U.S. e-mail attack targets key Iraqis

[InfoSec News <isn () c4i org>]

Forwarded from: William Knowles <wk () c4i org>

http://europe.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/meast/01/11/sproject.irq.email/

CNN Pentagon Correspondent Barbara Starr
Saturday, January 11, 2003 Posted: 0751 GMT

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- U.S. military and other U.S. government agencies 
have begun a surreptitious e-mail campaign inside Iraq, CNN has 
learned, in an effort to get some Iraqis to defy President Saddam 
Hussein. 

A senior military official tells CNN thousands of e-mail messages have 
been sent out since Thursday. 

The official says "this is just the beginning of a psychological 
warfare campaign" to convince the Iraqi leadership they cannot win a 
war against the United States and its allies. 

The message includes instructions to the e-mail recipients to contact 
the United Nations in Iraq if they want to defect. 

Senior military sources told CNN this was the first time the military 
had engaged in this type of "information warfare campaign." 

Sources say the program was developed by the military and intelligence 
agencies in recent weeks. 

The disguised e-mails, being sent to key Iraqi leaders, urge them to 
give up, to dissent and to defect. If they do not, the messages warn, 
the United States will go to war against them. 

The U.S. military and intelligence officials were apparently hoping 
that the Iraqis do not realize where the e-mails are coming from. 

One official tells CNN the Pentagon wanted "to preserve this 
capability as long as possible," but once the e-mail campaign was 
discovered it would be acknowledged publicly. 

The official also says the United States acknowledges that Iraq may 
have already shut off some Internet gateways to prevent the e-mails 
from getting through. 

He said these same types of messages will now be sent by radio 
broadcast in the days ahead from U.S. airborne and ground platforms. 

CNN learned about the operation Friday afternoon, and was initially 
asked not to report on it by senior Bush administration officials. 
Those officials later decided the information could be released. 


 
*==============================================================*
"Communications without intelligence is noise;  Intelligence
without communications is irrelevant." Gen Alfred. M. Gray, USMC
================================================================
C4I.org - Computer Security, & Intelligence - http://www.c4i.org
*==============================================================*



-
ISN is currently hosted by Attrition.org

To unsubscribe email majordomo () attrition org with 'unsubscribe isn'
in the BODY of the mail.