Is it considered ok to lie to rank and file JWs too?
The way I understood it, Theocratic Warfare had more to do with doing whatever was necessary to advance "kingdom interests" when dealing with opposers of the "truth" than it had to do with deceiving those in the congregation. They looked at omissions of information to be necessary at times when dealing with worldly authorities and often sited the example of Abraham passing Sarah off as his sister rather than his wife when dealing with Pharaoh and later Abimelech.
Unlike Abraham, who's wife Sarah was his half sister (which gave his claim an element of truth), the Watchtower Society has regularly lied to it's flock. They made claims about certain dates in millions upon millions of books and magazines or had their followers spend countless hours spreading certain doctrines to the far flung corners of the globe. Later they changed them because time has proven them wrong and they falsely blamed it on God for not having originally provided them a bright enough light all those years ago. The omission of information came into play when they explained how it was they decided to change what was once called "the truth". Yes, their teachings were wrong but they lied to save face and that isn't theocratic warfare.