War with the Taliban on Twitter
26 October 2011 The fighting in Afghanistan is not just bullet s and bombs, right now U.S. forces are utilizing a different form of fighting back, via Twitter to get out the other side of the story. “The Taliban were just constantly putting out false information and propaganda.” said Lieutenant Colonel Jimmie Cummings. “Some of it was so wrong we finally had to start engaging, and backing up our information with the facts.” In an email exchange with CNN, Cummings stated this form of social media allows them to keep their followers dynamically informed while also keeping the enemy’s statements in check. According to Cummings, he and other members of the public affairs team work in a big room together at the headquarters of the International Security Assistance Force and when one of the tweets comes in from the other side there is a group discussion on how to react, then the two military personnel type a response. Despite the fact Cummings may think there are reaching out to a younger g...