Difference between revisions of "Psychological warfare" - New World Encyclopedia

From New World Encyclopedia
(General Editing and Cutting)
Line 7: Line 7:
 
:"The ''planned'' use of [[propaganda]] and other [[psychological]] actions having the primary purpose of influencing the opinions, emotions, attitudes, and behavior of hostile foreign groups in such a way as to support the achievement of national objectives."
 
:"The ''planned'' use of [[propaganda]] and other [[psychological]] actions having the primary purpose of influencing the opinions, emotions, attitudes, and behavior of hostile foreign groups in such a way as to support the achievement of national objectives."
 
==History of psychological warfare==
 
==History of psychological warfare==
−
Although not always accredited as the first practitioner of psychological warfare, [[Alexander the Great]] of [[Macedon]] undoubtedly showed to be effective in swaying the mindsets of the populaces that were expropriated in his [[Military campaign|campaigns]].  In order to keep the new Macedonian states from revolting against their leader, Alexander would leave a number of his men behind in each city to introduce [[Ancient Greece|Greek]] [[culture]] and interbreed.   
+
Although not always accredited as the first practitioner of psychological warfare, [[Alexander the Great]] of [[Macedon]] undoubtedly showed to be effective in swaying the mindsets of the populaces that were appropriated in his [[Military campaign|campaigns]].  In order to keep the new Macedonian states from revolting against their leader, Alexander would leave a number of his men behind in each city to introduce [[Ancient Greece|Greek]] [[culture]] and interbreed.   
 
===The [[Mongols]]===
 
===The [[Mongols]]===
−
[[Genghis Khan]], leader of the [[Mongols]] in the 13th century, AD, united his people to eventually conquer more territory than any other leader in [[human]] history.  This was indeed an exceptional accomplishment, but would have been impossible to achieve had it not been for the use of psychological warfare.  Next to mobility, defeating the will of the enemy was the greatest weapon for the [[Mongols]].  Before attacking a settlement, the Mongol [[general]] would demand tribute and submission to the Khan or otherwise threaten to attack.  The Mongols would threaten a village with complete destruction should a single arrow be fired. Most of the initial nations to be conquered, such as the nations of [[Kiev]] and [[Khwarizm]], refused to surrender.  Consequently, the Mongol general would engage his [[cavalry]] in a series of brilliant maneuvers that slaughtered the enemy.  He would spare a few, however, allowing them to take their tales of the encroaching horde to the next villages.  This created an aura of insecurity with the resistance, eventually supplanting the will of the villagers.  Often times, this in itself procured the Mongol victory.  Another tactic employed by Genghis Khan was the nocturnal use of fire to create an illusion of numbers.  He ordered each soldier to light three torches at dusk in order to deceive and intimidate enemy scouts. In one infamous incident, the Mongol leader [[Tamerlane]] built a pyramid of 90,000 human heads before the walls of Delhi, to convince them to surrender.
+
[[Genghis Khan]], leader of the [[Mongols]] in the 13th century, AD, united his people to eventually conquer more territory than any other leader in [[human]] history.  This was undoubtedly an exceptional accomplishment, but would have been impossible to achieve had it not been for the use of psychological warfare.  Next to mobility, defeating the will of the enemy was the greatest weapon of the [[Mongols]].  Before attacking a settlement, the Mongol [[general]] would demand tribute and submission to the Khan or threaten to otherwise attack.  The Mongols would threaten a village with complete destruction should a single arrow be fired. Most of the initial nations to be conquered, such as the nations of [[Kiev]] and [[Khwarizm]], refused to surrender.  Consequently, the Mongol general would engage his [[cavalry]] in a series of choreographed  maneuvers that slaughtered the enemy.  He would spare a few, however, allowing them to take their tales of the encroaching horde to the next villages.  This created an aura of insecurity with the resistance, eventually supplanting the will of the villagers.  Often times, this in itself procured the Mongol victory.  Another tactic employed by Genghis Khan was the nocturnal use of fire to create an illusion of numbers.  He ordered each soldier to light three torches at dusk in order to deceive and intimidate enemy scouts. In one infamous incident, the Mongol leader [[Tamerlane]] built a pyramid of 90,000 human heads before the walls of Delhi, to convince them to surrender.
  
 
==[[Propaganda]] Warfare During [[World War II|WWII]]==
 
==[[Propaganda]] Warfare During [[World War II|WWII]]==
 
Most of the events throughout history involving psychological warfare utilized tactics that instilled fear or a sense of awe towards the enemy.  But as humanity continued into the [[19th century]], advances in [[communications]] [[technology]] acted as a catalyst for mass propagandizing.   
 
Most of the events throughout history involving psychological warfare utilized tactics that instilled fear or a sense of awe towards the enemy.  But as humanity continued into the [[19th century]], advances in [[communications]] [[technology]] acted as a catalyst for mass propagandizing.   
  
−
One of the first leaders to inexorably gain fanatical support through the use of microphone technology was [[Adolf Hitler]].  By first creating a speaking environment, designed by [[Joseph Goebbels]], that exaggerated his presence to make him seem almost god-like, Hitler then coupled this with the resonating projections of his orations through a microphone.  This was a form of psychological warfare, because the image that he created for himself greatly influenced and swayed the [[Germany|German]] people to eventually follow him to what would ultimately become their own destruction.  [[Churchill]] made similar use of radio for [[propaganda]].
+
One of the first leaders to relentlessly gain fanatical support through the use of microphone technology was [[Adolf Hitler]].  By first creating a speaking environment, designed by [[Joseph Goebbels]], that exaggerated his presence to make him seem almost god-like, Hitler then coupled this with the resonating projections of his orations through a microphone.  This was a form of psychological warfare, because the image that he created for himself greatly influenced and swayed the [[Germany|German]] people to eventually follow him to what would ultimately become their own destruction.  [[Churchill]] made similar use of radio for [[propaganda]].
  
 
[[Image:Firebombing_leaflet.jpg|thumb|300px|LeMay bombing leaflet]]
 
[[Image:Firebombing_leaflet.jpg|thumb|300px|LeMay bombing leaflet]]
  
−
During [[World War II|WWII]], psychological warfare was used effectively by the military as well.  The enormous success that the invasion of [[Normandy]] displayed was a fusion of psychological warfare with [[military deception]].  Before [[D-Day]], [[Operation Quicksilver (WWII)|Operation Quicksilver]] created a fictional "First United States Army Group" (FUSAG) commanded by General George Patton that supposedly would invade France at the Pas-de-Calais.  American troops used false signals, decoy installations and phony equipment to deceive German observation aircraft and radio intercept operators.  This had the desired effect of misleading the German High Command as to the location of the primary invasion, and of keeping reserves away from the actual landings.  [[Erwin Rommel]] was the primary target of the psychological aspects of this operation.  Convinced that Patton would lead the invasion, as he was clearly the best Allied armour commander, Rommel was caught off-guard and unable to react strongly to the Normandy invasion, since Patton's illusionary FUSAG had not "yet" landed.  Confidence in his own intelligence and judgement was also reduced enough that the German response to the beachhead was simply not decisive.  Had Rommel reacted strongly with all he had to the initial invasion, it might have subsequently failed.  The edge provided by his hesitation and uncertainty was pivotal in the overall war effort and outcome.
+
During [[World War II|WWII]], psychological warfare was used effectively by the American military as well.  The enormous success that the invasion of [[Normandy]] displayed was a fusion of psychological warfare with [[military deception]].  Before [[D-Day]], [[Operation Quicksilver (WWII)|Operation Quicksilver]] created a fictional "First United States Army Group" (FUSAG) commanded by General George Patton that supposedly would invade France at the Pas-de-Calais.  American troops used false signals, decoy installations, and phony equipment to deceive German observation aircraft and radio intercept operators.  This had the desired effect of misleading the German High Command as to the location of the primary invasion, keeping reserves away from the actual landings.  [[Erwin Rommel]] was the primary target of the psychological aspects of this operation.  Convinced that Patton would lead the invasion, as he was clearly the best Allied armour commander, Rommel was caught off-guard and unable to react strongly to the Normandy invasion, since Patton's illusionary FUSAG had not "yet" landed.  Confidence in his own intelligence and judgement was also reduced enough that the German response to the beachhead was simply not decisive.  Had Rommel reacted strongly with all he had to the initial invasion, it might have subsequently failed.  The edge provided by his hesitation and uncertainty was pivotal in the overall war effort and outcome.
  
  
Line 24: Line 24:
 
'''Lord Haw-Haw''' was the [[nickname]] of an announcer on the [[English-language]] [[propaganda]] radio programme  of World War II, ''[[Germany Calling]]''.  The programme was [[international broadcasting|broadcast]] by [[Nazi Germany]] to audiences in [[Great Britain]] on the [[mediumwave]] station [[Radio Hamburg]] and by [[shortwave]] to the [[United States]], starting on [[September 18]], [[1939]] and continuing until [[April 30]], [[1945]], when Hamburg was overrun by the British Army.
 
'''Lord Haw-Haw''' was the [[nickname]] of an announcer on the [[English-language]] [[propaganda]] radio programme  of World War II, ''[[Germany Calling]]''.  The programme was [[international broadcasting|broadcast]] by [[Nazi Germany]] to audiences in [[Great Britain]] on the [[mediumwave]] station [[Radio Hamburg]] and by [[shortwave]] to the [[United States]], starting on [[September 18]], [[1939]] and continuing until [[April 30]], [[1945]], when Hamburg was overrun by the British Army.
  
−
The name '''Lord Haw-Haw''' is most commonly associated with the Irish-American [[William Joyce]], a former member of the British Union of Fascists, whose on-air style approximated to a sneering mockery of the British military effort against the Germans.  More generally, however, the name '''Lord Haw-Haw''' applied to the various announcers who took part in the broadcasts, including Lieutenant [[Norman Baillie-Stewart]] (who would have had the proper upper-class accent for the part that the more plebeian Joyce lacked). The catchy pseudonym is variously attributed to a "[[Fleet Street]] cartoonist" <ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/4132578.stm Propaganda, treason and plot], an August 2005 [[BBC News]] profile</ref> or a correspondent with the ''[[Daily Express]]'' <ref>Farndale, Nigel. ''Haw-Haw: The Tragedy of William and Margaret Joyce'', 2005 (ISBN 0333989929)</ref>.
+
The name '''Lord Haw-Haw''' is most commonly associated with the Irish-American [[William Joyce]], a former member of the British Union of Fascists, whose on-air style approximated to a sneering mockery of the British military effort against the Germans.  More generally, however, the name '''Lord Haw-Haw''' applied to the various announcers who took part in the broadcasts, including Lieutenant [[Norman Baillie-Stewart]](who would have had the proper upper-class accent for the part that the more plebeian Joyce lacked). The catchy pseudonym is variously attributed to a "[[Fleet Street]] cartoonist" <ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/4132578.stm Propaganda, treason and plot], an August 2005 [[BBC News]] profile</ref> or a correspondent with the ''[[Daily Express]]'' <ref>Farndale, Nigel. ''Haw-Haw: The Tragedy of William and Margaret Joyce'', 2005 (ISBN 0333989929)</ref>.
 
<!-- cannot find an authoritative source for this: It was originally the nickname of [[James Brudenell, 7th Earl of Cardigan]], a [[19th century]] British general. —>
 
<!-- cannot find an authoritative source for this: It was originally the nickname of [[James Brudenell, 7th Earl of Cardigan]], a [[19th century]] British general. —>
 
Joyce, in fact, had a singular Irish-American-English-German accent; his distinctive pronunciation of "Jairmany calling, Jairmany calling" was readily recognized by his listeners, who, in the early days of the war, attributed to him an intimate and sinister knowledge of everything going on in all the towns and villages of England.<ref>[http://www.bbk.ac.uk/news/bbkmag/18/making.html The making of a traitor], from the [[Birkbeck, University of London]] website</ref> Perhaps because of the fear his alleged omniscience had inspired, Joyce was [[hanging|hanged]] for [[treason]] on [[January 3]], [[1946]], after having been captured in northern Germany just as the war ended.  As J.A. Cole has written, "The British public would not have been surprised if, in that Flensburg wood, Haw-Haw had carried in his pocket a secret weapon capable of annihilating an armoured brigade."
 
Joyce, in fact, had a singular Irish-American-English-German accent; his distinctive pronunciation of "Jairmany calling, Jairmany calling" was readily recognized by his listeners, who, in the early days of the war, attributed to him an intimate and sinister knowledge of everything going on in all the towns and villages of England.<ref>[http://www.bbk.ac.uk/news/bbkmag/18/making.html The making of a traitor], from the [[Birkbeck, University of London]] website</ref> Perhaps because of the fear his alleged omniscience had inspired, Joyce was [[hanging|hanged]] for [[treason]] on [[January 3]], [[1946]], after having been captured in northern Germany just as the war ended.  As J.A. Cole has written, "The British public would not have been surprised if, in that Flensburg wood, Haw-Haw had carried in his pocket a secret weapon capable of annihilating an armoured brigade."
Line 44: Line 44:
 
After the war, Gillars was captured and eventually flown back to the [[United States]] in [[1948]]. She was charged with 10 counts of [[treason]], although she was actually only tried for eight.
 
After the war, Gillars was captured and eventually flown back to the [[United States]] in [[1948]]. She was charged with 10 counts of [[treason]], although she was actually only tried for eight.
  
−
Prosecutors alleged that Gillars had signed an oath of allegiance to Nazi Germany and that she had posed as a worker for the [[International Red Cross]] in order to record messages from American soldiers that could be converted into propaganda.
+
The sensational, six-week trial ended on [[March 8]], [[1949]]. After long deliberations, the jury convicted Gillars on only one count of treason. Gillars was sentenced to 10 to 30 years.
−
 
 
−
Gillars' defense attorneys argued that her broadcasts stated an unpopular opinion but did not rise to the level of treason, and that she was under the sway of her former romantic interest, Max Otto Koischwitz, a German national whom she had met at Hunter College in [[New York City]].
 
−
 
 
−
The sensational, six-week trial ended on [[March 8]], [[1949]]. After long deliberations, the jury convicted Gillars on only one count of treason.
 
−
 
 
−
Gillars was sentenced to 10 to 30 years. She became eligible for parole in [[1959]], but did not pursue it until two years later when she applied for parole and received it. Gillars taught music to kindergarteners at a Catholic school in [[Columbus, Ohio]], and returned to Ohio Wesleyan to earn a degree in [[1973]].
 
  
 
Whereas the best-known foreign broadcaster for Germany, William Joyce or "[[Lord Haw-Haw]]," was hanged by the British for treason after the war, Mildred Gillars died of natural causes at the age of 87.
 
Whereas the best-known foreign broadcaster for Germany, William Joyce or "[[Lord Haw-Haw]]," was hanged by the British for treason after the war, Mildred Gillars died of natural causes at the age of 87.
Line 70: Line 64:
 
== Postwar military and political methods ==
 
== Postwar military and political methods ==
  
−
The [[Cold War]] raised psychological techniques to a high art and merged them with [[economic warfare]], [[character assassination]] and [[brainwashing]].  Some techniques that were used:
+
The [[Cold War]] raised psychological techniques to a high art and merged them with [[economic warfare]], [[character assassination]] and [[brainwashing]].  Some techniques that were used include:
−
*Broadcasting of [[white noise]] to convince eavesdroppers that [[encryption]] was in use — and to waste vast sums trying to decrypt it.
+
*Broadcasting of [[white noise]] to convince eavesdroppers that [[encryption]] was in use — and to waste vast sums of time and money trying to decrypt it.
 
*Capturing of enemy spies and [[brainwashing]] them into filmed/taped confessions that would embarrass and demoralize their side and their families.{{citation_needed}}
 
*Capturing of enemy spies and [[brainwashing]] them into filmed/taped confessions that would embarrass and demoralize their side and their families.{{citation_needed}}
 
*Recruiting particularly innocent-appearing individuals to be spies or saboteurs so that, when revealed or captured, doubt would be cast on many more individuals.
 
*Recruiting particularly innocent-appearing individuals to be spies or saboteurs so that, when revealed or captured, doubt would be cast on many more individuals.
Line 81: Line 75:
  
 
The so-called "[[information age]]" that began in the 1980s was arguably a simple extension of the psychological warfare [[mindset]] and principles throughout all civilian activities of [[developed nation]]s, but especially the English-speaking countries.  Growing exponentially through the rise of [[radio]], [[broadcast television]], [[satellite television]], and [[cable television]], and finally manifesting itself on the [[Internet]], the power of those who framed facts about the world steadily grew during the postwar period.  A failed [[UNESCO]] effort to put countries in more control of reporting about themselves was evidence that many in the [[developing world]] saw the extreme danger of most of their citizens learning about their own country from Western news sources.
 
The so-called "[[information age]]" that began in the 1980s was arguably a simple extension of the psychological warfare [[mindset]] and principles throughout all civilian activities of [[developed nation]]s, but especially the English-speaking countries.  Growing exponentially through the rise of [[radio]], [[broadcast television]], [[satellite television]], and [[cable television]], and finally manifesting itself on the [[Internet]], the power of those who framed facts about the world steadily grew during the postwar period.  A failed [[UNESCO]] effort to put countries in more control of reporting about themselves was evidence that many in the [[developing world]] saw the extreme danger of most of their citizens learning about their own country from Western news sources.
−
 
−
By the end of the 20th century, however, good factual information on almost anything was not so difficult to attain, even for poor working people.  Though this has been thought to be one of the greatest achievements in [[human history]], the susceptibility for [[deep framing]] of information to control people and nations on a grand scale became apparent to many intellectual figures as the century closed:  [[Noam Chomsky]], [[Edward Herman]], [[Neil Postman]], [[George Lakoff]] and others argued that the new data-rich environment greatly increased the power of those who were trusted to report and sort it out. 
 
−
 
−
This power was hardly restricted to military use of information.  The rise of [[Microsoft]] based on its control of [[operating system]] technology for most [[personal computer]]s in the [[1980s]] and [[1990s]] proved that control of the most basic information elements of a system could yield a great deal of power to interfere with competitors and rivals.  The term [[ontological warfare]] came into use to describe, for instance, Microsoft's methods of modifying [[API]]s to ensure that competitors could not ever fully exploit the operating system itself. 
 
−
Doubt that competitors could do so caused a great many companies not to be funded or invest in competing efforts, according to a United States Federal Court finding of fact against the company.  ''See a separate article on that subject.''
 
−
 
−
 
−
 
  
  
Line 94: Line 80:
  
 
[[Image:US_PsyOps_leaflet.jpg|thumb|300px|US PsyOps leaflet used in Afghanistan]]
 
[[Image:US_PsyOps_leaflet.jpg|thumb|300px|US PsyOps leaflet used in Afghanistan]]
−
However, most uses of the term psychological warfare refers to military methods, such as those used recently by the United States especially:
+
Most uses of the term psychological warfare refers to military methods, such as those used recently by the United States especially:
 
* Distributing [[pamphlet]]s, e.g. in the [[Gulf War]], encouraging [[desertion]]
 
* Distributing [[pamphlet]]s, e.g. in the [[Gulf War]], encouraging [[desertion]]
−
* Propaganda radio stations, such as [[Lord Haw-Haw]] in [[World War II]] on the Germany calling station
 
 
* Renaming cities and other places when captured, such as [[Baghdad airport]]
 
* Renaming cities and other places when captured, such as [[Baghdad airport]]
 
* Systematic [[rape]]s of enemy civilians to humiliate the enemy and to break his will to fight
 
* Systematic [[rape]]s of enemy civilians to humiliate the enemy and to break his will to fight
Line 119: Line 104:
  
 
On [[April 7]], [[2003]], Al-Sahaf claimed that there were no American troops in Baghdad, and that the Americans were committing suicide by the hundreds at the city's gates, despite the fact that the imminent fall of Baghdad and the Hussein government was obvious to those aware of the progress of the war, and that American [[tank]]s were patrolling the streets only a few hundred meters from the location where the press conference was held.  His last public appearance as Information Minister was on [[April 8]], 2003, when he said that the Americans "are going to surrender or be burned in their tanks. They will surrender, it is they who will surrender".
 
On [[April 7]], [[2003]], Al-Sahaf claimed that there were no American troops in Baghdad, and that the Americans were committing suicide by the hundreds at the city's gates, despite the fact that the imminent fall of Baghdad and the Hussein government was obvious to those aware of the progress of the war, and that American [[tank]]s were patrolling the streets only a few hundred meters from the location where the press conference was held.  His last public appearance as Information Minister was on [[April 8]], 2003, when he said that the Americans "are going to surrender or be burned in their tanks. They will surrender, it is they who will surrender".
−
 
−
He gained something of a cult following in the west, appearing on T-shirts, cartoons, and from [[internet phenomena]] came satirical websites.  His ([[Arabic language|Arabic]]) name was often replaced by humorous nicknames such as "Baghdad Bob," "Comical Ali," or "IIM" ([[acronym]] for Iraqi Information Minister). A popular site, WeLoveTheIraqiInformationMinister.com, featured [[sound bite]]s of the minister, as well as [[Photoshop]]-type doctored pictures of him on the ''[[Star Wars]]'' [[Death Star]], at [[The Battle of Waterloo]] and at the [[D-Day]] landings, in all cases maintaining that "everything is just fine." At its peak, the site claimed 4,000 visitors a second.
 
  
 
Although appearing as obvious lies to a [[Western world|Western]] public, the descriptions uttered by al-Sahaf were well received in parts of the Arab world most fiercely opposed to the war. Thus the quick fall of Baghdad was to some a total surprise, and [[Syria]]n television did not broadcast images of the events. Many in Arab countries who were interviewed later were incredulous and were forced to conclude that Sahaf and their own media had been lying all along, comparable to a similar watershed event that came out of the Arab-Israeli wars several decades earlier.
 
Although appearing as obvious lies to a [[Western world|Western]] public, the descriptions uttered by al-Sahaf were well received in parts of the Arab world most fiercely opposed to the war. Thus the quick fall of Baghdad was to some a total surprise, and [[Syria]]n television did not broadcast images of the events. Many in Arab countries who were interviewed later were incredulous and were forced to conclude that Sahaf and their own media had been lying all along, comparable to a similar watershed event that came out of the Arab-Israeli wars several decades earlier.
Line 126: Line 109:
 
On [[25 June]] 2003, the [[London]] [[newspaper]] ''[[The Daily Mirror]]'' reported that al-Sahaf had been captured by coalition troops at a roadblock in Baghdad. The report was not confirmed by military authorities and was denied by al-Sahaf's family through [[Abu Dhabi TV]]. The next day al-Sahaf himself recorded an interview for the [[Dubai]]-based [[al-Arabiya]] news channel. Al-Sahaf said that he had surrendered to US forces and had been interrogated by them. He was reportedly paid as much as $200,000 for the television interview, during which he appeared very withdrawn in contrast with the bombastic persona he projected during the war. Many of his answers consisted of a simple "yes" or "no". He refused to speculate on the causes of the downfall of the Iraqi government and answered only "history will tell" when asked if video clips purporting to prove that Saddam Hussein was alive were genuine, amid speculation at that time that Hussein had been killed during the war.
 
On [[25 June]] 2003, the [[London]] [[newspaper]] ''[[The Daily Mirror]]'' reported that al-Sahaf had been captured by coalition troops at a roadblock in Baghdad. The report was not confirmed by military authorities and was denied by al-Sahaf's family through [[Abu Dhabi TV]]. The next day al-Sahaf himself recorded an interview for the [[Dubai]]-based [[al-Arabiya]] news channel. Al-Sahaf said that he had surrendered to US forces and had been interrogated by them. He was reportedly paid as much as $200,000 for the television interview, during which he appeared very withdrawn in contrast with the bombastic persona he projected during the war. Many of his answers consisted of a simple "yes" or "no". He refused to speculate on the causes of the downfall of the Iraqi government and answered only "history will tell" when asked if video clips purporting to prove that Saddam Hussein was alive were genuine, amid speculation at that time that Hussein had been killed during the war.
  
−
His fame quickly evaporated as the war continued into its present "insurgency" phase; from the summer of 2003 onward, he faded from the public spotlight, and is no longer a major figure in the war.
+
His fame quickly evaporated as the war continued into its "insurgency" phase; from the summer of 2003 onward, he faded from the public spotlight, and is no longer a major figure in the war.
  
 
Although questioned by American authorities, al-Sahaf was released, and there has been no suggestion of charging or detaining him for his role in the Saddam Hussein government.
 
Although questioned by American authorities, al-Sahaf was released, and there has been no suggestion of charging or detaining him for his role in the Saddam Hussein government.
Line 137: Line 120:
  
  
−
'''''Seoul City Sue''''' is the nickname given by American GIs to the female announcer of a series of North Korean propaganda radio broadcasts during the [[Korean War]].
+
*'''''Seoul City Sue''''' is the nickname given by American GIs to the female announcer of a series of North Korean propaganda radio broadcasts during the [[Korean War]].
  
−
She first went on the air in early August, 1950. Members of the [[US Army]] 588th Military Police Company first heard her about [[10 August]]. She would read the names off of [[dog tag (identifier)|dog tags]] from killed American soldiers to a musical accompaniment.
+
She first went on the air in early August, 1950. She would read the names off of [[dog tag (identifier)|dog tags]] from killed American soldiers to a musical accompaniment.
  
 
Later that month, she was identified as American-born Mrs. '''Anna Wallace Suhr''', wife of a Korean newsman, by the [[Methodist]] Missionary Organization. The group said that Suhr, at the time in her mid-40s, was a former missionary schoolteacher in Korea, and had tutored American diplomats' children in [[Seoul]]. Suhr's defenders claimed the dull tone of her broadcasts as proof that she was being forced to make them.
 
Later that month, she was identified as American-born Mrs. '''Anna Wallace Suhr''', wife of a Korean newsman, by the [[Methodist]] Missionary Organization. The group said that Suhr, at the time in her mid-40s, was a former missionary schoolteacher in Korea, and had tutored American diplomats' children in [[Seoul]]. Suhr's defenders claimed the dull tone of her broadcasts as proof that she was being forced to make them.
  
  
−
''Hanoi Hannah''
+
*''Hanoi Hannah''
−
'''Trinh Thi Ngo''' (born [[1931]]), known as '''Hanoi Hannah''', was a [[Vietnamese people|Vietnamese]] [[woman]] who, during the [[Vietnam War]] in the [[1960s]] and [[1970s]], read [[Broadcasting|broadcast]] [[radio]] messages and [[propaganda]] to convince  [[United States|U.S.]] troops to go [[AWOL]], a [[psychological warfare]] scheme set forth by the Communist North Vietnamese. She made three broadcasts a day talking to American soldiers. She read the list of  the newly killed or imprisoned Americans, tried to persuade American [[GI]]s that the American involvement in [[Vietnam]] was unjust and immoral, and also played popular American anti-war songs to incite feelings of nostalgia and homesickness amongst [[GI]]s. Here is an [[wikt:excerpt|excerpt]] of one of her usual broadcast [[speech]]es:
+
'''Trinh Thi Ngo''' (born [[1931]]), known as '''Hanoi Hannah''', was a [[Vietnamese people|Vietnamese]] [[woman]] who, during the [[Vietnam War]] in the [[1960s]] and [[1970s]], read [[Broadcasting|broadcast]] [[radio]] messages and [[propaganda]] to convince  [[United States|U.S.]] troops to go [[AWOL]], a psychological warfare scheme set forth by the Communist North Vietnamese. She made three broadcasts a day talking to American soldiers. She read the list of  the newly killed or imprisoned Americans, tried to persuade American [[GI]]s that the American involvement in [[Vietnam]] was unjust and immoral, and also played popular American anti-war songs to incite feelings of nostalgia and homesickness amongst [[GI]]s. Here is an [[wikt:excerpt|excerpt]] of one of her usual broadcast [[speech]]es:
 
:''How are you, GI Joe? It seems to me that most of you are poorly informed about the going of the war, to say nothing about a correct explanation of your presence over here. Nothing is more confused than to be ordered into a war to die or to be maimed for life without the faintest idea of what's going on.'' (Hanoi Hannah, [[16 June]] [[1967]])
 
:''How are you, GI Joe? It seems to me that most of you are poorly informed about the going of the war, to say nothing about a correct explanation of your presence over here. Nothing is more confused than to be ordered into a war to die or to be maimed for life without the faintest idea of what's going on.'' (Hanoi Hannah, [[16 June]] [[1967]])
 
Her voice can be heard in the [[Computer and video games|computer game]] ''[[Battlefield Vietnam]]'' during [[Quang Tri]] and the reclaimation of [[Hue (city)|Hue]] over the [[public address system]], as well as during the main screen if the player waits until after the LBJ quote.
 
Her voice can be heard in the [[Computer and video games|computer game]] ''[[Battlefield Vietnam]]'' during [[Quang Tri]] and the reclaimation of [[Hue (city)|Hue]] over the [[public address system]], as well as during the main screen if the player waits until after the LBJ quote.
 +
 +
==Conclusion==
  
  

Revision as of 02:55, 8 June 2006


The U.S. Department of Defense defines psychological warfare (PSYWAR) as:

"The planned use of propaganda and other psychological actions having the primary purpose of influencing the opinions, emotions, attitudes, and behavior of hostile foreign groups in such a way as to support the achievement of national objectives."

History of psychological warfare

Although not always accredited as the first practitioner of psychological warfare, Alexander the Great of Macedon undoubtedly showed to be effective in swaying the mindsets of the populaces that were appropriated in his campaigns. In order to keep the new Macedonian states from revolting against their leader, Alexander would leave a number of his men behind in each city to introduce Greek culture and interbreed.

The Mongols

Genghis Khan, leader of the Mongols in the 13th century, AD, united his people to eventually conquer more territory than any other leader in human history. This was undoubtedly an exceptional accomplishment, but would have been impossible to achieve had it not been for the use of psychological warfare. Next to mobility, defeating the will of the enemy was the greatest weapon of the Mongols. Before attacking a settlement, the Mongol general would demand tribute and submission to the Khan or threaten to otherwise attack. The Mongols would threaten a village with complete destruction should a single arrow be fired. Most of the initial nations to be conquered, such as the nations of Kiev and Khwarizm, refused to surrender. Consequently, the Mongol general would engage his cavalry in a series of choreographed maneuvers that slaughtered the enemy. He would spare a few, however, allowing them to take their tales of the encroaching horde to the next villages. This created an aura of insecurity with the resistance, eventually supplanting the will of the villagers. Often times, this in itself procured the Mongol victory. Another tactic employed by Genghis Khan was the nocturnal use of fire to create an illusion of numbers. He ordered each soldier to light three torches at dusk in order to deceive and intimidate enemy scouts. In one infamous incident, the Mongol leader Tamerlane built a pyramid of 90,000 human heads before the walls of Delhi, to convince them to surrender.

Propaganda Warfare During WWII

Most of the events throughout history involving psychological warfare utilized tactics that instilled fear or a sense of awe towards the enemy. But as humanity continued into the 19th century, advances in communications technology acted as a catalyst for mass propagandizing.

One of the first leaders to relentlessly gain fanatical support through the use of microphone technology was Adolf Hitler. By first creating a speaking environment, designed by Joseph Goebbels, that exaggerated his presence to make him seem almost god-like, Hitler then coupled this with the resonating projections of his orations through a microphone. This was a form of psychological warfare, because the image that he created for himself greatly influenced and swayed the German people to eventually follow him to what would ultimately become their own destruction. Churchill made similar use of radio for propaganda.

LeMay bombing leaflet

During WWII, psychological warfare was used effectively by the American military as well. The enormous success that the invasion of Normandy displayed was a fusion of psychological warfare with military deception. Before D-Day, Operation Quicksilver created a fictional "First United States Army Group" (FUSAG) commanded by General George Patton that supposedly would invade France at the Pas-de-Calais. American troops used false signals, decoy installations, and phony equipment to deceive German observation aircraft and radio intercept operators. This had the desired effect of misleading the German High Command as to the location of the primary invasion, keeping reserves away from the actual landings. Erwin Rommel was the primary target of the psychological aspects of this operation. Convinced that Patton would lead the invasion, as he was clearly the best Allied armour commander, Rommel was caught off-guard and unable to react strongly to the Normandy invasion, since Patton's illusionary FUSAG had not "yet" landed. Confidence in his own intelligence and judgement was also reduced enough that the German response to the beachhead was simply not decisive. Had Rommel reacted strongly with all he had to the initial invasion, it might have subsequently failed. The edge provided by his hesitation and uncertainty was pivotal in the overall war effort and outcome.


Lord Haw-Haw

Lord Haw-Haw was the nickname of an announcer on the English-language propaganda radio programme of World War II, Germany Calling. The programme was broadcast by Nazi Germany to audiences in Great Britain on the mediumwave station Radio Hamburg and by shortwave to the United States, starting on September 18, 1939 and continuing until April 30, 1945, when Hamburg was overrun by the British Army.

The name Lord Haw-Haw is most commonly associated with the Irish-American William Joyce, a former member of the British Union of Fascists, whose on-air style approximated to a sneering mockery of the British military effort against the Germans. More generally, however, the name Lord Haw-Haw applied to the various announcers who took part in the broadcasts, including Lieutenant Norman Baillie-Stewart(who would have had the proper upper-class accent for the part that the more plebeian Joyce lacked). The catchy pseudonym is variously attributed to a "Fleet Street cartoonist" [1] or a correspondent with the Daily Express [2]. Joyce, in fact, had a singular Irish-American-English-German accent; his distinctive pronunciation of "Jairmany calling, Jairmany calling" was readily recognized by his listeners, who, in the early days of the war, attributed to him an intimate and sinister knowledge of everything going on in all the towns and villages of England.[3] Perhaps because of the fear his alleged omniscience had inspired, Joyce was hanged for treason on January 3, 1946, after having been captured in northern Germany just as the war ended. As J.A. Cole has written, "The British public would not have been surprised if, in that Flensburg wood, Haw-Haw had carried in his pocket a secret weapon capable of annihilating an armoured brigade."


Axis Sally

File:Axissallymug.jpg
Mugshot of Sisk from the US Bureau of Prisons

"Axis Sally" (November 29, 1900 – June 25, 1988) was a female radio personality during World War II. Born Mildred Elizabeth Sisk in Portland, Maine, she took the name Mildred Gillars as a small child after her mother remarried and moved to New York City where young Mildred dreamed of becoming an actress, but she met with little success.

Gillars studied drama at Ohio Wesleyan University, but dropped out before graduating. She found employment in Europe, working as an English instructor at the Berlitz School of Languages in Berlin, Germany, in 1935. Later, she accepted a job as an announcer and actress with Radio Berlin, where she remained until Nazi Germany fell in 1945.

With her sultry voice, Gillars was a well-known propagandist to Allied troops, who gave her the nickname "Axis Sally." Her most infamous broadcast was made on May 11, 1944, prior to the D-Day invasion of Normandy, France. Gillars portrayed an American mother who dreamed that her son had been killed in the English Channel. An announcer's voice made the message clear: "The D of D-Day stands for doom… disaster… death… defeat… Dunkerque or Dieppe."

After the war, Gillars was captured and eventually flown back to the United States in 1948. She was charged with 10 counts of treason, although she was actually only tried for eight.

The sensational, six-week trial ended on March 8, 1949. After long deliberations, the jury convicted Gillars on only one count of treason. Gillars was sentenced to 10 to 30 years.

Whereas the best-known foreign broadcaster for Germany, William Joyce or "Lord Haw-Haw," was hanged by the British for treason after the war, Mildred Gillars died of natural causes at the age of 87.


Tokyo Rose

Tokyo Rose was a name given by United States forces in the South Pacific during World War II to any of several English-speaking female broadcasters of Japanese propaganda.

The name is usually associated with Iva Toguri D'Aquino, a United States citizen who was in Japan at the start of the war. In 1949, D'Aquino was tried and convicted of treason by the United States government, based on perjured testimony. She was later pardoned by U.S. President Gerald Ford.

Iva Toguri

Conspiracy theorists have suggested a number of other possible identities for "Tokyo Rose", including Amelia Earhart, who some believe was forced to make propaganda broadcasts after her disappearance in 1937 as some believe Earhart's plane went down in the South Pacific Mandate area, which was under Japanese Navy administration before World War II.

In 2004, actor George Takei announced he was working on a film titled Tokyo Rose, American Patriot, about Toguri's activities during the war [1].


Postwar military and political methods

The Cold War raised psychological techniques to a high art and merged them with economic warfare, character assassination and brainwashing. Some techniques that were used include:

  • Broadcasting of white noise to convince eavesdroppers that encryption was in use — and to waste vast sums of time and money trying to decrypt it.
  • Capturing of enemy spies and brainwashing them into filmed/taped confessions that would embarrass and demoralize their side and their families.[citation needed]
  • Recruiting particularly innocent-appearing individuals to be spies or saboteurs so that, when revealed or captured, doubt would be cast on many more individuals.
  • Various methods to ensure that any captured agent implicated as many innocent others as possible, for instance, maximizing the number of questionable contacts.

"Information age"

As these techniques impinged on the civilian realm, the threat grew, and the paranoia eventually emerged that the government could wage psychological warfare on its own people through the censorship of information. This inadvertently influenced several anti-government/anti-establishment social revolutions in the 1960s and 1970s, including counter-culture and anarchism. The Yippies in particular were among the first to exploit culture jamming.

The so-called "information age" that began in the 1980s was arguably a simple extension of the psychological warfare mindset and principles throughout all civilian activities of developed nations, but especially the English-speaking countries. Growing exponentially through the rise of radio, broadcast television, satellite television, and cable television, and finally manifesting itself on the Internet, the power of those who framed facts about the world steadily grew during the postwar period. A failed UNESCO effort to put countries in more control of reporting about themselves was evidence that many in the developing world saw the extreme danger of most of their citizens learning about their own country from Western news sources.


Recent military psychological warfare methods

US PsyOps leaflet used in Afghanistan

Most uses of the term psychological warfare refers to military methods, such as those used recently by the United States especially:

  • Distributing pamphlets, e.g. in the Gulf War, encouraging desertion
  • Renaming cities and other places when captured, such as Baghdad airport
  • Systematic rapes of enemy civilians to humiliate the enemy and to break his will to fight
  • Shock and awe military strategy
  • Terrorism (as asymmetric warfare)
  • Projecting repetitive and annoying sounds and music for long periods at high volume towards groups under siege ( questionable, as when this source of sound is defeated it would assuredly moralize the defending troops. )
  • The use of Humvees and other vehicles to create mobile broadcasting stations, allowing the US military to verbally harass and agitate Taliban fighters in Afghanistan so that they emerge from hiding places and engage US troops.
  • Terror bombing of enemy cities and war against defenceless civilias in order to break the enemy's will
  • Spreading rumours, hoaxes and wild stories


Baghdad Bob

Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf (Arabic محمد سعيد الصحاف also Mohammed Said al-Sahhaf) (born 1940) is a former Iraqi diplomat and politician. He came to wide prominence around the world during the 2003 Invasion of Iraq, during which he was the Information Minister of the country. Outside of Iraq, he is better known by his nicknames, "Baghdad Bob" and "Comical Ali".

Al-Sahaf was born in Hilla, near Karbala. He joined the Ba'ath Party in 1963 and served as Ambassador to Sweden, Burma, the United Nations and Italy, before returning in Iraq to serve as Foreign Minister in 1992. The reasons for his removal as Foreign Minister in April 2001 are unclear, but his achievements in the position were often claimed to be less satisfactory than that of his predecessor, Tariq Aziz. At least one report suggests that Uday Hussein, son of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, was responsible for the removal.

Al-Sahaf is probably most known for his daily press briefings in Baghdad during the 2003 Iraq War, where his lies, fantasies, and colourful description of his enemies reached meteoric heights as the war progressed and caused him to be nicknamed Baghdad Bob (in the style of "Hanoi Hannah" or "Seoul City Sue") by commentators in the United States and Comical Ali (an allusion to Chemical Ali, the nickname of former Iraqi Defence Minister Ali Hassan al-Majid) by commentators in the United Kingdom.

On April 7, 2003, Al-Sahaf claimed that there were no American troops in Baghdad, and that the Americans were committing suicide by the hundreds at the city's gates, despite the fact that the imminent fall of Baghdad and the Hussein government was obvious to those aware of the progress of the war, and that American tanks were patrolling the streets only a few hundred meters from the location where the press conference was held. His last public appearance as Information Minister was on April 8, 2003, when he said that the Americans "are going to surrender or be burned in their tanks. They will surrender, it is they who will surrender".

Although appearing as obvious lies to a Western public, the descriptions uttered by al-Sahaf were well received in parts of the Arab world most fiercely opposed to the war. Thus the quick fall of Baghdad was to some a total surprise, and Syrian television did not broadcast images of the events. Many in Arab countries who were interviewed later were incredulous and were forced to conclude that Sahaf and their own media had been lying all along, comparable to a similar watershed event that came out of the Arab-Israeli wars several decades earlier.

On 25 June 2003, the London newspaper The Daily Mirror reported that al-Sahaf had been captured by coalition troops at a roadblock in Baghdad. The report was not confirmed by military authorities and was denied by al-Sahaf's family through Abu Dhabi TV. The next day al-Sahaf himself recorded an interview for the Dubai-based al-Arabiya news channel. Al-Sahaf said that he had surrendered to US forces and had been interrogated by them. He was reportedly paid as much as $200,000 for the television interview, during which he appeared very withdrawn in contrast with the bombastic persona he projected during the war. Many of his answers consisted of a simple "yes" or "no". He refused to speculate on the causes of the downfall of the Iraqi government and answered only "history will tell" when asked if video clips purporting to prove that Saddam Hussein was alive were genuine, amid speculation at that time that Hussein had been killed during the war.

His fame quickly evaporated as the war continued into its "insurgency" phase; from the summer of 2003 onward, he faded from the public spotlight, and is no longer a major figure in the war.

Although questioned by American authorities, al-Sahaf was released, and there has been no suggestion of charging or detaining him for his role in the Saddam Hussein government. He is now living in the United Arab Emirates with his family.

When asked where he had gotten his information he replied "authentic sources - many authentic sources". [2]


Additional Propaganda Personalities

  • Seoul City Sue is the nickname given by American GIs to the female announcer of a series of North Korean propaganda radio broadcasts during the Korean War.

She first went on the air in early August, 1950. She would read the names off of dog tags from killed American soldiers to a musical accompaniment.

Later that month, she was identified as American-born Mrs. Anna Wallace Suhr, wife of a Korean newsman, by the Methodist Missionary Organization. The group said that Suhr, at the time in her mid-40s, was a former missionary schoolteacher in Korea, and had tutored American diplomats' children in Seoul. Suhr's defenders claimed the dull tone of her broadcasts as proof that she was being forced to make them.


  • Hanoi Hannah

Trinh Thi Ngo (born 1931), known as Hanoi Hannah, was a Vietnamese woman who, during the Vietnam War in the 1960s and 1970s, read broadcast radio messages and propaganda to convince U.S. troops to go AWOL, a psychological warfare scheme set forth by the Communist North Vietnamese. She made three broadcasts a day talking to American soldiers. She read the list of the newly killed or imprisoned Americans, tried to persuade American GIs that the American involvement in Vietnam was unjust and immoral, and also played popular American anti-war songs to incite feelings of nostalgia and homesickness amongst GIs. Here is an excerpt of one of her usual broadcast speeches:

How are you, GI Joe? It seems to me that most of you are poorly informed about the going of the war, to say nothing about a correct explanation of your presence over here. Nothing is more confused than to be ordered into a war to die or to be maimed for life without the faintest idea of what's going on. (Hanoi Hannah, 16 June 1967)

Her voice can be heard in the computer game Battlefield Vietnam during Quang Tri and the reclaimation of Hue over the public address system, as well as during the main screen if the player waits until after the LBJ quote.

Conclusion

External links


Credits

New World Encyclopedia writers and editors rewrote and completed the Wikipedia article in accordance with New World Encyclopedia standards. This article abides by terms of the Creative Commons CC-by-sa 3.0 License (CC-by-sa), which may be used and disseminated with proper attribution. Credit is due under the terms of this license that can reference both the New World Encyclopedia contributors and the selfless volunteer contributors of the Wikimedia Foundation. To cite this article click here for a list of acceptable citing formats.The history of earlier contributions by wikipedians is accessible to researchers here:

The history of this article since it was imported to New World Encyclopedia:

Note: Some restrictions may apply to use of individual images which are separately licensed.

  • Cole, J.A. Lord Haw-Haw & William Joyce: The Full Story (New York, 1965)
  1. ↑ Propaganda, treason and plot, an August 2005 BBC News profile
  2. ↑ Farndale, Nigel. Haw-Haw: The Tragedy of William and Margaret Joyce, 2005 (ISBN 0333989929)
  3. ↑ The making of a traitor, from the Birkbeck, University of London website
Retrieved from https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/p/index.php?title=Psychological_warfare&oldid=52765

Content is available under Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License; additional terms may apply. See Terms of Use for details.
Copyright Logo
Powered by MediaWiki