Hybrid warfare

Young, bright and clustering minds being contaminated by the conspiracy theory networks on the internet


Farrukh Khan Pitafi September 15, 2018
The writer is an Islamabad-based TV journalist and tweets @FarrukhKPitafi

“They went down, way down, where the two tectonic plates join, and exploded a host of powerful nukes there. That is why we had such a devastating earthquake here.” The year was 2005. The young man sitting before me in the restaurant of one of Karachi’s five-star hotels was an up and coming star of the news media world. We were together for a media training workshop. As he uttered these words I looked at his face for obvious signs of irony. There were none. I wondered if he realised how outlandish he sounded. Foreign qualified and young but carrying such onerous and cynical worldview around. But he obviously did not appear self-aware enough.

Upon return to Islamabad and with the passage of time I was to discover a large number of young educated folks given to such views. Young, bright and clustering around the country’s powerful policy circles, their minds obviously were being contaminated by the conspiracy theory networks on the internet. This industry was relatively young, but the websites could not be traced back to any given country. The advent of social media and streaming videos were to further weaponise such content and make them easy to access.

The years 2007-09 were an interesting period. In Pakistan we were witnessing the forced transfer of power from a military government to a civilian set-up. There was anger on both sides of the divide. And in the United States the Bush administration was grappling with its parting gift, the economic crisis of 2008. The conspiracy theories were getting whackier by the day. First it was about the oft-rebutted story about 4,000 Jews missing from the World Trade Center on the day of 9/11. One budding journalist who is now living abroad after his alleged tiff with the establishment mocked me when I tried to suggest that we should be open to the idea that Osama might be behind the 9/11 attacks. When Obama won the elections, I heard the wife of the Red Mosque cleric on television say that the new president had proposed bombing Islamic holiest sites. This was about the man who would continuously be blamed for being a closet Arab and Muslim throughout his administration. Then there was the talk of the so-called High Frequency Active Auroral Research Programme (HAARP). Paranoia everywhere. The source of it all unknown. And the common refrain in Islamabad’s drawing rooms was that Pakistan should ditch its American alliance and explore other options. Given that we were already very close with China, the proposed best ally was always one nation: Russia.

The 2016 US elections have proven to be a veritable eye- opener. It was during this time that Russia’s premier English news channel RT (formerly Russia Today) came in sharp focus. It was in the run-up to the elections that I started paying attention to the content being reported on the channel. These were the same conspiracy theories that we had been listening to for a decade. Was it a coincidence? Had our conspiracy theories-infected world contaminated the Russian mind or was Russia behind all these theories all along? May I remind you that the homegrown theories in our country are far cruder in nature? If you recall a set of clerics went on a famous televangelist-turned-politician’s show and claimed that a marginalised minority of Pakistan was behind suicide bombings in the country and not the terrorist non-state actors. No, a smarter, more organised and obviously more informed mind was behind the stories about the role of Blackwater and other such groups in the region and the country.

The debate about the alleged Russian meddling in the US presidential election and Brexit poll has covered a number of interesting patterns. It is clear that Russia is not the only country that has invested heavily in such methods. There are others. For instance, North Korean hackers managed to steal and release a pre-released copy of The Interview in 2014, a comedy movie making fun of Kim Jong Un. But the patterns revealed in the discussions surrounding the Russian meddling are instructive especially for Pakistan. Sadly, our friends here do not see the patterns.

One important aspect of the Russian influence in America is that it is not restricted to the elections or political parties. There is a solid pattern of the Russian patronage of neo-Nazi and alt right groups in America. Simultaneously we see an effort to harness the post- 9/11 Muslim sense of alienation. Hence it can be said that while our Russian peers were sympathising with the Muslims around the world, they were also investing in American paranoia against the very same Muslims. Trigger? Terrorism. Does it ring any bells? During the Afghan Jihad era these terror groups were known by another group. The Mujahideen. And they were very close to the US too and were used against the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. You see what is happening here? It seems Russia doesn’t forgive easily.

The plot thickens for us because while we were being used against the USSR, India, our arch-rival, was very close to Moscow. Is it too difficult an idea to process that a proud and old nation like Russia would not forget old rivals and allies that easily? While we should never stop working to improve our relations with Russia and its beautiful people, a healthy amount of caution always comes handy. It also pays never to underestimate our Indian colleagues. While they are still quite effective in Russia they are also very successful in the West and its media. For instance, the Western media is never too kind to Donald Trump, who despite his unpredictable character, has never been accused of killing a soul. Narendra Modi, a man often accused of enabling the murder of 2,000 Muslims in Gujarat, is seldom portrayed negatively. That is India’s influence now. I am sure they must be working on the Chinese mind too.

This discussion takes a disturbing turn when you see the speculation around the Belt and Road Initiative, especially its pilot project, CPEC. The American mind has been convinced that China is the next nemesis. Steve Bannon, who played a crucial part in convincing Trump of this animosity, is a big fan of India too. There is a new international media campaign against China especially highlighting the plight of Muslims. Like rest of the world is a bed of roses for them. Similarly, about the Chinese lease of the port in Hambantota, Sri Lanka. Overheard someone claiming China will take over Pakistan in 50 years had to remind the said gentleman that the lease of the port is for 99 years.

You have a right to be gullible and paranoid. But please be paranoid about everybody then. And it will be helpful if meanwhile we could work on getting rid of internal polarisation because that is where the enemies strike.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 15th, 2018.

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