Is this an Information Operation? I'd like some other opinions about this. Something doesn't add up...

We know that Al Qaeda works like a MNC, but its only really useful as an analogy. MNCs don't make people swear oaths of loyalty and require them to lay down their lives for jihad. There is a point where the analogy stops. Its somewhere around a Keiretsu. Al Qaeda is not a "professional career". I noticed the employment contract didn't specify a pension that includes a bunch of virgins in the afterlife. However, I'm 100% positive that such a thing figures into every Al'Q's view of the "employment" bargin. I wonder how much of this is being placed in order to get more of an upper hand in the "PR battle" Bush has been speaking of lately. Or rather, to make Al'Q appear cooky, while Al'Q gets the idea that we don't know which way is up...

Much of this sounds exactly like the type of thing that we would not want to leak unless there was a strategic reason for it. Let me reference the last lines of this article, which resemble bullets in a Powerpoint presentation, for an example of why:

* Jihadists look for insights in Western thought and U.S. strategic planning.

According to the study, the United States should counter these efforts by "establishing a think tank staffed with highly trained experts on the Middle East and counterinsurgency whose sole purpose would be to identify the major jihadi thinkers and analyze their works."

"We would appreciate it if you would continue to conduct your own information operations, because from what we have seen of your speeches and how they have effected the western public, you are not that good at it. Just keep paying attention to what we are saying and assuming we are very, very, very stupid."

I think Al'Q looks to CNN too. I have no doubt that CIA DI is looking over al-Zawahiri's last spoken word album. And for that matter, every damn Islamist cleric that they can find. I'm also sure Al'Q has already assumed thats the case. The result of that line of study is an understanding of the ideology, not the strategic and tactical thinking of the operational groups planning attacks. Not making efforts to counter the ideology would be stupid, and I can't buy into the idea that anyone in psyops would be ignoring it.

Going with the assumption that the other bullets here all have intended secondary effects...

* Direct engagement with the United States has been positive for the movement because it rallies locals, drains U.S. resources and puts pressure on Washington's allies.

To counter the first trend, the study says the United States "should avoid direct, large-scale military action in the Middle East. If such fighting is necessary, it must be done through proxies whenever possible."

"We can safely assume the infidels are going to do the same damn thing they have done in the past."... [ Read More (0.5k in body) ]