PSYOP, or Psychological Operations, is a military operation that aims to influence the enemy's state of mind using non-combative means. The goal is to affect the behavior of groups, organizations, governments, and large foreign powers.

Usually, to make their country more amenable to big US business interests who wanted to extract their resources. Our psyops have now come home to roost.

would be what is known as the "Nayirah testimony." I point to this because it was simple, and easy to understand all these years later.

In October of 1990, a 15-year old girl who called herself "Nayirah" testified before the Congressional Human Rights Caucus. She spoke of seeing Kuwaiti infants out of incubators by invading Iraqi soldiers, and left on the cold concrete floors to die. Her testimony would then be quoted by president Bush the Elder and several US Senators, to get the American public to support the US invasion of Iraq.

As it turned out, she was the daughter of Kuwait's ambassador to the US, and her story was a lie aimed at inflaming the American public's emotions.

Do you think this is a giant psyop by Putin and his pals?

last week that I wrote about the features found in crumbling empires. One of those involves its competition with other powers. So I think a solid example of Putin & Russian military intelligence running such a program in the US was found in the 2016 presidential election.

These days, we often hear republicans speak about the "fake" Russia scandal. They point to the rumors collected by a former British intelligence officer, in an operation that was originally financed by a Jeb Bush supporter, then turned over to the Clinton campaign when Jeb dropped out. Was that, in essence, a psyop? One of the important parts of a psyop is the appeal to emotion. The idea of prostitutes peeing on the felon could certainly be viewed in that context.

Yet that was a side-show. The Russian investigation was run by the FBI. The felon wasn't investigated until May of 2017, as a result of his firing Comey, and his behaviors that followed. The primary suspects were Paul Manafort and Carter Page. Manafort, for example, shared campaign information with Russian intelligence, that they used to focus on a target audience. That is, by definition, collusion. Page, on the other hand, was a double agent being used by not the FBI, but another intelligence agency, and the FBI was unaware of this. One need only watch a video of Page speaking to be impressed by his ability to use many words to say absolutely nothing.

at least since 2016, then.

I think one could say TSF himself is a psyop..

They have experts like Psychologists and Psychiatrists advising them. Pretty strange, considering most people in those field tend to be liberal. As a psychiatric social worker, I volunteer to offer my services to the Democrats.

were used by the US military at least as far back as WW1. They became more organized in the WW2 era, with the organizing of the OSS (which became the CIA). It's interesting to note that the OSS was formed from two other sources: the intelligence from the oil industry and university professors. The intelligence units from oil companies had used similar operations in the Middle East previously.

There are examples of domestic psyops in American politics. The series of crimes detailed in the Senate report on Watergate documents this clearly. And I think it is safe to say that corporations have behaved in similar fashion over the decades. But it was not until 2016 that I am aware of a foreign country subjecting the US population to a rather large scale operation.

There was always a lot of talk about propaganda. What we now call disinformation, I guess.

When you create so much distrust of facts, you mess with people's heads - they don't know what or whom to believe.

Combined with fundamentalist religions and defunding public education, shaming school teachers..well, witches' brew. Although witches are a force for good.

What is their end game? Putin. Bannon.

is an essential part of this. It is important to know the three types of psyops: white, gray, and black. We have seen white from the State and Defense Departments during the Vietnam War, for example. Gray are the ambiguous "information" that is released by way of an independent source that is considered non-hostile, or even without attribution to a source. Black are the hostile ones, released by government, corporations, or private groups.

I agree that the attacks on education is this country have made citizens easy -- or easier -- targets for propaganda. No question about it. And it goes hand-in-hand with the social stratification that is turning our country into a high-tech feudal state. It is the type of social-economic stratification always found in crumbling empires.

Putin wants Russia to reclaim the status of the Soviet Empire known as the Soviet Union. That requires a weakening of the US. Bannon, as repulsive as he is, proved incapable of running the felon's 2016 campaign. But he is capable of hypnotizing about 20% of the American people, which is actually all he needs to severely damage the federal government.

high-tech feudal state... severely damaged federal government.

We had it in our power to put a halt to it, this election. But half of us defaulted on their basic obligation: an informed electorate.

So the other half are stuck with it.

Fine state of affairs.

I was in another unit but we always ate dinner there on the way home.

as to actual truth and reality.

Thanks for the thread cilla4progress.