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Information War


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Printed in India


iii

Information

War

(Dis)information will Decide Future Wars

Ramesh Bhan

EDUCREATION PUBLISHING (Since 2011)

www.educreation.in


iv


v

No part of this publication may be reproduced,

transmitted, used or stored in any form by any

means without prior permission of the author.

Ph : 9810266153


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About The Author

Ramesh Bhan is a senior journalist

with three decades of experience

with a national News Agency in

India. After thirty years of English

language journalism, he practiced

Hindi journalism and was Editor of a Hindi

language news agency.

During his journalistic career he has handled

important beats of Prime Minister‘s Office (PMO),

External Affairs Ministry, Ministries of Defence

and Home Affairs which includes internal security

issues, and Science and Technology.

He has travelled with Indian Prime Ministers

Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Dr. Manmohan Singh and

several Foreign Ministers for about 15 years as

member of their delegations and visited about 45

countries.

He has covered several major international

Summits including the UN General Assembly,

BRICS, SAARC, CHOGM, India-US, India-Russia

and India-EU bilateral Summits besides many stand

alone visits.

He specializes in foreign affairs and security

issues, specifically subjects like Disinformation and

Terrorism.

He has been awarded a civilian honour by the

government of Kazakhstan on the occasion of


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Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev

completing 20 years in power.

He was one of the International Observers for

2007 elections in Kazakhstan and visited Almaty.

He has also covered the fall of Taliban in

Afghanistan and the war in 2001 and lived in

Afghanistan for more than a month at the height of

civil war there. He has given lectures at the

prestigious Indian Institute of Mass Communication

(IIMC).

LLLLL


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Content List

Sr. Content Page

-

About The Author

vii

- Acknowledgements xi

- Preface xiii

- Introduction xvi

- Summary xxvi

1. Disinformation - World War II 1

2. Disinformation - ‗Stealing

Headlines‘

8

3. Disinformation - Selection Of

Words

12

4. Disinformation - Sources 16

5. Disinformation - Terrorism 25

6. Disinformation - US And Russia 52

7. Disinformation - Russia 94

8. Disinformation - Wartime

Reporting

98

9. Disinformation - Malaysian Plane 106

10. Disinformation - Media Co-Op 117

11. Disinformation - Indian Media 124

12. Disinformation - Israel/Palestine 129

13. Disinformation - Europe 132


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14. Disinformation - Failed Attempts 139

15. Disinformation - Digital Media 147


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Acknowledgements

To my mother without whose blessings I could not

have started this project.

I thank my wife Ritu for her cooperation and

my sons Kanishk for helping me with digitization

and editing and Kunal for his encouragement, my

brother Dr Rajinder and sister Babita. I also thank

Prof M L Bhan, Amit, Aditi and Shefali who

supported me with facts and other details in

completing this project. I express gratitude to Vibha

Dhar for designing cover pages and giving final

touches to the book.

I am grateful to all those news agencies/news

portals, newspapers and websites whose reports on

various global issues I have mentioned as my case

studies and commented upon while writing on the

subject.

It has taken me nearly 15 years to research and

write on the subject and had to change track many

times with fast-paced global changes taking place.

During these fifteen years I have read and consulted

and studied thousands of reports published in many

newspapers and news agencies. It was, therefore,

not possible for me to quote each and every

newspaper, news agency or news portal. However, I

have made it a point to name almost all newspapers,

news agencies and news portals whose reports I

have commented upon. My apologies if I may have

by mistake left out any source. While commenting

on their reports, my idea was not to criticize them or


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the reporters and experts who have written for them.

As a journalist, I only wanted to point out where

they have gone wrong and where they could have

done better so that coming generation of journalists

learns the art and is aware of the aspect for future.

I must acknowledge that without commenting

on their reports on various global issues, it would

not have been possible for me to write on the

sensitive subject. I have been very careful to

comment on only those reports which have been

published over the years and are already in public

domain.

Ramesh Bhan


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Preface

On its way to completion, this book was subjected

to many changes. It took me about 15 years to

complete this book and during these 15 years the

idea and the subject changed at least twice. Finally,

my research stopped on the subject of

Disinformation and Global Information War.

I started writing this book in 2002 on the

subject ‗Media and Terrorism‘. From my

experience of a two-year posting in Jammu and

Kashmir from 1995-1997 when militancy in

Kashmir valley was at its peak, to one-month ordeal

in Afghanistan during and after Taliban rule, I had

firsthand experience of how relations between

media and terrorism in such areas are symbiotic. In

such situations, where truth is the main casualty,

media depends on terrorism and terrorism depends

on media coverage. Journalists covering terrorism

are constantly looking for exclusive stories while

terrorists depend on media coverage to enhance

their effectiveness and terror. I realized that this

symbiotic relationship needs to be broken if

terrorism anywhere is to be defeated. So based on

my experiences, I started writing on the subject.

However, before I could complete the book,

media scene all over the world changed with fresh

global developments and emerging geo-political

situation. Media was now used as a tool to score

strategic and political, and most often military,

victories by countries with bigger economies and

stronger media against those with weaker


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economies and not-so-developed media. It had now

taken the form of a Global Information War which

was being fought through Disinformation.

This became worse after Ukrainian

developments between United States, Europe and

Russia. This was now a full-scale Global

Information War. It was clear that any country with

stronger media will emerge victorious. My visit to

Crimea in March 2015, one year after the

referendum, brought me face-to-face with the real

situation in the Crimean Peninsula and Ukraine.

Media coverage of the Crimean developments was

highly controversial. That gave me the idea of the

Information War on Ukraine which was bound to

worsen.

This changed my track from ‗Media and

Terrorism‘ to ‗Information War and

Disinformation.‘ Terrorism was just a small

component of this Global Information War. With

the emerging of terrorist outfits like Daesh and Al

Qaida, terrorism had no longer remained terrorism.

It had taken the form of a clash between faiths. This

has been mentioned very clearly by Islamic State

(IS) in their propaganda magazine that their fight is

against ‗‘Rome and Jews‘‘. It was getting

dangerous. Unfortunately, journalists, especially in

India, have not evolved. When migration into

Europe became a global concern, IS explained in its

propaganda magazine that migration is the third

step in their battle for supremacy and jihad will

follow.

That made me feel concerned and I decided to

write on the subject to at least make journalists


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aware of what was happening. Terrorism reporting

does not involve bomb blasts and terrorist killings

only. It has a deeper social danger which if not

realized and corrected, will spell disaster. That was

my motivation to change the track and write on

Information War and Disinformation instead of

Terrorism.

Ramesh Bhan


xvi

Introduction

Information has been weaponized. Cold war

between Russia and the United States and its allies

may have ended but it has now been replaced by a

more vicious one—the Information War. Use or

misuse of ‗Information‘ is increasingly becoming a

part of strategies, military or otherwise, adopted by

countries all over the world. Countries with stronger

information apparatus dominate in this Information

War while those with not so developed information

machinery are pushed to the wall.

If Cold War was targeted at creating fear

psychosis in the opponent‘s mind, Information War

is aimed at controlling the opponent‘s mind and

through the opponent, the people of the opponent

country.

The strategy is clear. Constantly feed the

opponent‘s people, and even the world‘s population,

with negative reports so that people and the world at

large, start believing the reports and discredit their

own government. It may take months and

sometimes years. But the damage is severe.

It may have picked up during the Second

World War , but got evolved over the years and has

now become more sophisticated. This is

‗DISINFORMATION‘—a non-military method to

achieve strategic and political aim. Now another

dimension has been added—achieving economic

goals as well subverting a rival nation‘s economy.


xvii

Wikileaks ‗exposes‘ is a clear case of

Disinformation made sophisticated. It may be

recalled that Arab Spring began after Wikileaks

‗exposures‘. Wikileaks exposures stopped but the

purpose is served --- Arab World is in turmoil. Most

interesting was that Wikileaks ‗exposes‘ were

country-specific----about democracy in countries

which had monarchies or dictatorships and about

corruption and other issues where there are

democracies and ‗‘exposes‘‘ about democracy

would not have worked. Where is Wikileaks now?

Its purpose has been served.

Media, including social media, is used to create

such chaos and adds to the damage potential. I am

not saying that all Disinformation can be false or

concoction. ‗Wikileaks‘ disclosures may be true. No

one is disputing that. Some such reports also may be

true. Most often they are facts. But these become

Disinformation by the timing of their publication or

broadcast. Such reports are given out or published,

or even leaked selectively, when the time is ripe and

when it has the most damage potential. It depends

upon the judgment of the source from where the

report is emanating. The end result is what is

already expected. Intelligence agencies and

politicians are often the architects and they have a

terrific sense of timing when to give out such

reports.

The potential to cause damage through such

reports should not be underestimated. The damage

caused is unimaginable, sometimes governments are

overthrown. But by the time people realize that, the

damage is done and in most cases, it is irrevocable.


xviii

That is the power and role of media in the modern

world and most governments have realized that. In

many countries, media including television and

social media, were consciously developed by

governments with assistance--financial and

otherwise--and used to serve the intended purpose.

The classic strategy is ‗create/plant a

controversy in media including newspapers and

television, and create an impression in the minds of

the people‘. News agencies play a crucial role. That

is the trend followed by most governments,

including in India.

Three main principles must be kept in mind

while resorting to Disinformation:

Information sought to be circulated, must look

doubtlessly truthful.

It must not be self-contradictory.

It must be focused and should concentrate on

the target and accordingly, information should

be spread with a clear policy and frame of mind.

Developed countries have stronger media and

media policies. It is only in poorer countries that

media is not very well developed and they are more

vulnerable.

The ‗Information War‘ which was at its best

during the Ukrainian developments, in fact began

much before the Ukrainian crisis and was seen as a

prelude to Crimean developments. While Russian

media accused Western countries of presenting

distorted versions of the developments, Western

media said Russian media spread ‗lies‘ and ‗half-

truths‘. In any case truth was the main casualty


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which never came out and probably never will—as

happens in most such cases.

Before the Ukrainian crisis, Russian media

including television channels, showed a flood of

refugees from Ukraine coming into Russia. It

however, later became known that the footage was

actually of some other developments at an outpost

on the Russian-Polish border.

Third Party people who have nothing to do with

either warring party, are often victims of this

Information War and their voice is never heard and

problems never noticed. A classic example is that of

nearly 350 Indian students of the Crimea Medical

College in 2014. When Crimea became part of the

Russian Federation, the students came under

Russian medical laws. They were not sure who

would give them the degrees after Crimea became

part of Russia. They could not come to India

because Russian medical degrees were not

recognized by the Medical Council of India (MCI).

When Crimea was part of Ukraine, entire Europe

was open for them and they could go to any

European country, also the US, for specialization.

After Crimean developments, all this changed and

their fate became unknown. In this war over

Crimea, no media highlighted their problems.

This is just an example of what happens to

Third Party population, which normally becomes an

unwilling victim of such developments aided by

Information Warfare.

Yet another case of ‗Disinformation‘ is

‗Stealing the Headlines‘. ‗Stealing the Headlines‘ is

also a global phenomenon. Russia‘s military


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intervention in Syria and aerial attacks on Islamic

State (IS) targets, shifted focus and world attention

from Ukraine to Syria, particularly Europe which

has witnessed one of the worst humanitarian crises

in the form of refugee influx from war-torn Syria.

Russian President Vladimir Putin was clever

enough to send in troops into Syria at a time when

the whole world was sympathizing with refugees.

No finger was raised at Russia. Even the US and its

European allies could not do much at that time to

stop the refugee crisis.

The military intervention in Syria also bolstered

Russian President Vladimir Putin‘s personal image

back home by projecting him as a strong leader who

takes the bull by the horns. Such ‗Stealing the

Headlines‘ strategy won him support which had

started taking a beating after the sanctions imposed

in the wake of Crimean developments.

Disinformation means intentionally spreading

false and misleading information to achieve an

objective. It is not a new concept. In fact it started

even before First World War but gradually gained

strength over the years. With internet, it has become

the most modern form of warfare. The use of

Disinformation as a weapon of war is slated to grow

and become more sophisticated.

Newspapers, news agencies/wire services and

television channels earlier played a crucial role in

Disinformation. Now social media and use of cyber

space have taken over, but the role of news agencies

and wire services and television has not died down.

It continues to be equally important although it has

gone into slight background. In the coming years it


xxi

is certain to become more technology driven. It is

commonly believed that with the onset of television

and internet, newspapers and news agencies/wire

services may be losing relevance. It is a wrong

notion. Neither newspapers nor news agencies/wire

services have lost relevance. It is just a matter of

public perception. In fact newspapers and news

agencies/wire services are relevant even today and

will become more important as the use of

Disinformation as a tool in Information War grows.

Disinformation is an important link of a system

which follows a pattern. A report is conceived by a

government with a motive or intention. It is

prepared in a closed room by experts and

intelligence agencies and then published or

‗planted‘ in a ‗friendly‘ newspaper or magazine

through a ‗friendly‘ journalist. From there it is

picked up by a news agency/wire service. The next

stage is a television channel, which telecasts it

across borders. It is taken up by social media and

cyber world for wider impact. This is the modus

operandi for spreading Disinformation in which all

the modes of communication constitute an

important link in a chain of reports leading to

conceived or desired results. Such reports of

different nature on various topics are constantly

‗planted‘, sometimes for months and years

depending upon the seriousness of the situation.

When the desired result is achieved, Disinformation

stops until a new issue comes up.

Reports about Iraq‘s President Saddam Hussein

possessing Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMDs)

that would endanger human population, were


xxii

planted for more than two years in global media

until the world believed these reports. Rest is

history. Libya‘s President Muammar Gaddafi was

another victim of Disinformation. In modern times,

North Korea and its dictator could be yet another

target. Russia and its President Vladimir Putin have

already become a target of Disinformation.

Special skills are required to write such reports.

First a purpose is decided and then a report written.

Normally sources from where such reports emanate,

are not mentioned and even if these are mentioned,

multiple sources are quoted to confuse a reader.

Sources in such reports are never identified. An

authentic source is a must in any such report to be

convincing.

Disinformation should not be confused with

Misinformation or Hiding Information. Even though

all three aspects are important, Disinformation has

gained more importance because of its damaging

potential.

Disinformation should not be confused with

propaganda either. These are two entirely different

exercises. While propaganda is spread mainly by

governments and others to convey their policies and

programs and achievements, Disinformation is

meant to spread information with a motive, often to

undermine the opponent. Propaganda is mainly

confined within the borders of a country while

Disinformation focuses primarily on rivals, mainly

other countries. However, in both cases--

propaganda as well as Disinformation—

dissemination has evolved from traditional means of

communication like newspapers, magazines, news


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agencies and radio and television to internet and

cyber space. That is what makes Disinformation

more sophisticated and dangerous because cyber

space does not recognize any borders. In this entire

exercise, however, news agencies‘ role has

remained consistent.

Not only United States and Europe, Russia too

uses Disinformation as an instrument of Information

Warfare. The word Disinformation did not appear

in dictionaries until late-1980s and the use of the

term related to a Russian tactical weapon started in

1923.

Any Disinformation campaign has two main

phases. One is aimed at preparing the people

psychologically while the second is to feed the

already psychologically ready people to receive and

believe a motivated Disinformation campaign. This

principle remains true even now with modern day

Disinformation campaign. Both aspects are inter-

related and directly proportional to each other.

It is more obvious in Kashmir. The first phase

was to feed the people in the terrorism-affected

valley with motivated and most often incorrect

reports while the second was to make them react,

often violently, to any situation. They are in a way

totally brainwashed. When people are brainwashed,

rumors have a field day and people readily believe

any rumor. And when rumor gains strength, logic

and reasoning take back seat. That is when

Disinformation becomes easy and result-oriented. In

such cases judgment becomes the main casualty and

people are not able to decide the difference between

right and wrong.


xxiv

Disinformation which is normally the forte and

job of a country‘s intelligence agencies and is

practiced mainly against rival countries, sometimes

rival political parties and candidates, assumes the

dimension of Information War when it is unleashed

against rival countries. But Disinformation

unleashed against a country‘s President by that

country‘s intelligence agencies is perhaps very rare

as we have witnessed against US President Donald

Trump by CIA and FBI.

Even in revered Hindu epic Mahabharata, we

come across ‗Disinformation‘ during the height of

the battle between Kaurvas and Pandavas at

Kurukshetra. On the 15th day of the epic battle,

when Guru Dronacharya was unstoppable and

started killing the army of the Pandavas, there was

only one way to make him lay down arms and that

was if he could be told that his son Ashwaththama

was dead. But it was a big question how to do that.

Yudhishthira was told to convey this to Guru

Dronacharya since Yudhishthira did not tell lies and

therefore, Dronacharya would believe him only. So

Pandavas killed an elephant named Ashwaththama.

Yudhishthira, sticking to his dharma of speaking the

truth, shouted at Dronacharya saying

‗Ashwaththama Hatha Kunjara‘ which means

Ashwaththama the elephant is dead. However, after

Yudhishthira said the first two words

‗Ashwaththama Hatha‘ meaning Ashwaththama is

dead, on the third word ‗Kunjara‘ meaning

elephant, Lord Krishna blew the conch shell so loud

that Guru Dronacharya could not hear it and took it

as ‗Ashwaththama Hatha.‘‘ He laid down arms and


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