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From a comment on AC’s blog
(the link for when it says “here”= http://www.newworldwar.org/psyop.htm )

I found a good primer on psychological operations: here. Some bits of especial interest:

Objectives
According to the US military, the ultimate goal of PsyOp is to modify the behavior of the TA. This is accomplished by destroying their will, which, itself, is brought about by continually inflicting pain.
[….]
To accomplish this, a relentless campaign is used to demoralize the TA, which includes creating perpetual negative feelings of intense fear and hopelessness. This is done to wear the TA down gradually and break their will. The DOD describes this as the attrition-based approach. It explained: “Attrition is the product of gradual erosion of the will. The victim of this psychological attrition gradually becomes convinced that nothing he can do will yield a satisfactory outcome to a situation.”

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[earlier in the c. 8,500 word document, part of a longer 2020 book at that site by Mark Rich]

According to a 2003 report by US Army’s School of Advanced Military Studies, denying the enemy basic human needs may cause them to stop certain behavior until lower-level needs are satisfied. Some of these include: physiological, safety/security, esteem/value, self-realization, and belongingness.

Removing food and water (physiological), denying them refuge (safety), isolating them from the populace (belongingness), or discrediting them (esteem), may cause people to seek to correct these deficiencies before continuing with their behavior, the report tells us.

The US military has specifically stated that it will deny critical services to the enemy. While it does not describe what these critical services are, it obviously includes proper medical treatment, which can be accomplished when the military works with civilian organizations during CMO. [civil-military operations]

One way that PsyOp personnel can isolate the TA is by conducting a rumor campaign. Well-planned rumors launched by the military are devastating weapons. Their primary elements include the source, the rumor, and the receiver-repeater (R2). In order for the rumor campaign to be successful, the source of the rumor must be credible to the receiver, the rumor itself must be plausible, and the R2 must spread the rumor.

The rumor will be reduced to the memory capacity of the R2. This is referred to as leveling. The R2 levels the story by retaining only the information that they think is relevant or can remember. The R2 also sharpens the story, which means they selectively choose information to retain and expand upon when spreading the rumor. Another characteristic is assimilation, where the R2 adjusts the story to fit his viewpoint based on his experiences, prejudices, interests, etc.

PsyOp attacks are synchronized with core capabilities. This includes directed-energy weapons used for electronic warfare (EW), as well as computer hardware, software, and internet attacks, which are part of computer network operations (CNO). They are also synchronized with “all elements of national power” such as CMO (the use of the civilian population, civilian resources, private sector businesses, etc).

Directed-energy weapons, computer attacks, and PsyOp are used in combination throughout the battlespace. The US Army described in its Unconventional Warfare report: “The innovative combination of electronic weapons platforms, networking systems, and strategic-and operational-level PsyOp, enabled by the net-centric operational environment, creates significant opportunities to seize the initiative and dominate an enemy.”

EW is used to isolate, disrupt, and influence, the enemy’s use of the electromagnetic spectrum. EW diminishes the ability of the TA to perceive and process information by broadcasting PsyOp products over frequencies used by the TA (jamming and spoofing). EW also includes the use of directed-energy weapons to attack people, equipment, and facilities.

CNO are used to attack, deny, deceive, degrade, and disrupt networks and computers used by the enemy. This means the destruction of hardware and software (degrading, attacking). It also means spoofing (deceiving). The battlespace includes the internet. Internet applications that transmit PsyOp messages include email, web sites, and chat rooms. When a TA goes online, they are entering the battlespace.