Originally Posted by Andrew Exum
My challenge for this website’s readers, then, is the following: what do we, as counter-insurgency theorists and practitioners, mean when we use the term “information operations?” Do we use IO as shorthand for psychological operations and message management?
Andrew,

In the current operational context, absolutely. In a more conmventional setting probably not--then the cyber war or EW ened would come back into play. That siad, it is NOT always that way. In 94 the world lost the IO war that driected the genocide in Rwanda. We lost the message war. We obviated our roles in the influence war. And we never took up the cudgel part of IO to shut down Radio Milles Collines.

Tom