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Winning Wars in the Information Age
By James Emery Vigh of profbruno.com
Like it or not, we live in the information age. It is the age of the internet, instant news and instant gratification. It is also the age of instant commentary and analysis and instant revealing of information that years ago took days or weeks to reveal. Military and national security problems and issues are instantly revealed, discussed and analyzed in the name of the first amendment and the public's right to know. Foreign terrorists are treated like criminals and read their Miranda rights at least partly because, being in the information age we can see and hear all of the world's points of view instantly, and partly because we feel, as Americans, we should lead the way regarding how we treat people. We may not use "enhanced interrogation techniques". Things felt simpler years ago. Was it right or wrong? I can't help but wonder if, during WWII, and all other things (like weapons technology) being equal, we did live in the information age. In other words, the same weapons, ships, planes, tactics existed -- but we had the internet, and satellite news coverage. Would we have been allowed to win WWII? Knowing how the press (print, enews, network, and cable) operate today, and knowing that every point of view under the sun shows up in blogs, how would they have covered the Great War? During WWII: There was Pearl Harbor and the circumstances surrounding it. American soldiers coming off the horrors of Omaha Beach in Normandy shot German soldiers out of hand who were trying to surrender. The German city of Hamburg was leveled to the ground in a giant firestorm intentionally created by dropping incendiary bombs on an essentially civilian target. This was done in an attempt to undermine German moral. Very few Japanese soldiers tried to surrender. It was part of their code. But of those who did try to surrender, many were shot out of hand. Wounded Japanese were killed. This was justified by the army because the Japanese would frequently booby trap themselves. There were many other similar instances. Then, of course, there was the Atomic bomb. A WWII historian remarked many years ago: "The first duty of any belligerent in any war is to win." How would the news media cover this in the information age? What would all of us bloggers be saying? Would the events and outcomes of the war been influenced? Positively, negatively, or no difference?
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February, 2012
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