Psyoping Liberals
Our Enemies are Winning the IO War
By D.W.

Information Operations seeks to influence the behavior of target decision-makers or audiences through the use of information and information systems. This is no different from the exercise of the other forms of national power, be they diplomatic, military, or economic. In this instance the means is information, but the resulting outcome is the same.
IO Primer - U.S. Army War College

Following up on John Turner’s excellent article about Information Operations (IO) and its component Psychological Operations, it is important to clarify one fact. All of our national enemies, both active and passive, engage in Offensive Information Operations against the United States at the strategic level all of the time. Yes, from Iran to China, any nation that would benefit from America’s decline engages in and employs IO against us and against your fellow American.

As stated above, the purpose of Information Operations is to influence the behavior of target audiences, usually decided by influencing the way they think. The use of propaganda is one tool of Information Operations to achieve this goal. When marketers conduct advertising they are using economic propaganda to influence your buying behavior. Information Operations are national/military activities that go well beyond propaganda and advertising to control the behavior of entire nations and their leaders.

So why would Iran want to conduct Information Operations against the United States?

Well for one thing, they do not want us to interfere with their efforts to control the Middle East and beyond. They want the American people and their politicians to believe that any involvement in the Islamic world is too dangerous for us. They want Americans to be afraid of angering Iranians because we couldn’t deal with the consequences. Compelling us to pull out of Iraq is only the first step in their campaign to control the Islamic world.

So where do liberals fit into all of this?

All of our enemies know that the Western liberal is the weakest link in the chain of our civilizational strength. They know that the liberal is inclined to Marxism and is opposed to a strong religious belief system. They know that pleasure and indulgence is the liberal’s highest virtue since they lack a strong belief system. They also know that liberals are easily influenced and control by emotions and that they are less willing to engage in difficult struggles that require pain and sacrifice. Liberals respond exceptionally well to imagery that influences emotions.

Do you think that I am wrong?

Look at the liberals in Europe, especially Spain who surrendered after one terrorist attack. Look at the Clinton Administration who pulled out of Somalia after one battle where 18 soldiers were killed but was otherwise a butt whooping by the United States. Look at the liberal response to Afghanistan where a noisy but ineffectual Taliban offensive is being spinned as a strategic defeat for NATO.

Of course Vietnam was the best example of the ability of an enemy to manipulate the American liberal into surrendering. The Tet Offensive was a colossal disaster for the North Vietnamese and led to the absolute decimation of the Vietcong. Yet liberals reacting emotionally to imagery of the battle concluded that the war was lost.

Just how are our enemies conducting Information Operations against the American liberal to compel an American defeat?

Well the exploitation of Western media is the most obvious answer. Liberals tend to accept biased and emotionally charged reporting from the mainstream press uncritically. This is because the media is reporting in line with their strongly held beliefs and mental schematics, reinforcing what they already believe. America is bad and because America is the strongest capitalist nation, it therefore harms all the innocent people of the world out of greed.

Our adversaries are using all forms of media to influence our opinions, not just the news programs but also Internet web sites, chat rooms, and other tools have opened up a whole new world of possibilities.

But the media is only one tool in the enemy’s IO toolkit.

One of the essential rules of propaganda is that people automatically resist hostile messages from foreigners but readily listen to messages from co-nationalists. Any good propagandist will use internal actors to deliver his message for him or he will hide the source of the propaganda to make it appear local.

This is easy to do when foreign entities channel money or messages through influential groups like the ones George Soros operates. The Soviets were notorious for their financial support of Western liberal and communist organizations that were sympathetic to their position. The Chinese gave generous contributions to the Clinton campaign through legitimate surrogates. And campaign contributions that aren’t regulated are an easy way to manipulate a democracy.

Lobbyists acting on behalf of foreign entities are another venue because these guys have direct access to politicians. Well known Washington figures like Madeline Albright make fortunes lobbying on behalf of foreigners.

Now Republicans are just as susceptible to adversary Information Operations and can sometimes fall prey. However, they are far more resistant as they are more nationalistic in outlook and less prone to emotionalism.

Now what I am going to say next is going to be controversial and perhaps it will hopefully offend someone. It is just a speculation and I am not saying that this is right but I do wonder about sometimes and maybe you should too.

Our enemy is exceptionally clever and maybe understands America better than we think he does. Why did they attack the World Trade Center and the Pentagon?

They were symbols of the dominance of the American system and of global capitalism. Liberals also tend to believe that these are symbols of American wickedness. Ward Churchill is openly saying what most of the American left is terrified to say; that the terrorists were right to attack these targets.

Why didn’t Al-Qaeda attack gay bars, abortion clinics, porno shops, and strip bars?

Because these are things that liberals believe in. Attacks on these establishments would cause liberals to react emotionally and call for the destruction of Islam. Al-Qaeda rails about the corruption of the Western way of life because it embraces unrestrained pleasure in defiance of God’s law. In their minds, gay bars and porno videos are the ultimate symbols of American wretchedness and moral degeneracy. So why not attack symbols of American corruption directly?

I hate to say it but the American far right would probably condemn but quietly sympathize with their attacks on gay bars. They might have worked to influence the American government to stop exporting these corruptions to the Islamic world, which would have tangibly benefited the Islamist movement.

So why didn’t the Islamist attack gay bars? Perhaps they understood the weakness of American liberals. All they have to do to gain this understanding is to watch Western television and read Western literature.

NOTE:
For more information, see John Turner's article:
Information Warfare - The Battle for Hearts and Minds

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