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PSYOP
Military Psychological Operations Manual
Psychological Operations Soldiers use persuasion to influence
perceptions and encourage desired behavior. The cornerstone of PSYOP is
truth, credibly presented to convince a foreign audience to cease
resistance or take actions favorable to friendly forces. During Desert
Storm, the effective use of PSYOP was a combat multiplier that directly
contributed to the surrender of thousands of Iraqi Soldiers. It is
clear its effectiveness saved countless coalition and Iraqi lives.
Psychological Operations units also have Soldiers with unique skills.
These Soldiers are communicators who provide the commander with the
ability to communicate information to large audiences via radio,
television, leaflets and loudspeakers. The PSYOP Soldier's language
skills, regional orientation and knowledge of communications media
provide a means of delivering critical information to host-nation
audiences. Psychological Operations are a vital part of the broad range
of diplomatic, informational, military, and economic (DIME) activities
used by the U.S. Government. PSYOP Soldiers use information to
influence the behavior of foreign audiences in support of U.S. policy
and national objectives. Used during peacetime, contingencies, and
declared war, these activities are non-lethal. They are force
multipliers that use nonviolent means in often violent
environments. Persuading rather than compelling physically, they
rely on logic, fear, desire or other psychological factors to promote
specific behaviors. The ultimate objective of U.S. military
Psychological Operations is to convince enemy, neutral, and friendly
governments, forces and populations to take actions favorable to the
United States and its allies.
Psychological Operations (PSYOP, PSYOPS) are techniques used by
military and police forces to influence a target audience's value
systems, belief systems, emotions, motives, reasoning, and behavior.
Target audiences can be governments, organizations, groups, and
individuals, and are used in order to induce confessions, or reinforce
attitudes and behaviors favorable to the originator's objectives. These
are sometimes combined with black operations or false flag tactics.
This concept has been used by military institutions throughout history,
but it is only since the twentieth century that it has been accorded
the organizational and professional status it enjoys now.
The word is commonly used by governments, such as the government of the
United States, who do not wish to use the term propaganda or
brainwashing to refer to their own work. The word propaganda has very
negative connotations, and by calling it psychological operations
instead, more sophisticated methods of psychological manipulation are
accurately incorporated by the terminology. This euphemism for mind
control is ironically an example of psychological operations -- i.e.
using psychological techniques to persuade [manipulate] a large number
of people to support something that they wouldn't normally support.
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