Insurgents in a territory express their grievances through a narrative which includes an alternative to the status quo. Before they begin to fight with guns and bombs, they fight for the hearts and minds of the population. According to the US Armed Forces 2009 publication Counterinsurgency Operations, any successful counterinsurgency operation must create a counter-narrative and propagate it through available channels – managing the official release of public information, steering media coverage, and lobbying for international support through diplomacy. This is known as ‘information operations’. Any Gold level commander who must brief the media after a large-scale disaster faces a similar challenge. How can they make sure their account of events is believed? See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-eVFDY8IN1s