On Shifting Sands : Information Operations and the British Campaign in Iraq (2003-2009)

Explores classified military documents from the Iraq War to highlight the importance of and the challenges associated with the use of information operations in contemporary conflict.

Britain’s intervention in Iraq continues to divide opinion - an emotive subject within Britain’s political and military communities as well as wider society. Despite the controversy and a national desire to ‘move on’, the campaign in Iraq still harbours important lessons regarding the character of contemporary conflict, including the vital role of information in modern warfare. By focusing on the approach to information operations during Britain’s campaign in southern Iraq (2003-2009), James Chandler, a serving Army officer with intimate knowledge of Britain’s military hierarchy, analyses British information operations to understand how these activities can be employed as a meaningful component in future military campaigns. Based on interviews with those who held key leadership appointments in Iraq at all levels of the military campaign, as well as evidence collated from over 6000 pages of classified British military documents from the Iraq War that are not currently in the public domain, Chadler demonstrates how information operations could truly assume the privileged position currently ascribed to them in British military doctrine and help deliver success on future operations.