DoD “Clarifies” Doctrine on Psychological Operations

[Jan Klimkowski]

Oh - that's just hysterical. :rofl: :bandit:

The enemy now engages in PROPAGANDA:

propaganda. Any form of adversary communication, especially of a biased or
misleading nature, designed to influence the opinions, emotions, attitudes, or
behavior of any group in order to benefit the sponsor, either directly or indirectly.
(This term and its definition modify the existing term and its definition and are
approved for inclusion in JP 1-02.)

The good guys perform psychological operations, ie PSYOPs:

psychological operations. Planned operations to convey selected information and
indicators to foreign audiences to influence their emotions, motives, objective
reasoning, and ultimately the behavior of foreign governments, organizations,
groups, and individuals. The purpose of psychological operations is to induce or
reinforce foreign attitudes and behavior favorable to the originator’s objectives.
Also called PSYOP. (JP 1-02. SOURCE: JP 3-13.2)

Hitler described propaganda in the following terms in Mein Kampf:

"Propaganda must always address itself to the broad masses of the people. (...) All propaganda must be presented in a popular form and must fix its intellectual level so as not to be above the heads of the least intellectual of those to whom it is directed. (...) The art of propaganda consists precisely in being able to awaken the imagination of the public through an appeal to their feelings, in finding the appropriate psychological form that will arrest the attention and appeal to the hearts of the national masses. The broad masses of the people are not made up of diplomats or professors of public jurisprudence nor simply of persons who are able to form reasoned judgment in given cases, but a vacillating crowd of human children who are constantly wavering between one idea and another. (...) The great majority of a nation is so feminine in its character and outlook that its thought and conduct are ruled by sentiment rather than by sober reasoning. This sentiment, however, is not complex, but simple and consistent. It is not highly differentiated, but has only the negative and positive notions of love and hatred, right and wrong, truth and falsehood."

"Propaganda must not investigate the truth objectively and, in so far as it is favourable to the other side, present it according to the theoretical rules of justice; yet it must present only that aspect of the truth which is favourable to its own side. (...) The receptive powers of the masses are very restricted, and their understanding is feeble. On the other hand, they quickly forget. Such being the case, all effective propaganda must be confined to a few bare essentials and those must be expressed as far as possible in stereotyped formulas. These slogans should be persistently repeated until the very last individual has come to grasp the idea that has been put forward. (...) Every change that is made in the subject of a propagandist message must always emphasize the same conclusion. The leading slogan must of course be illustrated in many ways and from several angles, but in the end one must always return to the assertion of the same formula."