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It seems CyberWarfare is taking a dastardly new twist. Instead of weapons of mass-destruction, the war on Iraq has escalated to weapons of mass-mailing. Masterminded by U.S. military intelligence and carried out by the elite U.S. Special Operations, the devious plot is to spam Iraqi officials until they bow to the pressure of unsolicited email and beg the United Nations to be allowed to defect.

Al-Bawaba, the Middle Eastern Internet network, reports that one of the emails sent reads in part, “"If you provide information on weapons of mass destruction or you take steps to hamper their use we will do what is necessary to protect you and protect your families," and adds “"Failing to do that will lead to grave personal consequences." Perhaps taking their cue from the Nigerian 419 hoaxes, the emails arrived with the subject line “Important Information”. The spamcaign was designed to be secretive. According to CNN Pentagon Correspondent Barbara Starr, “The U.S. military and intelligence officials were apparently hoping that the Iraqis do not realize where the e-mails are coming from.”

It seems the Iraqi’s did uncover the source and has since begun blocking the email. Whether it was a military counteroffensive designed to thwart U.S. Special Operations, or merely routine filtering to stop spam is unknown. In either case, the U.S. Special Operations has presented interesting opportunities for the content filtering and spam abatement industry. They can now market their products to foreign nationals as part and parcel of a complete Cyber Defense Strategy.

What’s next? …an email worm that plays the Stars Spangled Banner and emails all their contacts demanding they “Pledge Allegiance” before dropping a Trojan that searches their systems for hidden files?