In the wake of near-daily scandals involving billions of dollars, it can be easy to lose sight of the rampant unrest in the rest of the world—including Sri Lanka, the small Asian nation that has been fighting a lengthy civil war. The conflict is between the government and a group of insurgents known as the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, and while the violence has been ongoing and tragic, the fascinating aspect is how both sides are using technology to spin their actions, gain public support, and put down the other side.

Brian Calvert at World Politics Review, who is doing an investigative series on the country’s unique technological warfare, reports that releasing YouTube videos depicting things like suicide bombers has become standard practice for both parties. The government even has a headquarters for its information campaign, called the Media Center for National Security, which was established in 2006 to “disseminate accurate defense-related news within short as possible time, to both local and international media, and then at the same time to counter the LTTE propaganda.”

The insurgents, meanwhile, have formed their own technological strategy, described as follows:

The government is battling an image of the Tigers as underdogs, led by a leader, Velupillai Prabhakaran, whose message has not changed in 25 years: The Tamil people face eradication by the Sinhalese majority. There is no salvation for them but through armed struggle for Eelam. The Tamil Tigers are that struggle.

Prabhakaran has taken the conflict deep into the information environment, accessing the imaginations of supporters through satellite links and radio signals, on Web sites and in chat rooms. Each attack and every stunt builds on his message, encouraging the diaspora to send money, spurring weapons sales and keeping the Tigers armed and viable.

While the information depicted in these videos and other online sources may not be factually perfect—journalists “complain that information coming out of the Media Center is impossible to verify and often contradicts equally hard-to-confirm LTTE statement”—it certainly gets the message across, with some videos grabbing hundreds of thousands of views. And for an insurgency like the Tigers, it could mean greater public support, new recruits, and even media attention (in the form of stories like this one) for their cause.

Though whether that translates into military victories has yet to be determined.

Related:
RB: Technology Plays Key Role in Mumbai Attacks, Both for Terrorists and Civilians
RB: Could Twitter Be a Tool for Terrorists?

It looks like the U.S. military’s fears about Twitter being a tool for terrorists may not be so far off base. The Washington Post reports that the attackers who wreaked havoc in Mumbai last week used Blackberries, GPS navigators, CDs full of high-res satellite images, and “multiple cellphones with switchable SIM cards that would be hard to track” to carry out their siege. They also spoke to each other using satellite phones and kept tabs on their fellow terrorists by watching live TV reports in the hotel rooms they occupied.

The use of technology was so sophisticated and extensive that one security expert in New Delhi told the Post,

“The terrorists would not have been able to carry out these attacks had it not been for technology. They were not sailors, but they were able to use sophisticated GPS navigation tools and detailed maps to sail from Karachi [in Pakistan] to Mumbai.”

Meanwhile, civilians were making full use of available resources as well. Throughout the attack, the blogosphere, and particularly sites like Flickr and Twitter, was packed with extensive realtime coverage and updates from onlookers, residents, and potential victims trapped in hotels. And of course, afterwards, those affected were able to use the Web to share stories and vent emotions about what had happened.

But while civilians were able to put their communications devices to good use and reach each other, the Indian Security Forces were technologically outmatched. When an elite special forces unit arrived at the two hotels where hostages were located, it was unequipped with night-vision goggles or thermal-imaging capability, and the soldiers lacked even floor layouts of the hotel.

One question is whether Google may get some flack in the wake of this display of “terrorism in the digital age.” Officials in numerous countries (including ours) have expressed concern over the detail Google Earth images reveal about military sites. While the site is open to anyone in the world with an Internet connection, it can’t be denied that it presents a useful tool for those looking to plan an attack like this.

Related:
RB: Could Twitter Be a Tool for Terrorists?
RB: Caught in a National Disaster? Twitter May Save Your Life.
RB: Want to Send Your Representative a Message? Use Twitter!