The Iraqi military gains media operations skills to defeat terrorism
UNIPATH STAFF
There is no doubt that information operations form the backbone in the war against Daesh terrorists. The terrorists use social media to spread propaganda, create chaos and confusion among citizens and shake confidence in security forces. Daesh’s media machine played a significant role in inventing false victories and claiming its forces controlled a majority of towns and villages in western Iraq. However, the reality on the ground was totally different from what Daesh claimed. Therefore, the Iraqi Ministry of Defense’s Directorate of Media and Morale Guidance, partnering with coalition forces, has focused on developing advanced media techniques to defeat Daesh. Unipath interviewed Brig. Gen. Tahseen Ibrahim Al-Khafaji, director of Media and Morale guidance, to talk about his experiences leading the media war against Daesh.
Unipath: The war against Daesh has revealed an unconventional enemy that uses social media to spread its lies. How do you counter this challenge?
Brig. Gen. Tahseen: Enemies like Daesh deploy every tactic they can — social and religious — in their propaganda. We witnessed how Daesh disgracefully infiltrated social media, a place invented for humankind to socialize, exchange constructive ideas and educate one another. Daesh violated social media by turning it into a place to inject toxic ideology and deceive youths. As the Directorate of Media and Morale Guidance, we counter Daesh propaganda in many ways. First, we monitor suspected social media sites where Daesh promoters are active. We conduct precise and thorough analyses of what it publishes before launching counterattacks to expose their lies using solid evidence and images. The ministry operates a media center that hosts professionals and specialists in countering terrorist ideology, whether in the social or religious realm. In addition, we have electronic teams dedicated to tracking terrorists online and discovering their locations. Furthermore, we have a national psychological war cell that concentrates on defeating Daesh in the information battlespace. It consists of many security and governmental entities to coordinate intelligence collection, find terrorist targets and respond to threats.
Unipath: How does the ministry’s media center track and expose terrorist propaganda on social media?
Brig. Gen. Tahseen: Before we respond to any propaganda, we analyze the information and send the findings to specialized teams authorized to select the best responses to deny the claims and expose the lies of Daesh on our official social media page. If the topic is outside the authority of the Ministry of Defense, we report it to the national psychological warfare cell, which prepares an in-depth report using the skills of experts and psychologists. They are authorized to choose a response on behalf of the Iraqi government and security forces.
Unipath: Describe how the Ministry of Defense has improved its media operations.
UNIPATH staff
Brig. Gen. Tahseen: Frankly, we have witnessed huge positive changes to the media of the Armed Forces. Before 2013, we had no website or social media presence. We never had direct communication with our coalition partners. We suffered from lack of training and equipment. We had no access to media experts to serve as advisors in the production and dissemination of media messaging in any given situation. We lacked a media war cell that communicated directly with the office of the commander in chief. But after establishing the media war cell and building the capabilities of the Directorate of Media and Morale Guidance, things are moving in the right direction. Today we have official websites that publish all our statements. We have a verified social media page that gives us the ability to respond swiftly to counter Daesh lies and inform our followers. Before 2013, we suffered from disjointed media statements that bred chaos and confusion. Today, we enjoy cooperation among all Iraqi agencies through the effective role of the national psychological war cell. This was a game-changer in a war that depends largely on media. As our media responses improved, citizens increasingly followed us and voluntarily participated to expose Daesh lies on social media. This played a critical role in boosting confidence and emboldening trust. In addition, we built confidence among the international media, which increasingly trusted our reports regarding successes on the battlefield. These positive gains were the result of the partnership with our allies and an improved media strategy.
Unipath: Do you mean that coalition forces and international cooperation played a role in improving Iraq’s media response?
Brig. Gen. Tahseen: Yes, indeed! Our friends’ role was very versatile and tremendous through the training and advances in our media and kinetic competencies. As a result, we have skillful media teams well-versed in psychological warfare and able to counter the enemy’s electronic capabilities and equip new trainees with advanced technology. We owe thanks to coalition forces for their massive effort to improve our abilities, not only in the defense sector but within the Ministry of Interior and other the security agencies.
Unipath: Can you provide specifics about the coalition’s media training program?
Brig. Gen. Tahseen: Before 2013, we experienced a shortage of cameras, loudspeakers and media production equipment. After 2013, we recognized this critical defect, asked our allies for assistance and were able to initiate a program to train and equip our media members in cutting-edge technology and devices. I consider this program a total success. Thanks to this training and technology, we successfully transmit live feeds from the front lines to command and control and media outlets. This gives us the flexibility to broadcast live from the battlespace to our audiences. I would go as far as to say that battles were won with this advanced technology. We used the loudspeakers to penetrate the depths of the enemy lines. When we entered the villages and towns, residents told us about the fierce fighting that they heard all night — the roaring engines of the fighter jets and the thunder of tanks and artillery. These sounds were transmitted by the tactical loudspeakers and spread chaos and confusion among Daesh fighters and made them flee the battlespace without firing a bullet.
Unipath: What challenges does your team face today?
Brig. Gen. Tahseen: We face huge economic challenges that slow the progress of equipping the directorate’s staff with what it needs to defeat terrorist propaganda. Another challenge is to continue to update the team’s skills. In addition, it’s sometimes hard to obtain new technology to maintain our ability to transmit live feeds from the battlefields to the homes of our citizens. There are also morale challenges — one of our primary goals is to build Iraqi confidence by exposing the lies and crimes of Daesh and revealing the truth so we can defeat these terrorists once and for all. We are facing tremendous challenges to rehabilitate parts of society controlled and altered by Daesh in which children and youth were brainwashed with toxic ideology.
Unipath: Tell us about your work in the directorate.
Brig. Gen. Tahseen: I am proud to be part of this team. Our office plays a critical role in print publications to educate our Soldiers to improve their morale and kinetic skills. In addition, we educate our citizens to reject the terrorist ideology by gaining their trust and loyalty to Iraq through a new monthly publication called Echoes of Truth that is authored by Iraqi security forces and coalition forces’ journalists. This magazine is produced by a ministry print shop and distributed by our Soldiers to our citizens. Furthermore, through our partnership with our allies, we established FM radio stations for our forces and citizens, as well as broadcasts for our citizens in denied areas via coalition aircraft, to inform our people that we are working to free them from Daesh. We created radio programs aired by Al Iraqiya FM radio designed for Mosul. We printed many posters and leaflets to communicate with the besieged areas and warn our citizens to stay away from Daesh locations. We also print instructions for residents in newly liberated areas. One important accomplishment is to help elementary school students in some liberated towns by providing buses to transport them to distant temporary schools. We also teamed up with the Iraqi air force to construct school desks for students using empty wooden ammunition boxes, because their schools were either looted or completely destroyed by Daesh. By providing transportation and school desks, we established trust between the Armed Forces and our citizens, as well as saved on the costs of new desks and reduced the problem of empty crates on air bases.
Unipath: How would you improve the directorate?
Brig. Gen. Tahseen: Despite the challenges we face under these circumstances, we work diligently to tell the stories of daily victories and expose terrorist lies to the world. We count on our friends, allies and brothers in the Iraqi government to support our efforts to create a new generation of media experts to pass on the success. We need to work closely with United Nations and coalition forces and the international community to reveal the truth to the world.
Unipath: How have forces managed to communicate with residents behind enemy lines?
Brig. Gen. Tahseen: Since 2013, our strategy has been to build the confidence of our forces and re-establish trust between Iraqis and their security forces. In addition, we focus on serving our citizens in the denied areas. While our forces conduct operations to defeat Daesh, there always will be trapped citizens; therefore, we must communicate with them before operations via leaflets, radio broadcasts and text messages to warn them to avoid Daesh locations and buildings flying Daesh’s flag. We also instruct them to follow designated safe routes to flee the towns. We divide our military mission into two parts: one to clear the town of the enemy and the other to transport civilians to safety. Our Soldiers share their battle rations with women and children, an approach that helps rebuild Iraqi trust and pride in their Soldiers.
Unipath: Could you tell us about Maj. Alaa Al-Edani,
a well-known Armed Forces reporter wounded in the
line of duty?
Brig. Gen. Tahseen: He is my hero! This brave man established an example of courage and sacrifice to inspire all media people in the Armed Forces. Despite his injury in the battlefield — he lost his eyes — he never lost his determination to defeat Daesh. He never lost hope in our efforts to build a safe Iraq for future generations. He sacrificed his precious eyesight so he could describe the reality of Iraqi victories in the war against Daesh.