By Don Rosenberg

“Psychological operations” (PsyOps) have been an integral part of warfare throughout history. Sun Tzu, Alexander the Great, and Genghis Kahn, as well as scores of other military leaders, have used psychological tactics to confuse, deceive, and demoralize their enemies’ leadership as well as their civilian populations.

World War I is considered the start of modern PsyOps, using news media, posters, and leaflets in enemy towns and on the battlefield. In World War II, radio, cinema, print, and broadcast media used direct appeals to the audience as well as subtler approaches to change attitudes. In fixed position warfare, each side would use intermittent shelling, loud music, or flares to deprive the enemy of sleep, or broadcast propaganda to confuse or overwhelm them.

Extensive research has been done to make PsyOps more effective. Why spend billions on weapons systems and manpower when you can significantly reduce the enemy’s morale and even convince them to surrender or overthrow their own government with no shots fired?

Dean Cheng, a research fellow in Chinese Political and Security Affairs at The Heritage Foundation, wrote a report in 2013 detailing the Chinese approach to psychological warfare and their admiration for U.S techniques.

“Peacetime applications of psychological warfare techniques involve influencing and altering an opponent’s unconscious, implicit views in order to make that opponent more susceptible to coercion… Such techniques attempt to isolate opponents, undermining their positions, portraying them as fostering ill intentions, and forcing them to react to a variety of charges so that their energy is dispersed.”

Another goal is “the sowing of discord and a sense of hopelessness in the enemy. Not only will this help generate war-weariness among enemy forces and populations and discourage resistance, but once the conflict is concluded, such operations may facilitate peace negotiations and induce more concessions… In order to undermine the opponent’s morale, one must emphasize information favorable to oneself through various forms of media as well as through third parties, friendly elements in the opponent’s society, and similar outlets.”

The goal is to undermine the opponent’s will to resist and encourage dissension in the enemy’s camp by fostering anti-war elements and war-weariness.

PsyOps operators exploit “confirmation bias,” which is “the tendency of individuals to look for, and attach more importance to, information that validates their existing beliefs, while dismissing or explaining away information that invalidates or contradicts those same beliefs.” In other words, you believe what you want to believe and ignore or dismiss the rest. A lie that confirms someone’s existing views is much more likely to be believed.

In this light, it is abundantly clear that the United States is in the midst of one or more carefully crafted PsyOps operations — internally from the Deep State, and externally from the Chinese or other foreign actors. The goal is to destabilize our government and establish anarchy to implement a new government order.

Our communications have been coopted to present us with a barrage of false information designed to change public opinion away from our current leadership and the rule of law, in favor of political change, fear, and anarchy. Facebook, Google, and Twitter are actively censoring valid ideas and critical information, manipulating search results, and shutting down accounts while spreading their views on a wide array of issues. They are using “fact-checkers” to appear impartial, but often the information they present is manipulated propaganda.

This barrage is so substantial that no one knows what to think on any topic. This actually has a name: “crisis fatigue.” Police brutality — is it rampant or overstated? Are they peaceful protests, or riots? Is the pandemic real, or overblown? Are COVID-19 case and death statistics being inflated? Is our president a sexist, homophobic, xenophobic racist? Is Biden a shoe-in to win in November, or are the polls rigged? Should we believe in global warming, systemic racism, and open borders? Is mail-in voting a good way for people to be safe, or is it rife with opportunities for corruption?

In order to get a clear answer, you would need to spend hours reviewing both sides of each topic, have an extensive scientific or medical background, and a clear understanding of statistics.

This is purposely overwhelming so that most people simply give up. They tune out completely or rely on short reports fed to them by their regular news sources, as long as they match with their preconceived notions. They see memes and articles that seem to make sense, so they quickly forward them to their friends without bothering to check their accuracy.

Dissenters have been demonized and threatened with physical violence. Businesses have been intimidated by the threat of boycotts into changing product names and firing outspoken employees. People feel pressured by their social peers to conform or be excluded.

When it comes to voting, many sit out in fear of making a wrong decision or just go with their pattern in the past. There is no chance to learn new information or change their political views.

Once we acknowledge that we are in the midst of an information war, we become aware that we are being lied to and manipulated. A few minutes of research can uncover the truth in one area, so a source we had considered reliable in the past may need to be distrusted in the future.

We must establish lines of communication that can’t be manipulated or hacked.

We need to identify trusted experts to inform us about important topics, make sure what they say makes sense, and then share what we learn with our allies. At some point we begin to see a pattern as to which side is lying and their true motives.

We must develop effective and simple ways to explain to our families, friends, and neighbors what is happening to our country and show them how to check the facts for themselves. A few examples of lies that can be easily disproved can break their patterns of blind trust.

We must encourage everyone we know to vote in November and ensure that our votes are not offset by voter fraud.

The powers that are arrayed against us do not have our best interests in mind.