This is a resteem from three months ago. The nice things about revisiting old posts is that they can be updated and tweaked, corrected and finetuned. Commenter contributions can be added as well as the insights the author gets from his commenters. I will be reposting the series in full while I work on an OSINT primer, and on new installments.

Information War is a type of war which focuses on control of information

War is not merely an act of policy but a true political instrument, a continuation of political intercourse carried on with other means.
/Carl von Clausewitz

Politics is the struggle for who gets what; war is a mode in that struggle.

Information War is simply war by a method other than open force, the control of information that people use to make political decisions. Make a note here; some ideologies consider control of cultural information a valid front of war (one in example in specific is the identity politics tactic of cultural Marxism).

So Information War itself is composed of many different aspects, all related to controlling information. Some countries use different specific definitions of Information War in their doctrine, and academia has it's own differing opinions of what the term means. Some terms within the concept may overlap; Propaganda for instance, has been noted as having a general populace as the target, while Information War has been specified as being directed at the decision-makers of a country and/or situation. That could range from a tyrant and his staff to a junior battlefield commander, depending on the situation.

Information War methods can be used as part of actual war and can overlap with intelligence functions and covert operations. References to Hybrid War refer to the merge of these methods. Commercial enterprises and criminal activities can also use Information War methods.

But in the end consideration, the basic concept of Information War is this:
Every method of controlling information with the intent of advancing a political goal can be considered as Information War

Modes of Information War - This is not a complete list, as I am still researching. The purpose is to show you the range of things that can be considered as "Information War"

• Propaganda - Propaganda is the most commonly known method of Information War. At it's simplest, it is the use of media to disseminate your own message. I've said it before, and I'll say it again...the best propaganda is based on truth. #Fakenews is propaganda, obviously not based on truth. I will include commercial PR reps as propaganda players...this is semantical; follow the logic of politics as who gets what to absurdities, and the act of selling product and creating a public image of a company is propaganda. You don't need to accept that view, but realize many people do.

• False flag Ops - This is any operation (military or otherwise) designed to put the blame on a party other than the agency actually doing the act. False flag ops are intended to discredit the target or to generate a reaction against the target.
  An Actual False-Flag Operation at CPAC

• Terror attacks - These are an example of Hybrid War. Terror attacks are not intended to kill the target itself most of the time; the point of a terror attack is to create fear in the general populace or to demonstrate a government's weakness. Osama Bin Laden notes the success of the 9/11 attacks in swaying much of the Muslim world to support him:

"When people see a strong horse and a weak horse, they will naturally want to side with the strong horse

As a counter example regarding the target of terror attacks, they can be used in conjunction with assassination. See Assassination of Benazir Bhutto

• Electronic Warfare- Electronic Warfare is everything from intercepting an enemy signal to gather intelligence to jamming radio stations. False data can even be planted to disrupt stock exchanges. Subliminal messaging is another use of electronic warfare.

• CyberWar - CyberWar is a subset of Electronic War. Defacing of websites is a popular tactic to show opposition or to demonstrate weakness. DDoS attacks prevent the target from operating. Socking, or creating multiple social media accounts can "show" a "wave" of "popular support". Hacking accounts for customer lists can be used for intimidation or for financial attacks or to identify additional targets

• Indoctrination - What better way to control information then to define what your target accepts as fact? Have you ever had a public school graduate tell you that "logic is racist"? I have, a highly intelligent young lady I've known since she was a child...and all her smarts gone to waste because she has been indoctrinated to reject critical thinking. This alone should convince you the intense power that indoctrination holds. Keep in mind that indoctrination is usually not discussed as a facet of Information War, although it should be considered a high priority of analysis, especially in conjunction with Institutional Control and Subversion

• Institutional Control - How else do you get the power to indoctrinate without controlling those institutions that provide information? Besides the power that institutions can have to coerce individual actions, a threat of institutional control is the ability of some institutions (education, news media, entertainment media, and academia) to disseminate information and to indoctrinate. #fakenews that I create as Joe Blogger has no comparison in power to that #fakenews issued by CBS. Finally, institutions grant the appearance of authority to information; if an agency is responsible for the custody or generation of information, the assumption is that the information is correct.

• Subversion - Subversion has a dictionary meaning, but America does not have a legal standard regarding it's use. Merriam-Webster's definition also neglects to note that ANY organization can be the target of subversive operations.

a systematic attempt to overthrow or undermine a government or political system by persons working secretly from within

One of the main tactics in subversion is the discrediting of the system through the use of propaganda. In addition, we can see that the progression of subverting an institution leads to controlling the institution which leads to the power both to indoctrinate and to control the flow of information. See The long march through the institutions. Also see TACTICS OF THE LEFT

• Front Groups - Front groups are "puppet" groups set up to disseminate information or to conduct operations in support of the original agency. They are intended to create an appearance of separation from the controlling group. A major use of front groups is to generate supporting propaganda which is supposedly "unconnected" from the controlling group. RationalWiki discusses several additional uses of front groups.

• Psychological Warfare - AKA PsyOps or MindWar covers an entire class of operations used to generate psychological and emotional responses for propaganda effects. A recent example is from the invasion of Iraq. Iraqi commanders were called or emailed personally by the military and informed that they would be targets personally during the invasion. Howver, my favorite example is from the Phillipines. During the Hukbalahap revolt: American Col. Ed Lansdale advised Defense Secretary Ramon Magsaysay on military matters, including PsyOps. Lansdale devised this particular op; there was a creature in Filipino mythology known as the aswang. I'll let Col. Lansdale tell it from here:

“A combat psywar squad was brought in. It planted stories among town residents of an asuang living on the hill where the Huks were based. Two nights later, after giving the stories time to make their way up to the hill camp, the psywar squad set up an ambush along the trail used by the Huks. When a Huk patrol came along the trail, the ambushers silently snatched the last man of the patrol, their move unseen in the dark night. They punctured his neck with two holes, vampire-fashion, held the body up by the heels, drained it of blood, and put the corpse back on the trail. When the Huks returned to look for the missing man and found their bloodless comrade, every member of the patrol believed that the asuang had got him and that one of them would be next if they remained on that hill. When daylight came, the whole Huk squadron moved out of the vicinity.”

PSYWAR in the Philippines | ASWANG of the CIA

Conclusion

This has been a very brief overview of the concept of Information War. You will see methods and concepts overlap with other modes of war. Don't let yourself get bogged down trying to make specific definitions. Basically, Every method of controlling information with the intent of advancing a political goal can be considered as Information War

Now I have a habit of saying "The Information War". Let me clarify this meaning in that I think there is an active Information War going on between several groupings of corruptocrats and the interests of the average human being. The major campaign of "The Information War", IMHO, is being fought in the United States between a corruptocrat alliance of globalists/leftists and liberty minded citizens. I am aware there other interpretations, and so should you as an InformationWar Activist. There are several fronts in this war, and multiple analyses of each front!

Keep in mind that you maybe wrong both in having accurate information, and your own underlying biases in analyzing that data. CRITICAL THINKING IS KEY IN WINNING THIS WAR

Today's images brought to you courtesy of the United States Marines, from WWI. This is still very effective propaganda, and it appeals to me personally.

This series index:

So you want to be an InformationWar Activist? - Part One (UPDATED)
How to be an InformationWar Activist - Part Two, Morality (UPDATED)
How to be an InformationWar Activist, Part Three: Is the Information War Winnable?(UPDATED)
How to be an InformationWar Activist - Part Four: What the heck IS Information War? (UPDATED)
How to be an InformationWar Activist - Part Five: The American Deep State
How to be an InformationWar Activist - Part Six: The Personal Price
How to be an InformationWar Activist - Part Seven: Who Might The Players be?
How to be an InformationWar Activist - Part Eight: Making Sense of Multiple Levels of Corruption
How to be an InformationWar Activist, Part Nine: The Power of Decentralization As A Tool

Steemit writers contributing to understanding the Information War

@originalsimulant
@dragon40
@lifeworship
@shayne
@thedeplorable1
@phibetaiota - Information War, OSINT
@fortified
@dodecahydra
@krnel - Critical Thinking/Cognitive Bias
@richq11
@dwinblood - Critical Thinking
@rebelskum - http://pizzagate.wiki
@nachtigall
@kushfreeman
@aggroed
@ausbitbank
@titusfrost
@canadian-coconut

Study Resources

• Some Resources for Studying Propaganda
• Index of Critical Thinking and Fighting the Information War
• Journal of Information Warfare
• INFORMATION WARFARE AND INFORMATION OPERATIONS (IW/IO): A BIBLIOGRAPHY