美國政要第16課
What is Information warfare
--Interview with Mr. Chuck Hawkins, the Director of the Historical Evaluation & Research Organization (HERO)Library 訪軍事歷史評估與研究中心主任查爾斯•霍金斯
MR. CHEN BOJIANG: What is Information Warfare (IW) 1? You said that information operations (IO) 2 are the most important part of RMA. Can you explain this more fully?
MR. HAWKINS: Information Warfare is a complex aspect of modern war, but it is not a new feature. It has been called by various names in the past-intelligence and electronic warfare, to name two and will likely be called by different names in the future. Right now, in Western militaries as well as Eastern ones, the term is in vogue3; it has become a commonplace.
I find definitions useful to begin, so I offer the following: “Information Warfare is a feature of military conflict where information systems are attacked or defended, directly or indirectly as a means to dominate, degrade or destroy, or protect or preserve4 date, knowledge, beliefs or combat power potential.”
It’s worth a moment to examine the definition more closely.
Information warfare is a feature of military conflict. Although it is certainly possible to have an information war all by itself, it really doesn’t make much sense to do so. It would be sort of like having an artillery war5 by itself. Historically, enemies have dueled with artillery across the battlefield in war, and even when war was not declared. Vietnam and China exchanged artillery fire across their border in the 1980s, after China's campaign into northern Vietnam. It may have been an “artillery war,” but it didn't amount to much more than harrasment6.
Information warfare is a feature of military conflict. There doesn't have to be an actual “war” for information operations to exist. A “state of conflict” broadens the scope of the definition to include IO in peacetime as well. Witness the exchange of propaganda7 and electronic “duels” that took place between East and West during the Cold War.
Information systems are more than just technology. They include “systems” of personal and social interaction, cultural exchanges, media reporting, laws, and shared principles. The U.S. Army routinely refers to the “eight battlefield systems” during operational exercises and tactical training of combat units.
Just as the role of infantry8 is to “close with and destroy the enemy,” the last half of the definition explains that IW is used to attack or defend, directly or indirectly, as a means to dominate, degrade or destroy, or protect or preserve data, knowledge, beliefs or combat power potential. The emphasis on the object of IW is distributed evenly among technological assets9 and human behavioral elements. It's ultimate objective is the combat power potential of an opposing force; IW can be used to blind air defense target acquisition systems, nullifying10 the combat power potential of those weapons. Likewise, IW can be applied to attack the command and control infrastructure of an artillery brigade11 and its communications links to maneuver units, thereby reducing or negating12 the combat power of artillery. Or, IW can be used to change beliefs and perceptions of an enemy. Witness the mass surrenders of Iraqi troops during the 1990-1991 Persian Gulf War.
In sum, information warfare is a “combat multiplier13,” a kind of warfare that enhances or degrades combat power. Like infantry or armor, IW can be considered a military "arm in its own right, but, also like infantry and armor, IW is best used in combination with other branches of the military in order to achieve a common objective.
MR. CHEN: According to the above definition, how many forms of IW are there?
MR. HAWKINS: Martin Libicki, a senior fellow at the Institute for National Strategic Studies, National Defense University, says that Information Warfare is not “a separate technique of waging war.” Rather, there are seven distinct forms of IW, each involving the protection, manipulation, degradation and denial of information. These forms are:
Command and control warfare, which is to separate the enemy's head from the body of his forces. Intelligence-based warfare, which consists of measures and countermeasures14 that seek knowledge to dominate opponents combat power in the battlespace, and combat power potential outside the battlespace.
Electronic warfare, such as radio-electronic or cryptographic15 means.
Psychological warfare16, used to influence the minds of friends, neutrals andfoes.
“Hacker” warfare17, in which computer systems are attacked.
Economic information warfare, blocking or channelling information to pursue economic dominance.
Cyberwarfare18, a futuristic collection of ideas that range from clever to absurd19.
These forms are weakly related, Libicki states, and the overall concept of IW is not very coherent. I think some of the IW forms Libicki lists are more closely related than others.
What is new about IW and IO is the technological means of transmitting, receiving, manipulating, disseminating and acting upon information. Since the time of the first battlefield use of electronic equipment, information operations have been of increasing importance in war. Today, the level of importance is so great that some analysts say that IO will be the dominant characteristic of future wars.
Nevertheless, the advent of high-speed, portable, low-cost, information technology is absolutely central to the ability to conduct information warfare and information operations today. Never before has there been such a vast and complex capability to process and communicate data and combine it into information. Truly, we are in the Age of Information, and the age is just beginning.
These revolutionary technological developments are what is new to information warfare and information operations. They do not outweigh or overshadow20 the importance of older types of IW or IO; they do enhance these earlier types, and make them more potent. Taken in combination, the old and new ways to conduct information warfare can be the dominant feature of future military conflict.
Practice Listening to words詞匯聽力練習：
1.IW: information warfare信息戰(zhàn)
2.IO: information operation信息作戰(zhàn)
3.vogue [] n. 時尚
4.preserve [] vt.保存
5.artillery war 火炮戰(zhàn)
6.harassment [] n. 騷擾
7.propaganda [] n. 宣傳
8.infantry [] n. 步兵
9.asset [] n. 資產(chǎn)
10.nullify [] vt. 使無效
11.brigade [] n.（軍隊的）旅
12.negate [] vt. 否定，取消
13.combat multiplier 戰(zhàn)斗力倍增器
14.countermeasure [] n. 對策，反措施
15.cryptographic [] adj. 密碼的
16.psychological warfare 心理戰(zhàn)
17.hacker warfare黑客戰(zhàn)
18.cyber warfare 計算機戰(zhàn)
19.absurd [] adj. 荒謬的
20.overshadow [] vt. 使……失色
【參考譯文】
什么是信息戰(zhàn)
陳伯江：什么是信息戰(zhàn)？你曾說到信息作戰(zhàn)是軍事革命最重要的組成部分，你能更全面地作些解釋嗎？
霍金斯：信息戰(zhàn)是現(xiàn)代戰(zhàn)爭的一個復雜問題，但不是什么新東西。過去它曾有過不同的名字，如情報戰(zhàn)與信息戰(zhàn)；郊區(qū)來今后可能還會有不同的名字。眼下，在西方軍隊以及在東方軍隊，信息戰(zhàn)這一術語都很時髦，它已成為一個通用術話。
我認為由定義開始是必要的，因此我對信息戰(zhàn)提出如下定義：“信息戰(zhàn)是軍事估的一種特征，以對信息系統(tǒng)的直接或間接進攻或防御為手段，達成對數(shù)據(jù)、知識、信念或戰(zhàn)斗潛力的控制、削弱、破壞、保護、或貯存。”
下面有必要花些時間對上述定義作些解釋。
首先，要弄清楚定義中所說的“特征”的含義。雖然單獨進行一場信息戰(zhàn)是完全可能的，但那樣做確實沒有太大的意義。這有點像單獨地進行—場火炮戰(zhàn)。從歷史上看，敵對雙方會在戰(zhàn)爭中進行戰(zhàn)場上的火炮戰(zhàn)，并且在尚未宣戰(zhàn)的時候就開始進行火炮戰(zhàn)。80年代越南和中國在中越戰(zhàn)爭之后曾進行越過邊界的炮火互射，這可能是一種“火炮戰(zhàn)”，但也不過是—種騷擾戰(zhàn)而已。
其次，要弄清定義中所說的“軍事沖突”的含義。并不一定要有一場實實在在的“戰(zhàn)爭”，信息戰(zhàn)才能存在。“沖突的狀態(tài)”把定義的運用范圍擴展為也包括和平時期的信息作戰(zhàn)。冷戰(zhàn)時期東西方之間相互：進行的宣傳和電子“交鋒”就屬于這種情況。
第三，定義中“信息系統(tǒng)”的含義也不僅指技術，它們還包括人與社會相互關系、文化交流、媒介報導、法律，以及共有的準則等“系統(tǒng)”。這就是美國陸軍在戰(zhàn)斗部隊進行作戰(zhàn)演習和訓練期間，通常提到的“八個戰(zhàn)場系統(tǒng)”。
第四，正像步兵的任務是“接近并消滅敵人”一樣，定義的后半部分說明信息戰(zhàn)“以對信息系統(tǒng)的直接或間接進攻和防御為手段，達成對數(shù)據(jù)、知識、信念或戰(zhàn)斗潛力的控制、削弱、破壞、保護或貯存。”信息戰(zhàn)打擊的重點目標，既有技術資產(chǎn)要素，又有人的行為要素，其最終目標是對方軍隊的戰(zhàn)斗潛力。信息戰(zhàn)可用于迷盲對方防空目標搜索系統(tǒng)，從而剝奪那些武器的戰(zhàn)斗潛力。同樣，信息戰(zhàn)可用于攻擊—個火炮旅的指揮控制基礎設施及其與機動部隊之間的通訊聯(lián)系，從而降低或剝奪高炮的作戰(zhàn)能力。或者，信息戰(zhàn)還可用以改變敵人的信念和看法，波斯灣戰(zhàn)爭期間伊拉克軍隊的大規(guī)模投降就是例證。
總之，信息戰(zhàn)是—種“戰(zhàn)斗力倍增器”，一種加強或削弱戰(zhàn)斗力的作戰(zhàn)方式。像步兵或裝甲兵一樣，信息戰(zhàn)有理由被認為是一個獨立的“兵種”；但是，同樣像步兵或裝甲兵一樣，為了達成共同目標，信息戰(zhàn)最好能與其它的軍事手段結合使用。
陳：按照上述定義，信息戰(zhàn)的作戰(zhàn)形式有哪些?其基本內(nèi)容如何?
霍金斯：國防大學戰(zhàn)略研究所高級研究員馬丁•利比奇認為，信息戰(zhàn)不是一種“單獨地進行戰(zhàn)爭的技術”更確切地說，信息戰(zhàn)有7種不同的形式，每一種都涉及到對信息的保護、控制、削弱和剝奪。利比奇所列的7種形式是：
指揮與控制戰(zhàn)。這是一種使敵人的“大腦”與其軍隊的“身體”分離的作戰(zhàn)形式。
情報戰(zhàn)。包括力求通過情報信息的各種偵察與反偵察措施，以便控制敵方作戰(zhàn)空間之內(nèi)的戰(zhàn)斗力和作戰(zhàn)空間之外的戰(zhàn)斗潛力。
電子戰(zhàn)。諸如無線電電子戰(zhàn)或各種密碼手段。
心理戰(zhàn)。用于影響友方、中立方和敵方的心理。
“黑客”戰(zhàn)。用于攻擊計算機系統(tǒng)。
經(jīng)濟信息戰(zhàn)。通過封鎖或傳播信息實行經(jīng)濟上的控制。
計算機戰(zhàn)。包括未來學家的各種猜想，其中有些是奇思妙想，有些是無稽之談。
利比奇指出，上述形式相互之間沒有多少關聯(lián)，而且總的來看其概念也不很一致。我認為利比奇所列的信息戰(zhàn)形式有一些相互關系更為密切一些。
信息戰(zhàn)和信息作戰(zhàn)的創(chuàng)新之處在于發(fā)射、接收、控制、傳播和作用于信息的技術手段有了創(chuàng)新發(fā)展。自從在戰(zhàn)場上首次使用電子裝備以來，信息作戰(zhàn)在戰(zhàn)爭中的重要性不斷增加。今天，其重要程度如此之高，以致一些分析家們認為信息作戰(zhàn)將是未來戰(zhàn)爭的主導性特點。
然而，信息技術在高速、輕便、低成本方面的發(fā)展，對于提高目前進行信息戰(zhàn)和信息作戰(zhàn)的能力非常重要。我們從來沒有像今天這樣擁有如此巨大而復雜的處理和傳輸數(shù)據(jù)并使之結合為信息的能力。我們確實跨進了信息時代，而這一時代才剛剛開始。
這些革命性技術的發(fā)展就是信息和信息作戰(zhàn)的新意所在。它們并沒有使信息戰(zhàn)或信息作戰(zhàn)的舊有方式的重要性降低；而是進一步加強了舊有方式，使之變得更有效力。將新舊方式結合起來進行信息戰(zhàn)，可能是未來軍事沖突的最主要特征。
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