Recently I did a posting on Black Propaganda based on a publication I bought on my recent visit to Bletchley Park early in October 2011. In that posting I asserted that in today’s world it is quite difficult to shield a ‘true’ source for any length of time.
Along the same lines several publications published stories that indicated that certain NGOs or philanthropic organizations were secretly funding the protestors of the “Occupy Wall Street” movement. Whether those stories were a result of bad analysis and/or lack of fact checking or planted to discredit the protestors as tools of the, or even whether or not there is some truth behind them remains to be seen.
However, we now are seeing several articles such as these cited below proffering ‘mea culpas’.
Soros: not a funder of Wall Street protests
<http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/10/14/us-wallstreet-protests-funding-idUSTRE79D01Q20111014> and some media self-flagellation at:<http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/oct/18/occupy-movement-protesters>
<http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/jonty-langley/occupy-wall-street-founde_b_1013804.html> From a MISO standpoint, the battle for influence, like kinetic battles ebb and flow. Today’s news wafts
away quickly as it is replaced by more interesting and more powerful images, events or reports.
Let me offer an unpopular view for a change. In fluid situations perhaps it’s a good idea to potentially
employ gray PSYOP and PSYACTs as a tactic to break the adversary’s momentum, perhaps like drawing
a penalty in sports that halts the other team’s offense and gives your defense a chance to regroup or
takes the crowd out of the game.
Timing of these injections is critical. It is also critical to insure that you have your counter plan ready
so that if the gray stuff is traced to you or your source you can quickly acknowledge,
employ proper counter measures. As always, Reader comments invited.
7 comments:
You do realize the terms, white, gray, and black are no longer used and the community does routine use of what used to be referred to as gray? Attribution is now categorized as Immediate Attribution, Concurring HN and PN or Organization Attribution, Delayed Attribution, and Nonattribution. Delayed and Nonattribution can be conducted by MISO forces with USD(P) approval and DOD General Counsel legal review. So your assertion that gray is only used on occasion if false. In fact, in IZ and AF, concurring HN attribution and delayed were extremely common, especially after JAN 09 in IZ.
@Anon - thanks for the update, I'm afraid that change and acronym injection got by me. Good to know the world is not black and white any more.
LDD
Mr. Dietz,
If you were to open your blog up to commentary without approval - you might have more effective conversation.
In effect - you would might have less anonymous postings, invigorate conversation, and connect the disparate Active and Reserve Components of PSYOP that you so advocate for.
Until then, your blog will not gain credibility or garner respect.
There are many who read your blog simply for entertainment value; there are others who seek to correct misleading information; and their are collective professionals who are passionate about our craft.
In the past - you have stated that your blog is a vehicle for the regiment. Allow it to be so!
@Anon,
Thank you for your suggestion. Thus far I have not rejected any comments for publication regardless of their content and whether or not they were positive or negative. The only comments I have rejected were SPAM.
At some point I may open the comments, but that time has not come. I never said the Blog is totally unbiased and credibility is in the mind of the reader.
In this case I am the "Little Red Hen" who has planted the wheat, others are certainly free to plant other crops as well.
LDD
What's amusing in the trashing of Black-White-Grey for the various levels of attribution was the defenestration of Black. There is no category in the new paradigm for false attribution. That was--IMHO--part of the misguided effort to divorce MISO from any taint of deception, turning the community into PAO-lite.
I would quibble with Anonymous assertion that delayed and partnered attribution are the equivalent of grey. Partnered attribution is another flavor of White--unless we're doing the attribution without their concurrence. Delayed attribution means at some point in the near future attribution to the US is going to come out, with Grey there was no requirement for US involvement to ever be revealed.
Finally, I'd suggest that admitting the use of delayed attribution in the context of any region or time frame is not good security. Just because everyone suspects we're doing it is no justification to confirm we're doing it.
delayed attribution is no more grey than a puppet show.
Locals know whose behind the absurdly pretty and slick billboards that are so far removed from reality as to engender chuckles and eye rolls.
Voodoo gets it!
PSYOP (it will always be PSYOP to me), is so lacking in long-term thinking and follow through, that almost all efforts are wasted.
I saw so many poor examples of PSYOPers that simply didn't "get it" because they washed out of 18X or thought PSYOP sounded cool. It was disheartening. I would expect that there are some very good programs going on that are very deep into non-attribution that I could sleep comfortably at night, but Putin is still in power, so I don't think so (at least not in "PSYOP command"). Yes, the issue is that PSYOP tried to become PA-lite and put a happy-smiley face on itself while needing to go in the other direction, but how, when the folks that are doing the work can not think critically, strategically, or see the 10th-order effects?
...thinking maybe there's a Beckwith within PSYOP willing to do something about it... ...hope so...
Cheers!
Jo (9th BN Vet)
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