April 28, 2021
Last week, I wrote about the importance of combating foreign disinformation as an intelligence imperative, one that current and former officials understand is a serious threat to our nation’s security.
Today, new reporting demonstrates how U.S. military commanders are increasingly focused on fighting our adversaries in the public information space, with the understanding that we cannot only take them on in traditional battlefields or in arms races. Countries like Russia and China routinely and aggressively push disinformation on a variety of issues, including their nefarious actions in their own neighborhoods (Russia in eastern Ukraine, for example, or China in the South China Sea) and their meddling in our system. And that disinformation has consequences: It can weaken support from our allies and partners, prevent international bodies like the United Nations from taking collective action, or sow doubt among the American people about what the truth actually is.
As a result, military leaders have asked their colleagues in the Intelligence Community (IC) for help in what often feels like an uphill battle. Since the rise of the internet, it has been difficult to get evidence gleaned from intelligence declassified and released quickly enough to hit back against online disinformation in an effective and timely manner. Lies fly around social media in an instant; the short timeframe Adlai Stevenson had to get declassified photos printed and sent to the UN for his presentation challenging the Soviet Union’s falsehoods during the Cuban Missile Crisis feels like an eternity today.
POLITICO got access to a memo that nine regional military commanders sent the IC last year asking the intel agencies to publicly release more evidence of our adversaries’ “pernicious conduct” so they can better fight the global information war against countries like Russia and China. According to this reporting, the commanders wrote:
“We request this help to better enable the U.S., and by extension its allies and partners, to win without fighting, to fight now in so-called gray zones, and to supply ammunition in the ongoing war of narratives…Unfortunately, we continue to miss opportunities to clarify truth, counter distortions, puncture false narratives, and influence events in time to make a difference.”
The commanders argued that it is only by “waging the truth in the public domain against America’s 21st century challengers” that the U.S. can bolster support from American allies, but their efforts to compete in this battle of ideas are hampered by overly stringent secrecy practices, according to the report.
The signatories of this letter included the commanders who oversee U.S. military forces in Asia, Europe, Africa, Latin America, and special operations — areas of operation that encompass a wide range of threats and strategic challenges. Such an entreaty underscores the urgency that these senior military officers have put on improving efforts in this area. As POLITICO reported,
the fact that it was signed by nine of the 11 four-star combatant commanders — all but one of whom are still in uniform — is nearly unheard of, said multiple government officials familiar with the memo who said it underscored an unusual level of alarm among the top brass.
IC leaders reportedly responded that they are exploring ways to more quickly declassify and publicly release information. Matt Lahr, deputy assistant DNI for strategic communications, said one goal of the IC’s review is “the publication of priority intelligence requirements that address strategic messaging and malign influence,” an indication the IC may be upping its reporting on how hostile foreign governments attempt to shape global public opinion in covert and overt ways.
Twenty years after 9/11, there has been a lot of discussion and debate about how the U.S. military can best prepare itself to meet the challenges of the future and be more forward-looking. This focus from military commanders on battling our adversaries in the public information space is a smart one. Online disinformation has real-world impacts, in our neighborhoods and communities, in our nation, and around the globe. Having more readily available ammunition in the form of declassified evidence to refute our adversaries’ disinformation campaigns is an important tool in promoting truth and American interests at home and abroad. Let’s hope the IC is able to evolve and undertake some activities that haven’t always been its strong suits: being quick and nimble and pushing out as much information publicly as it safely can.
Marie Harf
International Elections Analyst, USC Election Cybersecurity Initiative
Marie Harf is a strategist who has focused her career on promoting American foreign policy to domestic audiences. She has held senior positions at the State Department and the Central Intelligence Agency, worked on political campaigns for President Barack Obama and Congressman Seth Moulton, and served as a cable news commentator. Marie has also been an Instructor at the University of Pennsylvania and a Fellow at Georgetown University’s Institute of Politics and Public Service.