NATO Supreme Commander Europe (SACEUR) is Admiral James E Stavridis. His job encompasses the war on the land, air, on the sea and also the ‘information war.’ Admiral Stavridis is the first Navy man to hold this position.
On 21/07/2010 Admiral Stavridis picked this question out of the many sent to him on his social networks:
“What’s the best advice you can give to operational commanders to help with the information war, that is so critical in today’s environment?”
His answer was telling and indicates the importance given to this aspect of warfare, and perhaps why the coalition propaganda has been so effective in the case of Libya. It also indicates a danger to democracy, with free speech being undermined by a new network of dedicated, military-trained bloggers and information specialists:
“People. Its investing in our young people who already have intuitively so many of the information age skill-sets. What we need to do is gather them up in their 20s, get them the right training and education and create a cadre within the military who are specialised in this kind of information war and frankly if we look today at the kind of environment we’re in, its pretty easy to project a future in which the information aspects of conflict are going to be quite significant.
“We sail in a cyber-sea and it is a rebel sea, and we must learn how to govern, how to sail in that sea.”
So we can assume that there is a cadre of covert information specialists out there who are working full-time at shaping the public discussion over the war in Libya – and there likely will be such a cadre in all future wars.
Another major concern of Admiral Stavridis is “government-civilian” connections and specifically working with humanitarian operations – and we can see the fruits of his labours very clearly with certain humanitarian organisations and much of the mainstream media today actively embracing military propaganda.
May 13th, 2011 → 15:13
[...] the 14th of April, NATO Secretary-General Rasmussen confirmed that Admiral Stavridis had briefed foreign ministers, that Gadaffi’s forces were now in populated areas and that [...]
May 23rd, 2011 → 22:34
[...] the commanding Officer of USS Barry used to be Admiral James G Stavridis, the Admiral who is particularly keen on information wars and controlling the internet. USS Barry [...]
May 25th, 2011 → 12:37
[...] the 14th of April, NATO Secretary-General Rasmussen confirmed that Admiral Stavridis had briefed foreign ministers that Gadaffi’s forces were now in populated areas and that [...]
May 25th, 2011 → 13:44
[...] the 14th of April, NATO Secretary-General Rasmussen confirmed that Admiral Stavridis had briefed foreign ministers that Gadaffi’s forces were now in populated areas and that “to [...]
May 27th, 2011 → 19:00
[...] the 14th of April, NATO Secretary-General Rasmussen confirmed that Admiral Stavridis had briefed foreign ministers that Gadaffis forces were now in populated areas and that to avoid [...]
May 30th, 2011 → 11:42
[...] 14 aprile, il Segretario Generale della NATO, Rasmussen, ha confermato che l’Ammiraglio Stavridis aveva riferito ai ministri degli esteri che le forze di Gheddafi erano all’interno dei aree [...]
May 30th, 2011 → 17:00
[...] 14 aprile, il Segretario Generale della NATO, Rasmussen, ha confermato che l’Ammiraglio Stavridis aveva riferito ai ministri degli esteri che le forze di Gheddafi erano all’interno dei aree [...]
May 31st, 2011 → 09:26
[...] 14 aprile, il segretario generale della NATO, Rasmussen, ha confermato che l’Ammiraglio Stavridis aveva riferito ai ministri degli Esteri che le forze di Gheddafi erano all’interno dei aree [...]
June 2nd, 2011 → 11:44
[...] 14 aprile, il Segretario Generale della NATO, Rasmussen, ha confermato che l’Ammiraglio Stavridis aveva riferito ai ministri degli esteri che le forze di Gheddafi erano all’interno dei aree [...]
June 6th, 2011 → 18:57
[...] http://humanrightsinvestigations.org/2011/04/28/information-wars-sailing-in-a-cyber-sea/ [...]
June 11th, 2011 → 22:45
[...] 14 aprile, il Segretario Generale della NATO, Rasmussen, ha confermato che l’Ammiraglio Stavridis aveva riferito ai ministri degli esteri che le forze di Gheddafi erano all’interno dei aree [...]
June 18th, 2011 → 00:30
[...] 14 aprile, il Segretario Generale della NATO, Rasmussen, ha confermato che l’Ammiraglio Stavridis aveva riferito ai ministri degli esteri che le forze di Gheddafi erano all’interno dei aree [...]
June 21st, 2011 → 13:57
[...] the commanding Officer of USS Barry used to be Admiral James G Stavridis, the Admiral who is particularly keen on information wars and controlling the [...]
October 7th, 2011 → 00:49
[...] of Amnesty International is perhaps even more disappointing and it is a major victory for Admiral Stavridis’ information warriors to have neutered this once radical organization. Fresh evidence that Amnesty has been hijacked to [...]
October 10th, 2011 → 17:12
[...] of Amnesty International is perhaps even more disappointing and it is a major victory for Admiral Stavridis’ information warriors to have neutered this once radical organization. Fresh evidence that Amnesty has been hijacked to a [...]
October 11th, 2011 → 11:58
[...] area is a war crime, although NATO commanders (such as Lieutenant-General Charles Bouchard and Admiral Stavridis) and their friends in the arms industry will [...]
October 15th, 2011 → 04:39
[...] area is a war crime, although NATO commanders (such as Lieutenant-General Charles Bouchard and Admiral Stavridis) and their friends in the arms industry will claim [...]
January 22nd, 2012 → 11:22
[...] coördinator hier op te voeren als grote boeman, hij is immers ook slechts schoothondje van de NAVO en de VS in deze.[6] En aangezien meneer zo nodig nationalisatie en militarisatie wil, kan hij er dan ook op aangekeken [...]
February 16th, 2012 → 00:18
[...] of Amnesty International is perhaps even more disappointing and it is a major victory for Admiral Stavridis’ information warriors to have neutered this once radical organization. Fresh evidence that Amnesty has been hijacked to [...]