The World Wide Web of War

Download or read book The World Wide Web of War written by Craig A. Smith and published by . This book was released on 2006 with total page 26 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Modern communications, combined with the near instantaneous publication of information on the World Wide Web, are providing the means to dramatically affect the pursuit, conduct, and public opinion of war on both sides. The current war in Iraq is the first war in history that has seen soldiers, independent journalists, and citizens in the war zone publishing interactive, first-hand accounts and photos of life and events by web logs or blogs. This war also has seen the enemy create slick web sites containing information and professional quality graphics and video of their operations and exploits, including gruesome beheadings. U.S. military and government public affairs elements, and even mainstream media organizations, have scrambled to deal with this onslaught of unregulated reporting as it rapidly grows in popularity and capability. This paper examines the rise of war blogs and other communications to assess their immediate and longer term impact on U.S. policy and military strategy, and to suggest ways in which the United States can overtly control them or use them more effectively.