Pentagon document reveals U.S. "Internet war" plan

A newly declassified Pentagon document reveals the elements of U.S. "Internet war" plan, U.S. media reported on Wednesday.

The document, written in 2003, is called "Information Operations Roadmap" and was obtained by the National Security Archive at George Washington University using the Freedom of Information Act, according to the report.

The "roadmap" calls for a far-reaching overhaul of the military's ability to conduct information operations and electronic warfare.

And, in some detail, it makes recommendations for how the U.S. armed forces should think about this new, virtual warfare.

The document says that information is "critical to military success". Computer and telecommunications networks are of vital operational importance.

The operations described in the document include a surprising range of military activities: public affairs officers who brief journalists, psychological operations troops who try to manipulate the thoughts and beliefs of an enemy, computer network attack specialists who seek to destroy enemy networks.

Perhaps the most startling aspect of the "roadmap" is its acknowledgement that information put out as part of the military's psychological operations, or Psyops, is finding its way onto the computer and television screens of ordinary Americans.

The document also recommends that the United States should seek the ability to "provide maximum control of the entire electromagnetic spectrum".

Source: Xinhua