times explained, both the Israelis and the people on board the ships were ready for an information war: the IDF came with its own video cameras, and several journalists were embedded with the pro-Palestinian activists. Naturally, the IDF posted videos on YouTube defending its version of how events unfolded during the attacks on the ships. The videos were heavily edited and featured narrations and annotations to carefully illustrate the evidence that the video’s authors were trying to promote. The IHH was actually videocasting live on board the ships using the online video streaming service, livestream.

Unexpectedly, Israel’s use of YouTube for promoting its videos drew heavy criticism. The crisis’ audience was unsatisfied with the edited, censored videos, and called on Israel to release the full, time-stamped video so that viewers could draw their own conclusions.  The IDF tried to use YouTube’s ability to reach a large audience instantly partially backfired.  With new technologies come new expectations, and given the ease of posting video content online, viewers have placed new demands on that content.

Initial reports state that the Internet played a prominent role in the radicalization of these men. The FBI said that the social networking sites Facebook and YouTube were prominent tools in linking this group to extremists in Pakistan. Usman Anwar, the police chief of Sargodha, the city in which the group was captured, described their Internet activities:

The five men bonded together in the jihadi cause, watching jihadist video clips on YouTube that showed attacks by the Taliban on allied forces in Afghanistan. The group also maintained a common e-mail address. Employing a technique widely used among militants, they left their comments in the “draft” box of the e-mail address so that they could all easily read the comments.

Thus far, it is unclear if the group from DC was going to be accepted by the training camps in Pakistan.  In October, a man from Boston, also radicalized by the Internet, went to Yemen only to be rejected by the terrorists.

Terrorist groups assume a degree of risk in this recruitment process, as they do not know if they are recruiting disillusioned Muslim-Americans or CIA agents. There are advantages though, to disseminating messages via the Internet.  Encouraging people already residing in the West to attempt to carry out small acts of terrorism diverts resources away from larger plots brewing abroad. Additionally, if the terrorists do accept an outsider into their ranks, that person would most likely be a “clean skin,” someone without any previous criminal record and accustomed to operating in a Western setting.

The question still yet to be answered is why many disillusioned Muslims are drawn to the Internet. Psychiatrist and former CIA officer, Marc Sageman, posed one interesting theory:

The Internet provides confused young Muslims with a virtual community. Those who cannot adapt to their new homes discover on the Internet a responsive and compassionate forum. The Internet stands in for the idea of the ummah, the mythologized Muslim community. The Internet makes this ideal community concrete, because one can interact with it. [T]his virtual ummah [compares] to romantic conceptions of nationhood, which inspire people not only to love their country but to die for it.

With no reason to believe that terrorist recruiting on the Internet will disappear, it is important for counter-terrorist agencies to continue to be vigilant of these efforts to recruit Americans.  In the coming weeks we will profile the use of other social networking tools, such as Second Life, and how they have been utilized by terrorist organizations.

“Taking Over the World!” – “The World Wide Web That Is. Twitter – Facebook – Youtube. Service Members in Afghanistan are now posting images and reports from the battlefield to the front lines of the Internet. “

Didn’t you know this already? First, we built the intertubes out of a secret military funded program, then we genetically engineered Bill Gates & Steve Jobs (don’t blame us for Larry Ellison) and in the last couple decades we’ve been farming our underground DNA vaults to develop evil geniuses like Facebook’s Zuckerberg, Youtube’s Hurley & Chen and Twitter’s Ev Williams & Biz Stone. So don’t blame us – you wasted away your money on a crappy GPS system (GLONASS) – I mean seriously, your system sounds like the fusion of Glow & Ass; “Hey mariners, where you at – don’t know – check out the “glow’n ass”. Seriously, don’t blame us when you waste your billions on assy technology. OK, so you’re probably a little peeved about that whole “Great Game” thing right. And sure, our putting stingers into Afghanistan probably left a bad taste in your mouth. Take a little lesson from the mean streets – as we say here in good old America “Don’t hate the player, hate the game.”

OK, so you caught us in our evil game – but we did in fact warn you. Remember the year 2000, “All Your Base Are Belong to us” – we released that video as our ‘warning shot’ across  the bow.  We gave you fair warning and our virtual Ambassador “Cats” spelled it out to you in this immortal declaration:

CATS: “How are you gentlemen. All your base are belong to us. You are on the way to destruction”

You (Russia): “What You Say!!

CATS: “You have no chance to survive make your time. HA HA HA HA . . . .”

OK, so now let’s snap back to reality and examine RussiaToday’s video

First, the video from Russia Today is a clever little piece of propaganda with one very interesting “video editing trick”. About 20 seconds into the video the host asks:

“Transparency or a propaganda tool?”

Right after asking the question, the video gremlins cut in a quick (but unrelated) statement from Ivan Eland ( a Senior Fellow and Director of the Center on Peace and Liberty) where he says:

“I rather doubt this is a transparency issue – it’s more of a way to interest people in what the military is doing and maybe get some recruits since it’s on the media that younger people use”

They’ve tried to transpose Ivan’s initial statement “I rather doubt this is a transparency issue” as an answer to their question of transparency vs. propaganda. Sorry Big Bear but this don’t fly! Ivan goes on to explain that it’s a “a way to interest people in what the military is doing” – wow! Amazing! NATO & the US are getting people interested in public policy and national security… shame on them!

Then, they go on to criticize NATO’s Afghanistan Matters video contest and imply it’s some sort of propaganda. Really – really? I mean NATO is being extremely upfront and transparent here. They’re looking for current or former military members who want to make a video about why Afghanistan matters. They want the men and women who’ve been on the front lines to share their stories of sacrifice and explain why they’re there. Now in my humble opinion this is pretty leading edge: NATO is asking the average military member – perhaps a junior enlisted, young officer or NCO to sit down and make a video about why Afghanistan matters. If anything, we should be encouraging this. In fact I’d argue that more social media websites should get involved in efforts like these and support NATO or the military. I’d like to see Mashable, TechCrunch, ReadWriteWeb, UStream or any others get behind these transparent public policy efforts (any takers out there?)

We’re in an age where the public wants to know about our policy – and they deserve to hear it from the people that actually do this work on the ground, in the front lines. The American public wants to know why we’re in Iraq; why we’re in Afghanistan; why we’re fighting this war on drugs; why we send our military to assist in disaster relief. Now, shouldn’t we support governments which decide to open up and share these stories. I would honestly prefer to hear a lot more from the men and women on the ground – not just military – but State Department, USAID, DEA and everyone else who works daily under difficult and dangerous conditions to make the world better.

NATO is doing just that with the Afghanistan Matters video contest ; SOUTHCOM is doing it by distributing Flip video cameras in South America;  Adm Allen encourages social media and front-line videos from across the US Coast Guard; and this is only the beginning of a more transparent public policy and national security dialogue between the government and the public.

So we have to wonder, why is RussiaToday scared? Well first, keep in mind that RussiaToday is funded by the Russian Government (I guess they forgot to disclose that in the video…). So, there’s a political & strategic dimension to this video – a very big dimension. It’s not so much bad ‘news’ reporting as it is a reflection of Russian fear – fear that they’ve lost control in Central Asia; fear that they don’t control the intertubes; a deep, and historical fear common and ever-present in Russian history.

It also highlights the fact that NATO and the US are on the right path – transparency. Because the answer to RussiaToday’s question “Transparency or Propaganda” is in fact “Transparency”. One of our greatest struggles over the last three decades has been the loss of public trust – the public will – to engage and support our nation’s (and NATO) efforts abroad. We’ve relegated our communication to talking heads; we’ve communicated our strategy & vision through a centralized main-stream media system that filtered out reality and replaced it with “talking points” and obfuscation that no one in the public really understood or had time to understand. And now, in the era of social media, NATO and the US Government are quickly finding a new voice (in fact thousands and millions of voices). Properly employed, this new strategy of communication via social media, via the men and women who actually carry out our policy, offers us an honest and open understanding of what we’re doing and why it matters. And in the words of Forest Gump, ” That’s all I have to say about that”

P.S. If you want to support NATO and submit a video to their Contest “Afghanistan Matters”, go HERE to submit your video. Happy hunting! And remember “All Your Base Belong to Us!”

MORE ALL YOUR BASE PICTURES

All Your Base Belong to Us

All Your Base Belong to Us

All Your Base Belong to Us

Protestors in Moldova

While we can debate the role of each service, the basic facts are true – the Social Web was and is being used to report, organize and influence protests against the Communists in Moldova.

Vitalie Eşanu provided some interesting lessons from the front lines, stating that they used McDonald’s free wifi as cellphones were being blocked. He also commented on the organization of the protests stating:

Initial organization, was spread over twitter and Facebook, and expected only few persons. Later we agree to create #pman to spread about this event over the world, and use Facebook for photos, and Youtube for videos

Twitter is still being used actively to report on events in Moldova and you can follow the twitter stream using the hashtag #pman. Watching this stream you can read the real-time reports of protesters as well as insights and advice being provided on how to respond.

Now, while many will argue the exact utility and role of services like Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, and Flickr in these protests, I am concerned with the more basic issue of access. In many cases the protesters were unable to communicate or organize via the social web or phones because services were turned off or blocked. This is not a new phenomenon – governments have shut down and restricted printing presses, radios, television, cellular and internet services in the past. Given today’s technology we should start thinking about how we can provide rapidly deployable internet and cellular service when the time comes for the US to support movements such as these. I’m not arguing that Moldova is a place we should intervene, but I am saying we should analyze this event and think to the near future.

Gen Caldwell briefing on the death of Zarqawi

The Pitch, a Kansas City News source, recently covered Gen Caldwell’s efforts in “At Fort Leavenworth, officers are marching on a new target: the blogosphere”. While positive, the article concludes on a slightly sour note as it wonders if Caldwell’s social media push will disappear when he leaves.

General Caldwell will certainly move on and we expect he’ll bring his vision and commitment to social media with him. That’s a good thing – we can only hope to see this man spread his vision to new commands. But I certainly doubt that his commitment to the Social Web will soon disappear after any change in command. Caldwell left his mark in Iraq, pushing for increasingly sophisticated strategic communications, transparency and media engagement, and I’m certain his legacy will live on at CAC.

Most importantly, Caldwell’s legacy will live on in the minds and actions of the men and women who attended CAC courses and learned to appreciate and embrace the role of social media. Each of these hundreds of military leaders have and will continue to fan out across the military, spreading the use of social media and in turn encouraging  their peers, subordinates and senior leaders to do the same.

While General Caldwell has inspired and educated many future leaders and warriors, I’d like to highlight two key lessons from his career with respect to social media and the military.

Lesson 1: Transparency

Transparency, or as Caldwell would say in his four Be’s “Be Honest, Be Open, Be Relevant, and Be Ready” is a key foundation for engagement on the social web. During his time as spokesperson and Deputy Director of Strategic Effects in Iraq, Caldwell took several actions to ensure transparency. He had intelligence officers assigned to his command to quickly declassify information and make it available to reporters, bloggers and ultimately the global audience. Declassification is still a critical issue and smart military commanders must plan ahead of time to get influential information declassified and distributed in a coordinated manner. Caldwell also embraced reporters, often allowing them to travel with him under escort. Caldwell’s views and practice of strategic communication should serve as a model for all military leaders. Once arriving at CAC, Gen Caldwell published a policy memo on “Interactive Internet Activities” [.pdf] stating that military use of social media is an “essential  part of our responsibilities to provide information to the public” and then set in place the training and tools necessary to create a generation of military bloggers and social media enthusiasts. Well done general!

Lesson 2: Simple Blog Rules

At the Combined Arms Center, General Caldwell approved a set of simple blog rules (not guidelines) that provided clear direction to military bloggers. If your agency or command doesn’t have a set of rules, you may just want to borrow the set below:

1. Comments should be based on personal experiences unless documented by verifiable information
2. DO NOT divulge or discuss classified or sensitive information
3. DO NOT discuss planned or ongoing military operations or tactics, techniques and procedures that have not been officially and publically released already.
4. Entries should not contain profane or belittling commentary; constructive, intellectual criticism and debate is encouraged.
5. Entries are not to be used for commercial gain or promote or endorse financial or other interests.
6. Entries and discussions should not be political in a nature, contain political bias or be construed to advocate a political party.
7. All remarks made by military personnel MUST be fully attributable in accordance with CAC CG’s Polic Memo on Blogging

jeffbentley: reading: The Challenges of Perception Management in National Strategy and Military Operations [.pdf] http://tinyurl.com/d2gcvc

USAF Matteo Martemucci

The document “Regaining the High Ground: The Challenges of Perception Management in National Strategy and Military Operations” was written by Matteo G. Martemucci (Maj, USAF) while attending the Joint Forces Staff College in 2007. (Matteo is now Director of Operations at the 547th Intelligence Squadron)

The abstract of Maj Martemucci’s paper is below:

The informational element of power may be the most elusive for the U.S. Government to wield, but its importance is proportional to its difficulty. With the rise in global terrorist networks and a precipitous decline in world opinion of America’s foreign policy, Perception Management is more critical now than at any time in America’s history. This paper attempts to answer the question of why, in this time of conflict, it is so difficult for the U.S. Government to effectively leverage the informational element of power. It explores three friction-inducing elements that afflict the U.S. Government, including the military. The U.S. Government’s politics & personalities, bureaucracy, and aversion to the use of mass media, even in time of war, have precluded an integrated Perception Management campaign.
A historical review of Perception Management strategies since World War I reveals that this difficulty is based largely on individual personalities, an ever-growing bureaucracy, and an historical American concern about the perceived manipulation of the media by its government. To solve this problem, the President must clearly define lines of authority regarding the Government’s Perception Management strategy. He must also give that authority to a strong leader capable of coordinating the disparate efforts of numerous Government agencies. Finally, the U.S. Government must take a more proactive approach to media engagement as part of an integrated strategic Perception Management campaign.

Thinking about these three historical friction points made me wonder how social media will fare and how it will influence perception management.

Individual Personalities

Without revisiting the “personalities” in place during the writing of this paper in 2007, let’s instead look to the present and future. First, President Obama has handled himself skillfully in the strategic communication and social media front. Beyond the fact that his campaign leveraged the social web for an amazing victory, Obama’s interview with al-Arabiya Network in Dubai showed a policy of dialogue rather than dictation – certainly a format more appropriate for social media. Regardless of political inclination, we all have to agree that our nation’s highest leader has certainly set the tone for social media.

A group of Iraqi men watch Obama on TV

Under Secretary Clinton’s leadership the US State Department has engaged in innovative and effective social media campaigns reflecting a clear commitment to the power of social media. We can rightly expect that our nation’s Public Diplomacy efforts will continue to embrace social media.

Within the Department of Defense, key military leaders including Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, General David Petraeus, and his adviser David Kilcullen have focused American military strategy towards counterinsurgency and favor the use of “soft power”. Across the military we see key military leaders stepping up to the plate and embracing the social web. In an earlier post we highlighted the “Leadership By Example” mentality of US Coast Guard Commandant Thad Allen who has boldly spread the use of social media across his command. Similarly, Admiral Stavridis, commander of SOUTHCOM and his counter-part at AFRICOM, General Ward, have been using the internet to engage audiences. In fact, all across the military we are starting to see military commands embrace social media.

While “personalities” may have been a hindrance in past perception management policy and strategies, I expect the new administration as well as leaders within the Department of State and Department of Defense will usher in a new era of coordinated campaigns as well as a firm embrace of social media.

Bureaucracy

Yes, we got boatloads of bureaucracy and it’s not changing fast enough or soon enough. While I expect social media to revolutionize how we engage with foreign audiences, I expect bureaucratic challenges to be our biggest barrier. We will have to change our acquisition system, policies, operations, security procedures, manpower, training and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Politicians, agency heads and leaders across the government will have to make decisions, and we expect that will require years of staff work.

The Register has a great article about Andrew McLaughlin (Barack Obama Transition Team) and his attempt at “bringing Web 2.0 to Washington.” While Andrew’s experience is typical, the government is plodding along. The GSA recently signed deals with key social web companies such as Youtube, Flickr, Vimeo and Blip.tv. allowing them to use these services. But, look at the small print – it took nine months to put these agreements in place. Imagine how long an entire social media / social web strategy will take.

Deconstructing government bureaucracy in the near to mid term is unlikely, but there are movements working hard to change that reality. Government 2.0 Club is a great example and CNET was there to cover the ‘national organization created to allow government, academia, and industry to collaborate on Web 2.0 solutions for government.’ We attended along with hundreds of other Gov 2.0 idealists and had a chance to talk to foks such as Jack Holt who is leading social media change at the Defense Media Activity as well as Bill May of the US State Department who described State’s use of twitter, blogs, social networks, online video and other social media tactics.I also had a chance to talk with Laurel Ruma of O’Reilly Media and have great expectations for their Government 2.0 Summit in September of 2009.

The bottom line here is that bureaucracy is unlikely to change quickly, but it will change.

Social Media to the Frontlines

Perceived Manipulation of the Media by its Government

What a change two years can bring. When Major Martemucci wrote his original report I expect his frame of mind centered on the notion of mainstream media – namely how the US Government engaged and pushed its message to the leviathons of mass media. But in the two years since his paper was published, the media landscape has been upset by the emergence of social media. While broadcast news and papers aren’t dead, their influence has waned with the emergence of bloggers, citizen journalism, microblogging, and livestreaming. Now and into the future, these new sources of social media will increasingly frame perceptions of US policy and operations abroad.

Leaders and staff within the White House, US State Department and Department of Defense recognize this emerging trend and have increased their efforts to engage across the social web. While bureaucracy may slow the pace of change, new leaders and a new media landscape have set the stage for social media to play a leading role in perception management.

Adm. Allen Leads the Social Web from the Front

Taking a shot out of the Apple advertising series, Adm Allen demonstrates the effect of the Social Web on US Coast Guard communications. In a well written and succinct article of Coast Guard Magazine (Issue 4, 2008 Community), PA2 Dan Bender outlines the reasoning behind the Coast Guard’s embrace of the Social Web. Every command should take a look at the US Coast Guard Social Web Primer – below is an excerpt:

“The Coast Guard already has official pages on MySpace, FaceBook, Flickr and YouTube. There’s also an extensive U.S. Coast Guard entry on Wikipedia that covers everything from history and missions to how we know Popeye was a Coastie. So when it comes to social media, the Coast Guard has already made the commitment to be there. This begs the question, why?

The answer is communication.

A third of the country reads blogs. More than a fourth of the country has a profile on
MySpace or FaceBook. With numbers like that it’s safe to say that social media is a good
way to reach out to the public.”

And communicate they do – Adm Allen has encouraged service members to blog, tweet, upload videos, share content and communicate their service to the nation across the Social Web.

Adm Allen has led the Coast Guard into the Social Web foray through personal example. In September of 2008 he published an informal yet effective video on Youtube laying out his “Social Media Initiative” – a bold move and perfect example of leadership from the front. He is adeptly commanding – encouraging and supporting all ranks to embrace the Social Web.

US Coast Guard staff have followed his lead, both at the tactical level with service members submitting original content from the front lines, as well as the operational level. The Coast Guard CIO recently published the US Coast Guard’s Strategic Plan for C4&IT (FY 20009 – 2013) which lays out a “Web 2.0 Strategy” that adeptly embraces the key concept of transparency, sharing and collaboration:

2.7.1 Web 2.0 Strategy
Develop a strategy that defines how the Coast Guard can use Web 2.0 technologies (e.g. social-networking sites, wikis, blogs, and podcasts) to improve the Coast Guard’s missions and operations; provide transparency to the public and interact with constituents; and enhance information sharing and collaboration within the Coast Guard and with partners (such as the Navy, Army, Air Force, and Border Patrol). (Primary POC: CG-63/OSC)

Major Milestones

• FY09 Q1: Determine elements and timeline of Web 2.0 to implement in CG Portal version 1 (See item 2.3.3 for CG Portal milestones.)
• FY09 Q2: Develop strategic plan to support the Commandant’s intent for Web 2.0 in coordination with Public Affairs

Key Performance Indicators
• Web 2.0 technologies identified and integrated with CG Portal

You can find Adm Allen online at the Commandant’s Corner (2.0) and read his regular posts at iCommandant The Web Journal of Admiral Thad Allen.You can even find him online via the Adm Thad Allen Facebook Page.

On Twitter, the Coast Guard has witnessed dozens of official and unofficial twitter accounts emerge. A full list is available at Who Uses Twitter in the Coast Guard, but the more notable users are USCG: an unofficial Twitter account for the United States Coast Guard;  CGBlog: The official twitter account for CGBlog.org; and U.S. Coast Guard: Official Twitter account for the United States Coast Guard. Adm Allen’s “tech celebrity status” has even spawned a FakeThadAllen account. With a mix of official and unofficial tweets out there, the Coast Guard reaches a large and diverse audience.

The US Coast Guard Facebook Page is well done with consistent updates and integration with their Youtube and Flickr streams. With 2,822 followers to date, they have attracted a small, but more importantly, passionate group of fans who promote their message. You can also find the US Coast Guard on Flickr at the US Coast Guard Flickr Page an for videos visit the US Coast Guard Youtube Channel which shows breaking videos of dramatic rescues, law enforcement action and more.

In Admiral Allen’s leadership by example we’ve witnessed an explosion of Coast Guard engagement across the Social Web. And this is a lesson for all military and national security organizations. Leaders at the top of the enterprise must embrace the Social Web through personal example. Setting an agenda and directing the organization to embrace the web is not enough. Adm Allen has stepped up to the front line with podcasts, a personal blog, a facebook account and more. He has reduced professional risk across the enterprise, demonstrating through personal example what he expects. If you view his Youtube message on Social Media you’ll find a message that is somewhat rough – the message is great – but the delivery and format is personal and uncut. And it’s perfect – Adm Allen’s example is encouraging all ranks to get out there and embrace the Social Web – acknowledging that their videos, content and message should be authentic. I expect we’ll see even greater social web innovation emerge from the US Coast Guard under his personal leadership.