Information operations in pursuit of terrorists

Abstract

The Global War on Terror is in its sixth year now, and the battle with the Islamist terrorists is being fought both in the physical as well as the informational domain. This research examines the relationship between terrorism and information operations keeping in view Martin Libicki?s notion of information warfare as a Mosaic of Forms. This research begins with the basics of terrorism and information operations, and proceeds to highlight the use of information operations by terrorist organizations and in particular its use by Al Qaeda. In order to compare the complete spectrum of information operations being conducted by United States-led forces in this Global War on Terror, this research includes two detailed studies on the prosecution of information operations from the perspective of both the United States-led coalitions and the anti-coalition elements in Afghanistan and Iraq. The study concludes by highlighting the relevance of Libicki?s constructs in the context of the Global War on Terror and proposes a macro strategy to pursue the Islamist terrorists in the information domain.