Paul Linebarger Psychological warfare. Theory and practice of processing mass consciousness

Over the course of 5.5 thousand years, humanity has experienced 14 thousand wars, in which 4 billion people died. In the two World Wars of the 20th century alone, 50 million people died. In the period 1945-2000, more than 100 military conflicts claimed the lives of about 20 million people. The Korean War is considered the bloodiest, causing 3.68 million casualties. As we see, humanity has not become more peaceful, and the instinct of aggression continues to dominate human behavior.
General provisions.

Military psychology is the most hidden and conservative part of general psychology. Each country resolves issues of national defense and its troops, commensurate with geopolitical interests, potential threats, anthropo-ethnic heritage and, of course, the economic base of the state.

However, there is no doubt that for more than 7 thousand years, humanity has realized the need to perceive itself and the armed masses of people (Homo bellicus) as something special. Three great nations brought to the world three schools of military psychology.

Oriental school - China (Japan).
- Western school - GFS (Germany, France, USA).
- The Russian school occupies a special place in this.

At the end of the 20th and beginning of the 21st century, China, Russia, and the United States came to the forefront thanks to their scientific and technological potential, which was dictated, first of all, by the emergence of mass destruction, and subsequently by the rethinking of its role in world conflicts.

Currently, scientific and technological progress is positioning military psychology ahead of weapons of mass destruction. In this regard, many moral and ethical problems arise with the use of psychic energies and energies affecting the human psyche. It is these 2 areas that are priority in the perspective of scientific knowledge and human self-awareness. Accordingly, two scientific movements were formed:

1- the impact of energies on the human psyche (USA).
2- the impact of psychic energy on the noosphere and the global psycho-information field (Russia, China).

It is at the border of these two currents that this moral and ethical problem arises.

The impact of energies on the human psyche should be considered as an aggression against the individual, democratic and personal freedoms of citizens. The United States also applies a policy of double standards here, hiding from the Americans the true essence of its research in this area (offensive military psychology).

The impact of psychic energy on the noosphere is aimed at the harmonious interaction of man and nature (humanistic direction).

Over the years, thousands of publications have disputed the existence of a PSY weapon. Today we must tell the reader and citizens of our countries clearly and clearly - YES, it exists.

What is it, this PSY weapon? Everything is brilliantly simple.

PSY is an ambivalent weapon and includes 2 elements: MAN + TECHNOLOGY.

1st element - man - the carrier of anthropo-ethnic information, fixed genetically, and the paranormal psychic energy of the individual, hidden in the same genetic structure (Russia, China).

2nd element – ​​technologies, be they communication technologies, concepts, doctrines of influence, or technical devices, apparatus, systems that directly generate electromagnetic radiation, which have an impact on the human psyche, behavior, perception (USA).

Of course, it is not possible to describe such a broad topic in a few pages. My goal is different - to acquaint the reader with the state of military psychology in different countries. And also to give some retrospective on the development of military psychology and determine future prospects.

Let's start with the fact that, by the beginning of the 21st century, military psychology goes beyond the scope of general psychology and integrates such disciplines as:
- polemology,
- anthropology,
- ethnopsychology
- social psychology and mass psychology,
- geopolitical psychology,
- psychology of communication and conflict,
- psychology of aggression,
- personality psychology and morphopsychology,
- theory of the noosphere and psycho-informational field,
- engineering psychology.
- ethics and deontology.
- heraldry.
- asymmetric psychology or military psychology itself (the offensive part of military psychology, integrating all of the above).

Training of military psychologists

There is no doubt that every army and country has its own concept of military psychology. It should be noted that over the course of many years, having studied the systems of psychological training and training of military psychologists in different countries, I came to the conclusion that the universities of many countries do not train military psychologists. Most military psychologists are graduates of psychological faculties. Therefore, we have to retrain them already in the troops, devoting 1-2 years of training to this process. The main disadvantage of a civilian psychologist is the inability to work with large masses of people, psychodiagnostics of the masses, poor knowledge of psychodiagnostic tools, influence on the masses, work in crisis situations, work in terrorist situations, work in the zone of man-made disasters, psychological selection for combat operations, working with fears and thanatotherapy, planning and conducting psychological operations in various operational situations.

In the USA, the training of military psychologists is so specific that a military psychologist is not suitable for use on the battlefield, only in the rear, and only in his narrow specialization.

Let's take Russia, for example - military psychologists are trained at the Military University in Moscow. The selection of personnel in the troops for combat operations leaves much to be desired. In the 1st and 2nd Chechen campaigns, the influence of military psychologists on personnel in a combat situation was minimal (of course, I watched an unedited video of militants massacring Russian soldiers). The training program contains many outdated concepts, despite the fact that Russia itself has many excellent military psychologists (discussed below). The situation is the same in Ukraine.

Romania does not train psychologists in military universities. Psychologists undergo retraining in units. There are many good military psychologists at senior ranks. A good scientific and theoretical basis and school of planning psychological operations.

In Moldova, civilian psychologists undergo retraining in military units. The school of military psychology itself is mixed and integrates many Western and Eastern concepts, but taking into account ethnic specifics. However, due to military reforms, the state of the Armed Forces wants to be better, and the moral and psychological state of the personnel is low. Despite this, methods for selecting HP have been developed. for combat peacekeeping operations and actions in crisis situations.

In this context, I will say that in 2003 Moldova sent its first contingent to Iraq. This was preceded by a study of the situation in Iraq itself. More than 20 daily stressful factors were identified, and the threshold of stress tolerance was determined for each participant in the operation. Thanatotherapy was carried out in parallel with anti-terrorist training, to the level of instilling a culture and ethics of dying. The most important thing in the selection was to identify the victim complex. Not a single soldier with this complex was allowed to participate in the operation. Particular attention was paid to the instinct of aggression. I will not hide that instructions were given on how to perceive the behavior of American soldiers and the local population. Especially to establish trusting relationships with the local population.

I specifically focused on the training of military psychologists. At the planning level, this allows us to avoid losses among civilians, and at the tactical level, it allows us to avoid losses of our own personnel and effectively influence the enemy.

In this case, the military psychologist, as a person with special knowledge, is a key element of what we call psychological weapons.

It is the presence of military psychologists in a particular army that should be considered nothing less than the possession of a new type of weapon.

Scientists and personalities who defined the modern concept of military psychology

Boris Fedorovich Porshnev
(February 22 (March 7) 1905, St. Petersburg - November 26, 1972, Moscow) - Soviet historian and sociologist. Doctor of Historical (1941) and Philosophical (1966) Sciences. Honorary doctorate from the University of Clermont-Ferrand in France (1956). Porshnev establishes the anthropological significance of speech and suggestion for the formation of man as a social being and argues that the emergence of human speech and suggestion led to the division of the human species into 2 subspecies - hunters and prey, during the period of cannibalism.

Sun Wu, 孫武, Changqing, Sun Tzu, Sunzi- Chinese strategist and thinker, allegedly living in the 6th or, according to other sources, in the 4th century BC. e. Author of the famous treatise on military strategy “The Art of War”. One of the significance of the treatise is that the aphorisms it contains influenced many generations of the Chinese, Japanese and other peoples of East Asia. Many of the principles outlined in this treatise can be applied not only to warfare, but also to diplomacy, interpersonal relationships, and business strategy.

Carl Philipp Gottlieb von Clausewitz (Carl Philipp Gottlieb von Clausewitz; July 1, 1780, Burg near Magdeburg - November 16, 1831, Breslau) is a famous military writer who, with his writings, revolutionized the theory and foundations of military science.

Vladimir Ivanovich Vernadsky
(February 28 (March 12) 1863 (1863.03.12), St. Petersburg - January 6, 1945, Moscow) - Russian and Soviet scientist of the 20th century, naturalist, thinker and public figure; founder of many scientific schools. One of the representatives of Russian cosmism; creator of the science of biogeochemistry.

Noosphere (Greek νόος - “mind” and σφαῖρα - “ball - the sphere of interaction between society and nature, within the boundaries of which intelligent human activity becomes the determining factor of development (this sphere is also designated by the terms “anthroposphere”, “biosphere”, “biotechnosphere”).

Academician Pyotr Lazarev in 1920, in the article “On the work of nerve centers from the point of view of the ion theory of excitation,” for the first time in the world substantiated in detail the problem of direct registration of electromagnetic radiation from the brain, and then spoke in favor of the possibility of “catch a thought in external space in the form of an electromagnetic wave.”

In 1920-1923, a brilliant series of studies was carried out by Vladimir Durov, Eduard Naumov, Bernard Kazhinsky, Alexander Chizhevsky in the Practical Laboratory of Animal Psychology of the Main Directorate of Scientific Institutions of the People's Commissariat of Education in Moscow. In these experiments, psychics, then called “radiation people,” were placed in a Faraday cage shielded with sheets of metal, from where they mentally influenced a dog or person. A positive result was recorded in 82% of cases.
In 1924, the chairman of the scientific council of the Laboratory of Animal Psychology, Vladimir Durov, published the book “Training of Animals,” in which he talks about experiments on mental suggestion.
In 1925, Alexander Chizhevsky also wrote an article on mental suggestion - “On the transmission of thoughts at a distance.”

In 1932, the Brain Institute named after. V. Bekhterev received an official assignment to begin an experimental study of distant, that is, at a distance, interactions.
By 1938, a large amount of experimental material had been accumulated, summarized in the form of reports:
“Psychophysiological foundations of the telepathic phenomenon” (1934);
“On the physical foundations of mental suggestion” (1936);
“Mental suggestion of motor acts” (1937).
In 1965 - 1968, the most famous were the works of the Institute of Automation and Electric Power Engineering of the Siberian Branch of the USSR Academy of Sciences in Novosibirsk. Mental communication between people, as well as between humans and animals, was studied. The main research material was not published due to security reasons.

In 1970, by order of the Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee Pyotr Demichev, a State Commission was created to examine the phenomenon of mental suggestion. The commission included the most prominent psychologists in the country:

A. Luria, V. Leontyev, B. Lomov, A. Lyuboevich, D. Gorbov, B. Zinchenko, V. Nebylitsyn.
In 1973, the most serious results in the study of psi phenomena were obtained by Kyiv scientists. Later, the Council of Ministers of the USSR adopted a special closed resolution on psi research in the USSR on the creation of a research and production association “Response” under the Council of Ministers of the Ukrainian SSR, headed by Professor Sergei Sitko. At the same time, part of the medical experiments was carried out by the Ministry of Health of the Ukrainian SSR under the leadership of Vladimir Melnik and at the Institute of Orthopedics and Traumatology under the leadership of Professor Vladimir Shargorodsky. Research on the influence of mental suggestion on the psychopathology of the central nervous system was headed at the Republican Hospital named after. I. P. Pavlova professor Vladimir Sinitsky.

Professor Igor Smirnov-Russia.
Doctor, Doctor of Medical Sciences, professor, academician of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences, founder of computer psychotechnologies. The founder of the science of Psychoecology - a direction that is not the prerogative of medicine and represents a separate, fundamentally new field of knowledge, based on the intersection of many spheres, but having its own conceptual apparatus - a set of scientific ideas and practical techniques for studying, monitoring and predicting human behavior and condition as information system in the information environment of its habitat. (the son of the Minister of State Security Abakumov died in a mystical atmosphere).

ELENA GRIGORIEVNA RUSALKINA - clinical psychologist, associate professor of the Department of Psychoecology of RUDN University, Director of Science, Center for Information and Psychological Security named after. Academician I.V. Smirnova; one of the developers of the method of computer psychosemantic analysis and psychocorrection at an unconscious level.

Konstantin Pavlovich Petrov (August 23, 1945, Noginsk, Moscow region - July 21, 2009, Moscow) Major General. - Soviet and Russian military leader, Russian public and political figure. Candidate of Technical Sciences. Member (academician) of the International Academy of Informatization. He headed the department at Udmurt State University. A brilliant military psychologist of Russia.

Savin Alexey Yurievich
From 1964 to December 2004 he served in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. He worked his way up from a cadet at the Black Sea Higher Naval School to Lieutenant General - Head of the Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces. Doctor of Technical Sciences, Doctor of Philosophy, Honorary Doctor of the European University. Honorary citizen of Sevastopol. Participant in hostilities. Honored military specialist. He was awarded many orders (including the Order of Courage) and medals, as well as personalized firearms. Academician of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences, International Academy of Sciences, Italian Academy of Economic and Social Sciences.

Major General Boris Ratnikov- Russia. He supervised a special unit in the FSB that dealt with the secrets of the subconscious.

Ivashov Leonid Grigorievich - Russia.
President of the Academy of Geopolitical Problems. Doctor of Historical Sciences. Colonel General. Founder of a new direction - geopolitical psychology.

Krysko Vladimir Gavrilovich-Russia. Doctor of Psychological Sciences, Professor, Reserve Colonel, currently Professor of the Department of Public Relations at the State University of Management. A brilliant military psychologist. Born in 1949, graduated from the Faculty of Special Propaganda of the Military Institute of Foreign Languages ​​in 1972, Liaoning University (Shenyang, China) in 1988. In 1977 he defended his thesis on the topic “National-psychological characteristics of army personnel China", in 1989 - a doctoral dissertation on the topic "The influence of national psychological characteristics on the combat activity of personnel of the armies of imperialist states."

Dmitry Vadimovich Olshansky - Russia
Date of birth: January 4, 1953.
In 1976 he graduated from the Faculty of Psychology of Moscow State University. M.V. Lomonosov. Speaks English.
In 1976 he graduated from the Faculty of Psychology of Moscow State University.
In 1979 he graduated from graduate school at the same faculty.
In 1979 he defended his dissertation for the degree of candidate of psychological sciences.
From 1980 to 1985 - engaged in research and teaching work.
1985 - 1987 - Political adviser in Afghanistan, participated in the development of the policy of “national reconciliation” and the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan.
1988 - Political advisor in Angola.
1989 - political advisor in Poland.
In 1990, Dmitry Olshansky was awarded the academic degree of Doctor of Political Science.
1992 - Member of the Supreme Advisory Council under the President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev.
From 1993 to the present - General Director of the Center for Strategic Analysis and Forecasting (CSAP).

Parchevsky Nikolai Vasilievich. Born 1962, Moldova
Lieutenant of the USSR Armed Forces, lieutenant colonel of the Moldovan Armed Forces. Founder of military psychology of the Armed Forces of Moldova. Supporter of the humanistic direction of military psychology. Co-author of the textbook “Practical Military Psychology”, Bucharest 2009, in collaboration with the rector of the Academy Gen. Headquarters of the Romanian Armed Forces, Lieutenant General Teodor Frunzeti. Author of the definition and methodology of asymmetric military psychology. Author of the Moldavian method of psycho-semantic analysis of texts and morphopsychological characteristics of personality. Author of the methodology for selecting personnel for combat operations. Supporter of scientific integration of various psychological schools.

Lucian CULDA,
Romania. Major General. Doctor of Philosophy, professor. Director of the Center for Research of Organic Processes.
Nominated by the Cambridge International Biographical Center for the category "The First 2000 Intellectuals of the 21st Century" and Person of the Year 2003.

International level works
- The emergence and reproduction of nations -1996-2000.
- The formation of people in real social processes - 1998
- State of Nations.
- Study of nations.

Gabriel Dulea
Romania. Retired Colonel, Doctor of Military Sciences, Professor. Work in the field of anti-terrorism is comparable to the work of D. Olshansky.

Dr. John Coleman
(eng. Dr. John Coleman) (b. 1935) - American publicist, former figure in the British intelligence services. Author of 11 books (2008), including the book “The Committee of Three Hundred” published in Russia. Secrets of the World Government" (The Committee of 300, "Committee of 300. Secrets of the World Government", 1991).

This list of military men and scientists defines the humanistic direction in military psychology.

US offensive military psychology

After the war in 1945, the Americans received not only archives that related to the creation of atomic weapons and rocket technology. It turned out that in the 1940s, top-secret psychophysiological research work on an unprecedented scale was launched, involving all the best that was created at that time in India, China, Tibet, Europe, Africa, the USA, and the USSR. Quote from Russian intelligence services: “...The purpose of the research: the creation of psychotronic weapons. Therefore, never before or after the war do scientists have the right to perform such experiments on living people. Therefore, all German research materials today are unique and invaluable for science.” The most powerful installations are now in service not only with the military of the USA, Great Britain and France, but also with transnational corporations, which privately use them in solving their problems.
Does everyone know that technologies for reading human thoughts and controlling humans through electromagnetic fields were studied in Germany under Hitler, in the Ahnenerbe project, then the materials of this project were captured by the United States.

After studying the materials of Dr. Mengele and other monsters, the Armed Forces Security Agency was created in the United States in 1949, which continued this research.
By 1952, results were obtained that showed that human thoughts are just infrasonic waves in the range of 0.01-100 Hz, which can be easily read, and you can also slip your thoughts and control a person through a computer program.

Assessing the enormous prospects for studying electromagnetic radiation in the biological spectrum, US President Truman created the NSA (National Security Agency) with his secret directive on October 24, 1952. The National Security Agency is the leading American intelligence agency in the field of electronic intelligence and counterintelligence. The NSA can rightfully be called the most secretive of all the organizations that make up the US Intelligence Community. The NSA charter is still classified. Only in 1984 were some of its provisions made public, from which it is clear that the agency is exempt from all restrictions on conducting communications intelligence. As already mentioned, the NSA is engaged in electronic intelligence, that is, listening to radio broadcasts, telephone lines, computer and modem systems, emissions from fax machines, signals emitted by radars and missile guidance installations. By its status, the NSA is a “special agency within the Department of Defense.” However, it would be wrong to consider it as one of the divisions of the American military department. Despite the fact that the NSA is organizationally part of the Department of Defense, it is an independent member of the US Intelligence Community.

The NSA has significant authority when it comes to national security. For example, the NSA has a backup government ready to take over if the primary government fails, whether due to foreign invasion, nuclear war, civil strife, or other cause.

In the post-war period, the United States, under the auspices of the CIA, conducted experiments to zombify its own citizens. Psychiatrist Even Cameron, in the MK-Ultra project, conducted experiments on erasing and forming new personalities. The CIA allocated 6% of its budget for these experiments. As part of the MK-Ultra program, 44 universities and colleges, 15 research groups, 80 institutions and private firms were involved in cooperation. Even then, Cameron, using extremely cruel methods - strong electric shock and drugs - tried to deprive experimental subjects of their will, to form in them a completely different personality, erasing the previous one. As a result of these experiments, about 100 Americans died. Cameron wasn't even tried.

Cameron, Donald Ewen Cameron(December 24, 1901, Bridge of Allan, Scotland - September 8, 1967 Lake Placid, USA) - psychiatrist, citizen of Scotland and the United States. Born in Bridge of Allan and graduated from Glasgow University in 1924. Cameron was the originator of the concept of mental control, in which the CIA showed particular interest. In it, he outlined his theory for correcting insanity, which consists of erasing existing memory and completely remaking the personality. After starting to work for the CIA, he commuted every week to Montreal to work at the Allan Memorial Institute at McGill University. From 1957 to 1964, he was allocated 69 thousand dollars to conduct experiments on the MK-Ultra project. The CIA probably gave him the opportunity to conduct deadly experiments for the reason that they had to be performed on people who were not US citizens. However, documents that emerged in 1977 revealed that thousands of involuntary as well as voluntary participants, including United States citizens, passed through during this time period. Along with experiments with LSD, Cameron also conducted experiments with various nerve agents and electroconvulsive therapy, in which the electrical discharge was 30-40 times higher than the therapeutic one. His "control" experiments involved medicating participants continuously for several months (in one case up to three months) into a comatose state and forcing them to listen to tape-recorded sounds or simple repeated commands played over and over again. The experiments were usually carried out on people who came to the institute with minor problems such as anxiety neuroses or postpartum depression. For many of them, these experiments constantly brought suffering. Cameron's work in this area began and went in parallel with the work of the English psychiatrist Dr. William Sargeant, who conducted virtually the same experiments at St. Thomas's Clinic in London and the Belmont Clinic in Sarge, also without obtaining the consent of the patients.

The NSA and CIA pay special attention to the development of new psychotechnologies. Millions of funds are allocated for scientific research.

Colonel John Alexander, USA
Military psychologist. Vietnam Special Forces veteran.
The work is classified. The main directions are being developed in the Los Alam laboratory, where the first atomic bomb was created. The main area of ​​work is human paranormal abilities. The activity overlaps with the work of Michael Jmur.

Michael Jmura USA.
At the University of California (Irvine), commissioned by the US Army Research Laboratory, the development of an artificial telepathy system is underway, under the leadership of the Dean of the Faculty of Cognitive Studies, Michael D'Zmura, within the framework of a research grant from the US Army Research Office. artificial telepathy systems.

The NAARP project occupies a special place in global expansion

HAARP can be used to completely disrupt sea and air navigation in a selected area, block radio communications and radar, and disable on-board electronic equipment of spacecraft, missiles, aircraft, and ground systems. In an arbitrarily defined area, the use of all types of weapons and equipment may be stopped. Integrated geophysical weapon systems can cause large-scale accidents in any electrical networks, oil and gas pipelines.

HAARP radiation energy can be used to manipulate the weather on a global scale, causing damage to the ecosystem or its complete destruction.

HAARP is responsible for disasters such as the Sichuan earthquake (2008) and the Haiti earthquake (2010). Certain operating modes make it possible to change the intensity of the earth's magnetosphere and resonate with low-frequency oscillations of the human brain, causing mass apathy, aggression, fear, etc.

Another “humane weapon” project, called “MEDUSA,” involved irradiating masses of people with microwaves of a special frequency to suppress their emotions.
There are a number of other developments of “non-lethal humane” weapons.

Silent Guardian ("Silent Guardian") is a directed emitter of millimeter waves that cause severe pain in those who find themselves in the range of this device.

As Daily Mail journalists note, Silent Guardian leaves a feeling of contact with a hot live wire. And although the developers claim that the pain stops as soon as the person leaves the device’s coverage area, journalists claim that the soreness continues for several more hours.

One way or another, during testing, the full-scale prototype put even the most seasoned paratroopers to flight. However, this device does not cause any irreversible physical harm.

At the Pan-European Symposium on Non-Lethal Weapons, which was held recently in Germany, an unusual weapon was demonstrated - plasma tasers. It resembles ordinary Tasers used by law enforcement agencies in some countries.

The principle of operation of conventional tasers is as follows: a pair of electrode darts connected to the taser by thin wires are shot at the victim. A high-voltage electrical pulse is transmitted through them. A voltage of 50 thousand volts temporarily incapacitates the victim. Tasers operate at a distance of up to seven meters.

The new weapon developed by Rheinmetall is based on the same principles, but makes wires and darts unnecessary. Instead, a conductive aerosol is used.

And in this context, the Senate hearings and the accompanying journalistic investigations, which revealed other amazing facts, sound very interesting. In particular, the killers of J.F. Kennedy and M.L. King - Oswald and Ray - also had altered forms of consciousness, which increased suspicions about the involvement of the intelligence services in these high-profile terrorist attacks. As a result of this kind of revelation, in 1978, the administration of President George Carter was forced to announce the closure of the MK-Ultra program.

However, on July 21, 1994, US Secretary of Defense William Perry signed a memorandum on “less than lethal weapons” with a list of cases in which it is permissible to use them. First on the list was “crowd control,” with “disabling and destroying weapons or military production, including weapons of mass destruction,” a modest fifth. So it was not the desire to deal with the enemy, but the desire to subjugate the rebellious that came first.

In light of the above, the current phenomenon of the Taliban movement and the terrorist network of Osama bin Laden (as well as a number of other “tame” military organizations in the world) seems to be the result of a monstrous synthesis of Eastern traditions, fanatical faith and Western psychotechnics. The logical result of such manipulations was that the brainchild escaped the control of its creators, turning the edge of its anger against them. Osama bin Laden behaves with particular cruelty towards his former American teachers. And the Taliban do not intend to obey their former masters.

The concepts and definitions of psychological, psychotropic and psychotronic weapons are vague.

The presence of technical means (as well as information technologies, doctrines, theories) of remote influence should be considered a psychotronic weapon.

The presence of medications (medicinal chemicals) is considered a psychotropic weapon.
It can be considered that economically and technologically developed countries, to one degree or another, possess psychological and psychotronic weapons. Recognition and interpretation of this fact depends on the ethical and legal field of the country and the level of democratic concepts.

It is equally important to consolidate the concepts of these types of weapons in International Law. Even more important is the adoption of an International Convention on this type of weapon. And no less important is the holding of the International Congress of Military Psychologists on Ethical and Moral Issues.

Without these international legal efforts, psychotronic weapons will continue to be developed.
Thus, in the next 50 years, conventional weapons will come to the fore.

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In the second half of the 20th century, there were more than 300 wars and armed conflicts, during which the theory and practice of information and psychological influence were improved. The experience of information influence accumulated during World War II was actively used by the United States during the Korean War. A new psychological warfare center has been created in the United States. This center not only took over the leadership of personnel training, but also on its basis a new body was created - the Council on Psychological Warfare, which was engaged in assessing and testing new means and methods of conducting psychological warfare.

In addition, a school of psychological warfare began its activities here, which was created on the basis of a special department of the combined arms school (currently the school is called the John F. Kennedy Center and School of Special Methods of Warfare of the Army).

The concept of “psychological warfare” is still widespread in the world military-political literature.

“Psychological warfare” is, in a broad sense, the purposeful, systematic use by political opponents of propaganda and other means (diplomatic, military, economic, political, etc.) to directly or indirectly influence the opinions, moods, feelings and, ultimately, the behavior of the enemy in order to force him to act in directions that suit them. Methods of psychological warfare are methods of psychological pressure, methods of unnoticed penetration into the consciousness of the object of psychological influence, methods of hidden excitement and distortion of the laws of logic.

In the USA, this term first began to be used in 1941 after the publication of the book by intelligence officer L. Farago “German Psychological Warfare”. Taking into account the experience of the Korean War, the activities of the US Army Psychological Warfare Service were revised. In March 1955, the Department of the Army introduced a revised manual FM-33-5, “Waging Psychological Warfare.” It provided a social interpretation of the American concept of psychological warfare. “Psychological warfare,” the manual said, “includes activities through which ideas and information are transmitted to influence the consciousness, feelings and actions of the enemy. These activities are carried out by the command in combination with combat operations in order to undermine the morale of the enemy. Such activities are carried out in accordance with the policies proclaimed by the governing bodies.

The Vietnam War was the starting point for the formation of modern theoretical views on information and psychological warfare. Gradually the concept of psychological warfare was replaced by the concept of special warfare. Psychological operations have become an integral part of special operations carried out by the armed forces.

The 1987 US Army Field Manual FM-33-1 defines it as follows: “Psychological operations are planned propaganda and psychological activities conducted in peacetime or wartime, designed to target foreign hostile, friendly, or neutral audiences in order to influence their attitudes.” and behavior in a favorable direction to achieve both political and military national goals of the United States."

In a broad sense, psychological operations include a set of political, ideological and military activities carried out against other countries, both hostile and neutral, in order to ensure US national interests.

In a narrow sense, it is a set of propaganda and military measures, as well as psychological actions to support military operations and combat operations of friendly troops and provide a psychological impact on enemy personnel and its population.

According to the US leadership, psychological operations most effectively contribute to achieving national goals under the following conditions:

Full and firm support for the organization and conduct of psychological operations by the highest state and political leadership of the country;

The presence of special psychological operations bodies directly related to the government mechanism for making political decisions in the field of national security;

Understanding and taking into account psychological aspects when making political decisions in the field of national security;

Interaction of psychological operations planning bodies with all executive bodies and institutions.

American experts especially emphasize that in the presence of these conditions, it is necessary to combine them with powerful armed forces and a demonstration of military power to increase the effectiveness of psychological operations.

During the Vietnam War, the American concept of psychological operations was created. The use of new forms of influence on the human psyche began, aimed primarily at the subconscious component of the psyche.

In American radio programs, leaflets and oral transmissions, methods of psychological influence predominated (screams of horror, desperate women's and children's cries, Buddhist funeral music, recorded cries of wild animals, which were supposed to represent the voices of forest spirits, demons, etc.). For example, the command of the 1st Brigade of the 101st Airborne Division, on the night before the offensive of its troops, organized over the areas of concentration of enemy troops the transmission of a filmed piercing cry of an eagle (the eagle is the emblem of the 101st Airborne Division) mixed with children’s voices: “Dad, come home!” At the same time, liters with the image of an eagle holding a “Viet Cong” in its claws were dropped from airplanes. On the back of the leaflet was the following text: “Beware, Viet Cong! There is no safe place for you to run to, no place to hide. The eagle will catch you at any time, anywhere... without warning it brings certain death.” Such propaganda had tangible results: some of the Vietnamese troops were completely demoralized, and in the future the cry of an eagle caused fear in them; some soldiers surrendered before the start of the offensive.

Sometimes, in order to prevent the fighters of the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam from resting and to psychologically exhaust them, the tactic of sound broadcasting from helicopters to a certain area throughout the night was used. Sound broadcasting programs were prepared under the guise of “wandering souls” addressing their loved ones. In other cases, tape recorders with time relays were dropped by parachute around the perimeter of the village, which turned them on and off periodically throughout the night. With the beginning of the use of “cries from the sky,” the number of defectors more than tripled, from 120 to 380 people per month. All these activities were carried out on the basis of the report “Witchcraft, Witchcraft, Magic and Other Psychological Phenomena and Their Importance for Military and Paramilitary Operations in the Congo” prepared in August 1963 by D. Prince and P. Juridain, commissioned by the US Department of Defense. The leaflets printed in accordance with the requirements of the report emphasized that those killed during the fighting would not be buried on the land of their ancestors, which, according to Vietnamese customs, is unacceptable. Exactly 49 days later (the period of commemoration of the dead in Vietnam), leaflets with all kinds of celestial threats rained down on the settlements where the families and relatives of the fallen servicemen lived. The same thing happened exactly a year later. The start of military operations was planned by the Americans, as a rule, on days that, according to Vietnamese folk beliefs, were unfavorable and foreshadowed defeat in advance.

American bombers' main goal was not so much the destruction of manpower and the destruction of important facilities, but rather the instillation of fear and despair of the military power of the United States.

During the Vietnam War, various elements of the art of conducting information and psychological influence were entrusted with their further development. The practice of conducting psychological operations includes influencing the population of the entire country - the target of influence. A new strategic means of information and psychological influence has appeared - television, which by the beginning of the 21st century has acquired enormous influence. For the first time, a new means of propaganda was distributed among the population - televisions (3.5 thousand units). Following the results of the Vietnam War, despite the defeat of the United States in it, propaganda and psychological weapons further strengthened their positions. During the period of hostilities approximately 250 thousand Vietnamese voluntarily went over to the enemy side. According to experts, the cost of the American army to kill one Vietnamese averaged 100 thousand dollars, while time to convince him to go over to the US side 125 dollars.

The shortcomings that occurred in psychological operations during the Vietnam War were analyzed by a special government commission and recommendations were made (to increase the number of personnel by 10 times, increase the level of training of reserve psychological operations forces; complete technical re-equipment, use of mass media in the interests of psychological warfare information; creation and use of a single data bank in the interests of psychological warfare).

According to members of the government commission, the United States was defeated in Vietnam at the moment when it lost the support of the population in its own country and world public opinion. Therefore, an important conceptual conclusion was made that it is important to gain advance support from the public of your country and world opinion in relation to the approaching war. These conclusions were taken into account when preparing the military operation against Iraq in 1991.

At the same time, counter-propaganda measures must be carried out in order to neutralize the enemy’s propaganda.

Unfortunately, the military-political leadership of the USSR did not take into account the American experience when planning military operations in Afghanistan. The informational and psychological struggle between the USSR and the USA for world public opinion after the entry of Soviet troops into Afghanistan ended in complete victory for the USA. However, even after this, the leadership of the USSR did not take any measures in the information sphere.

Thus, Vietnam for the United States was a testing ground for testing the main provisions of the American concept of psychological operations.

The United States and other leading Western countries have drawn appropriate conclusions from the experience of waging psychological warfare in Vietnam. This experience served as the basis for further development of the theory and improvement of the art of conducting psychological operations in local conflicts of the 80-90s of the 20th century.

The main lesson that was learned from the Vietnamese experience is the role and importance of world public opinion. Its underestimation led to the international isolation of the United States and stimulated the growth of the anti-war movement in the United States itself.

Great Britain was the first to try in practice to evoke a positive reaction from the world community by conducting psychological operations during the Anglo-Argentine conflict over the Falkland Islands (1982).

Since the British government in the spring of 1982 managed to quickly gain support for its military course within the country, it immediately became involved in the struggle for world public opinion.

Thus, in Vietnam the art of conducting information influence was further developed. Psychological Operations became an integral part of special operations carried out by the armed forces. Since Vietnam, the practice of conducting psychological operations has included influencing on the population of the entire country - the object of influence, appeared a new strategic means of information influence is television.

In the early 80s, the role and significance of psychological operations in the US national security system has increased sharply(after President R. Reagan came to the White House). The search for new forms and methods of influence began.

Testing of new approaches was carried out during the invasion of American troops in Grenada (1983). Based on the results of the successful psychological operations carried out in Grenada, in early 1984, US President Reagan ordered the Department of Defense to recreate the structure and capabilities of psychological operations of the US armed forces. In accordance with this order, the US Secretary of Defense commissioned a comprehensive assessment of the capabilities of the military department's psychological operations needs. This work concluded that in the decade following the Vietnam War, the military's psychological operations capabilities had declined. There was confusion in everything: the purpose of psychological operations, their tasks, political doctrine, organization and structure of units, the concept of employment, planning, programming, logistics, interaction with intelligence, mobilization readiness and, most importantly, it all left its mark on attitude towards the psychological operations service on the part of other military structures.

The plan for restructuring the psychological operations system, approved in mid-1986 by US Secretary of Defense C. Weinberger, contained recommendations for significantly increasing the psychological operations capabilities of the US military in order to support US global interests in peacetime, threatening periods and at all stages of armed conflict.

In accordance with the plan, a comprehensive unified concept was developed that defines the essence, content and direction of psychological operations, methods of their coordination and implementation in peacetime, threatened periods and during war. Psychological operations were considered as a kind of multiplier of the combat potential of troops in all types of combat operations. In February 1987, the concept was approved by the Chiefs of Staff Committee (CHS).

The adopted theoretical developments were tested in practice by psychological operations units during the US military invasion of Panama (December 1989). One of the few military conflicts where the goals set for the psychological operations apparatus were practically fully realized was the Gulf War in 1991.

The general group of psychological operations formations of the multinational forces was led by Colonel Jeff Jones. The first psychological operations units arrived in Saudi Arabia on August 31, 1990.

For the first time, the planning of psychological operations for the period of preparation and conduct of the Gulf War was carried out along with the planning of combat operations and was included in the overall plan for conducting Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. In August 1990, the Commander-in-Chief of the Joint Central Command of the US Armed Forces, General N. Schwarzkopf, sent a report to the US President, in which he insisted on organizing psychological operations at all levels in order to facilitate military activities. Based on this report, George W. Bush signed three secret directives defining the procedure for organizing and conducting psychological operations for the entire period of the crisis in the Persian Gulf, regulating the activities of intelligence services, research institutions dealing with the problems of the Arab world, psychologists and a number of army bodies.

The very fact of the adoption of these documents is evidence that the army command placed psychological operations on a par with combat operations. The implementation of the requirements set out in the directives was taken under unusually strict control.

The main objectives of psychological operations were identified:

Misinformation by the command of the Iraqi armed forces and the general public regarding military action plans;

Undermining the trust of the Iraqi population in President Saddam Hussein;

Supporting the resistance movement in Kuwait and providing assistance to opposition forces in Iraq itself;

Showing the futility of resistance to multinational forces.

To implement the assigned tasks and coordinate the actions of all involved services, a working group was created directly at the headquarters of the US Armed Forces Command in Saudi Arabia.

Psychological operations were divided into two areas.

The first of them related to foreign policy. Here the main goals were: on the part of the multinational forces - to ensure support for the countermeasures being carried out against Iraq, to ​​strengthen the position of the anti-Iraqi coalition and to weaken the aggressor; on the Iraqi side - justifying its actions and searching for allies.

The second direction of psychological operations was aimed directly at the military sphere. They were supposed to, by increasing the constant psychological pressure generated by the military situation, contribute to the deterioration of the moral and psychological state of the population and personnel of the enemy’s armed forces, thereby reducing their combat effectiveness.

Psychological operations throughout the conflict were carried out through the following channels:

1) Global TV channels (CNN)

2) national media;

3) federal agencies (CIA, USIA, etc.);

4) armed forces.

Relying on this powerful apparatus, the United States managed to prepare the ground for counteracting Iraq: mobilizing world public opinion against it, promoting the creation of an anti-Iraqi coalition, deepening the existing split in the Arab world, and inciting the euphoria of “jingoism” in the United States and other Western countries. Iraq's attempt to find support in the world community actually failed.

A peculiar touch of the psychological impact on Iraq was the prompt saturation of the international market with goods with anti-Iraqi symbols. An example would be knitwear with the image of a flying rocket and the inscriptions “Greetings to Saddam from the US Marine Corps,” “See you in Baghdad,” etc.

During various events, with the help of radio broadcasting, video propaganda, printed propaganda materials, sound broadcasting and other means, an informational and psychological impact was carried out on the psyche of the Iraqi army personnel.

In this case, a special role was assigned to the media, whose work was based on special instructions and instructions from the Pentagon for the correspondent corps.

In accordance with the instructions, about 40 journalist pools (press bureaus) were created in the structure of the military command and control bodies of the multinational forces, in each of which 2 places were allocated for representatives of the Saudi Arabian press, the other two for other journalists. Each pool included a public relations officer. Its functions were to select and “polish” various materials that the military leadership considered most “suitable” for transmission to representatives of the press. They also provided television companies with specially filmed clips that depicted the progress of preparations for combat operations in the light necessary for the Allied command. American, British and French journalists assigned to pools accredited to national commands committed themselves in writing to adhere to strict standards regarding the nature and content of their communications as set by military leadership. It should be noted that this technology was actively used during the occupation of Iraq in 2003. Separate components of this model were also used in August 2008 by the pro-American regime of Saakashvili during the aggression against South Ossetia.

At the same time, targeted information and psychological influence was carried out on military personnel of the Iraqi army by the psychological operations units of the US Army. To carry out this work, the following were deployed in advance to the Persian Gulf region: the 8th Psychological Operations Direct Support Battalion, the 96th Civilian Operations Battalion, and the 352nd Civilian Operations Command. They included mobile printing houses, television and radio stations, and sound broadcasting stations of various classes.

The results of the Gulf War were largely determined by the global and complex use of means and forces of information and psychological influence on the information and psychological environment of Iraqi society. The United States and the coalition countries, having applied the methods of “information blockade” and information expansion to Iraq, imposed on the military personnel and the population of Iraq a perception of the events taking place in accordance with the stated goals of the operation. Western countries have created an informational and psychological environment (of Iraqi society and the world community) favorable for the implementation of their military-political goals.

Thus, the war in the Persian Gulf showed the super-effectiveness of information and psychological influence. Psychological operations played a key role in achieving the result.

After the successful use of psychological operations forces and means in the Persian Gulf, the US military-political leadership faced the question of expanding the scope of their use. Peacekeeping activities and military operations carried out within their framework became such an area. In December 1992, personnel from the 96th Civilian Outreach Battalion of the US Armed Forces took part in the peacekeeping operation “Restore Hope” in Somalia.

US psychological operations specialists tried to mechanically transfer the experience gained in the Persian Gulf to a completely different situation in a country where there was a civil war. A certain role was also played by the poor knowledge of the US Armed Forces personnel of the cultural and religious traditions of the local population, the presence of a language barrier, and the lack of experience of the psychological operations apparatus in working in conditions of a unique action. As a result, the United States failed to gain understanding and support for the goals of Operation Restore Hope from the local population and the country's main armed groups. This was evidenced by the growth of discontent and anti-American sentiment in a number of regions of the country and the decline in the authority of the United States among Somalis.

After the failure in Somalia, the heads of American information and psychological support units made serious conclusions. This is evidenced by the effective use of forces and means of information and psychological influence on the territory of Yugoslavia at the end of the 20th century (in Bosnia and Herzegovina and during the Kosovo crisis).

Thus, the experience of military conflicts of the second half of the 20th century has shown that psychological operations have firmly transformed into one of the main components of modern military operations.

In the armies of the North Atlantic Alliance, the organization of psychological operations is regulated by directives, charters and manuals developed both for the armed forces of individual countries of the bloc, and for NATO and as a whole. NATO has a single directive “On the principles of planning and conducting psychological operations.”

Psychological operations are planned and carried out in accordance with the decisions of commanders-in-chief, commanders and commanders at various levels in peacetime, wartime, and in crisis situations.

The conceptual basis for the development of psychological operations consists of the following fundamental principles:

Psychological operations play a decisive role in shaping the determination of society to achieve national security goals, ensuring support from its people for ongoing political and military activities;

Psychological operations, if initiated early and carried out with high efficiency, can eliminate the use of military force altogether;

Careful organization of psychological operations and their consideration when planning and making military decisions significantly increases the combat potential of troops;

In a military conflict using conventional means of warfare, psychological operations can increase the combat effectiveness of troops, contribute to the achievement of success, victory while preserving manpower, military equipment and weapons;

Psychological operations provide support for combat operations at all levels by reducing the combat effectiveness of enemy troops;

Conducting psychological operations is not limited by international legal acts, has high economic efficiency and allows the use of various forms and methods.

The objects of psychological operations can be: the population, army and governments of hostile, friendly and neutral countries, and in some situations the population and army of their own country.

Psychological operations are propaganda activities and psychological actions.

Propaganda is the systematic, purposeful dissemination, through a variety of means of communication and information, of certain ideas in order to influence the opinions, feelings, states and attitudes or behavior of the targets in order to achieve direct or indirect benefits for one’s country.

If an objective source of the information received is indicated, they speak of “white” propaganda, if this source is not exposed - “gray”, if the source is false - “black”.

A system of psychological operations subordinated to general strategic goals constitutes psychological warfare, the scope of which is much wider than the period of combat operations proper.

Psychological actions are the implementation of specific measures, both in peacetime and in wartime, aimed at undermining the positions of the opposing side and strengthening one’s own positions. Psychological operations can also be carried out in the form of actions (political, economic, propaganda).

As a rule, the preparation of a psychological operation goes through a number of successive stages:

Analysis of the task of supported association, connection, part;

Collection of information;

Analysis of the target;

Choosing themes and symbols;

Selection of means of disseminating propaganda;

Preparation of propaganda materials;

Preliminary verification of the effectiveness of planned activities;

Obtaining final approval for the operation;

Distribution of propaganda materials;

Assessing the effectiveness of propaganda materials.

The main methods of conducting psychological operations are methods for distributing visual, audio and video-sound propaganda materials, as well as methods for carrying out psychological (practical) actions.

The organization of counteraction to enemy psychological operations must meet certain requirements. These include:

Activity;

Relevance;

Systematicity;

Complexity;

Dynamism:

Clarity;

Emotionality.

From our point of view, the effectiveness of counteraction will be higher if it is carried out by choosing a counteraction strategy.

1. Predictive strategy - carrying out countermeasures begins with the operation of a forecasting system to determine the actions of a potential enemy.

2. Reactive strategy - the implementation of countermeasures begins after the start of psychological operations by the opposing side.

This book is based more on the author's personal experience than on research, on consultations rather than on working with books. It summarizes the author's five years of experience as a civilian expert and army officer in American propaganda agencies engaged in psychological warfare at all levels - from operational planning in the US Joint Chiefs of Staff to units operating in front-line conditions. This book is not my original research because it contains concepts and doctrines on which the propaganda people based their work. The responsibility lies with me, but the achievements are shared.

Psychological warfare is an exciting activity that develops the mind. It attracts resourceful and quick-witted people who are bursting with ideas. I have discussed psychological warfare with people ranging from Mao Zedong in Yan'an and Ambassador Joseph Davis in Washington to a corporal in the Army Corps of Engineers in New Zealand and a latrine cleaner at American headquarters in Chongqing. I have seen one lawyer in New York at a loss, not knowing how to cope with a given problem, and another immediately find a solution; how Pulitzer Prize-winning writers couldn't come up with a single idea and were rescued by simple stenographers. I learned from all these people and tried to make this book a reflection of the collective experience. Fortunately, the material I worked with is not copyrighted; Unfortunately, I cannot name the authors of most of the ideas and comments. But maybe this is for the best - not all people might want me to reveal their authorship.

I owe a lot to my father, Judge Paul M.W. Linebarger (1871-1939), who during his life acquainted me with all the stages of international political warfare, open or secret, which was connected with his activities on behalf of the Chinese Nationalist movement and its leader Sun Yat-sen. With very limited funds (for many years he financed his work from his own pocket), he fought, sometimes in four or five languages ​​simultaneously, against imperialism and communism. He advocated Sino-American friendship and the development of democracy in China. For five and a half years I was his secretary, and I believe that this work contributed to the fact that I wrote my book based on more than just American experience. There is no better way to learn how to do propaganda than by being spurred on by someone else's propaganda.

I also owe a lot to the officers of the General Staff of the War Department who initiated me into the details of psychological warfare. The circumstances for the United States were very fortunate - this work at the headquarters was led by intelligent, conscientious and gifted people, and I was very fortunate to serve under their command from 1942 to 1947.

The material contained in this book has not been objected to by the War Department security services, but it does not in any way reflect the views, opinions or opinions of that department.

The department is not responsible for the accuracy of the factual material. All responsibility for the accuracy of the material presented in this book lies with me.

Part one
Definition of psychological warfare and its history

To Genevieve, my wife, with love

Chapter 1
Historical examples of psychological warfare

Psychological warfare is waged before the start of hostilities, during them and after their end. It is not directed against psychological warfare specialists in the enemy camp; it is not subject to the laws, methods and traditions of war and does not depend on the territory, the course of hostilities or the composition of the warring armies. Psychological warfare is a continuous process. Victory or defeat in this war it manifests itself only several months or even years after a particular operation. Nevertheless, success, which cannot be expressed by any quantitative indicators, can lead to victory in the war, and failure, which does not manifest itself in any way, can give rise to a crushing defeat.

Psychological warfare does not fit into conventional concepts of war. Military science owes the accuracy and certainty of its conclusions largely to the fact that the subject of its study is clearly defined - the organization of legal violence. Officers or soldiers engage in massive lawful violence against an enemy who is ordained from above. Starting a war, identifying enemies or neutral parties, making peace - all these issues are considered political and are not part of the duties of soldiers. And even during the war, soldiers enter into battle only after they receive an order from the country's leadership, and after the enemy is identified by the command, which has every right to do so. And only in psychological warfare is the nature of combat operations characterized by complete uncertainty.

Psychological warfare, due to the very nature of its methods and objectives, begins long before the announcement of hostilities. It continues after they are finished. In psychological warfare, the enemy is often not even called by name; For the most part, actions are covered up by the call of the motherland, God, faith or a press sympathetic to the cause. The psychological warfare fighter fights an enemy from whom he will never receive an answer - the people of the enemy side. This fighter cannot strike the one who opposes him - the enemy's psychological warfare fighter, but he is just waiting for the moment to give him back. Neither victory nor defeat in this war can be determined. The psychological strategy is being developed on the verge of a nightmare.

Concept of psychological warfare

In order to define this mysterious component of conventional war, one can apply the Euclidian method, when the scientist moves from one definition to another and isolates the essence of the defined subject using logic. It is also interesting to take a historical approach, describing the development of psychological warfare techniques over the centuries.

However, the most productive result will probably be obtained by a combination of logical and historical approaches. As specific examples, we will cite cases of the use of psychological warfare methods from ancient times to the end of the Second World War.

Rice. 1. BASIC FORM OF PROPAGANDA

American leaflet issued during the landing of American troops in the Philippines. They were dropped over populated areas of the Philippines to provide civilian assistance to the American army. This form of propaganda can be classified as a type of action that is intended to influence the civilian population (“civil action”).

Thanks to this, we will be able to isolate the tasks and techniques of this war, and with them in mind, we will describe in more detail and critically the operations of the First and Second World Wars. If a historian or philosopher reads this book, he will, of course, decide that many of the conclusions can be argued, but when describing a subject that is so difficult to define, this is quite forgivable.

Rice. 2. NAZI LEAFTER AIMED TO UNDERMINE THE ENEMY'S MORALE

In such leaflets, which were dropped on the Italian front in 1944, the Nazis did not call on American soldiers to take any action. The Germans’ task was only to undermine the morale of the Americans, after which propaganda was supposed to get involved, calling for specific actions. pay attention to A The purely primitive meaning of this leaflet. During World War II, the Nazis were misled by their biased political intelligence reports and greatly overestimated the scope and strength of American opposition to Franklin D. Roosevelt. They mistook the complaints of ordinary people for incitement to revolt, so such leaflets seemed very effective to the Germans.

The inscription on the leaflet: “I assure you again, again and again - not a single American guy will die on foreign soil.” Franklin D. Roosevelt, October 31, 1940.

Psychological warfare and propaganda are as old as time; but they have become separate subjects of study only in our time. Examples of their use are found in thousands of books, so it is impossible to talk about them briefly. Many military readers, having retired, could take up this subject. The history of propaganda will help not only shed light on hitherto inexplicable or insignificant events, but also better understand the course of history as a whole. However, there are a number of examples that allow us to understand what methods of psychological warfare were used in different centuries.

Gideon's Use of Panic

One of the oldest examples of psychological influence on an enemy is Gideon's use of lamps and jars in a major battle with the Medes.

The seventh chapter of the Book of Judges tells us about this story. Gideon's troops were in a worse position than the enemy. The Medes outnumbered them in manpower and were about to completely defeat them. There was little hope for conventional methods of warfare, so Gideon - acting on a hunch, which modern commanders usually do not allow themselves - decided to use a trick, using modern methods for estimating the number of troops.

Rice. 3. ONE OF THE MOST SUCCESSFUL LEAFTS OF THE SECOND WORLD WAR

It was prepared in 1945 for dispersal from B-29 aircraft bombing Japan. It identifies eleven Japanese cities, the most important strategic centers of the country - the target of American bombings, which must be destroyed to suppress Japanese resistance. The leaflet was intended for civilians and urged the Japanese to save their lives. At the same time, it was supposed to create a reputation for Americans as humane warriors, and also refute the enemy’s accusations that American aircraft were bombing Japanese cities indiscriminately.

Having selected three hundred soldiers, he figured out how to cause confusion in the enemy camp. The tactics of that time required that for every hundred warriors there was one man with a lamp and one trumpeter. If you give three hundred soldiers lamps and trumpets, the enemy will think that an army of 30 thousand people is coming at him. And since in those days it was impossible to turn the lights on and off, as now, it was necessary to cover the torches with jugs in order to achieve the effect of surprise.

And Gideon ordered that all the selected soldiers be provided with lamps and jugs. In addition, each soldier, in addition to a lamp covered with a jug, also carried a pipe. Gideon ordered these soldiers to surround the enemy camp. Then, at his command - and he himself set an example - all the jugs were broken, and the soldiers blew loudly on the trumpets.

The Medes woke up in panic and, not understanding what was happening, attacked each other. The Jewish chronicler sincerely believed that the destruction of the camp occurred by the will of God. Then the Medes fled, and the people of Israel began to pursue them. For some time, the Jews got rid of the threat from the Medes, and later Gideon finally defeated Media.

This method of psychological influence - the use of unusual devices to create panic - was used in all countries of the Ancient World. In China, Emperor Wang Mang, who seized power as a result of a coup, once decided to destroy the Hun tribes with the help of an army that included large formations of sorcerers, although the reigning emperor of the Han dynasty at that time believed that the usual methods of fighting were more reliable. Wang Mang's idea paid off.

Rice. 4. LEAFTER – PASS FOR SURRENDER

The Germans love to have all their actions documented, even in the midst of chaos, disaster and defeat. The Allies decided to take advantage of this and printed several types of “surrender passes” especially for the Germans, which look quite official. This is one of those “passes”. The original was printed in red, exactly the same as on banknotes, ? so the pass was very much like a premium coupon for soap. (Western Front, 1944–1945, issued by Headquarters Supreme Command Allied Expeditionary Forces.)

Inscription on the pass:

“This pass, presented by a German soldier, testifies to his sincere desire to surrender. He should be disarmed, thoroughly examined, fed and, if necessary, given medical assistance, and taken out of the danger zone as soon as possible.” Signed: Dwight D. Eisenhower, Commander in Chief of the Allied Expeditionary Forces in Western Europe.

But Wang Mang's passion for innovation was ineradicable. In 23 AD e., trying to suppress the rebellion that threatened to remove him from the throne, he collected all the animals in the imperial menageries - tigers, rhinoceroses, elephants - and ordered them to be set against the enemy. But the rebels struck first, killed the imperial general Wang Song, and the animals, in the confusion of the battle, attacked the army of the emperor himself, which was gripped by panic. At the same time, a hurricane hit the battlefield, causing even greater confusion. The emperor’s army was defeated, and the military propaganda of his opponents was so jubilant in tone and successful that the main task of any propaganda “to piss off the commander of the enemy troops and deprive him of the opportunity to think soberly” was solved brilliantly. This is what happened to Wang Mang when he saw that the enemy was advancing: “The Emperor lost heart... He began to drink a lot, ate only oysters and let everything take its course. He, being unable to straighten up, slept sitting on a bench.” That same year, Wang Mang was assassinated, and China lived without economic reform until the reign of Emperor Wang Anshi (1021–1086), a full thousand years. If Wang Mang had used more successful methods of psychological warfare, Chinese history might have taken a different path. 1
Wieger L., S.J. Textes Historiques. Hsien-hsien, 1929. V. 1. P. 628–633.

Propaganda of the Athenians and Han Dynasty Chinese on the battlefield

A more successful use of psychological warfare methods is noted by Herodotus, a Greek historian: “Themistocles, having selected the best Athenian ships, went to where there was potable water and ordered inscriptions to be carved on the stones, which were read by the Ionians who arrived the next day at Cape Artemisium. The inscriptions read: “People of Ionia, you are doing evil by fighting against your fathers and helping to enslave Greece. Therefore, it is better for you to come to us, and if you cannot do this, then give up the fight and convince the Karins to do the same. But if this is impossible, if you are bound by severe necessity, then in battle against us, fight as badly as possible, remembering that you came from us and that the alliance of barbarians directed against us was created by you.”

This leaflet is very similar in content to the leaflets that were dropped during the Second World War on troops who were not fighting too zealously - Italian units, Chinese puppet formations, etc. (Compare this excerpt with the leaflet in Fig. 5.) Please note that that the authors of this text are trying to look at the problem through the eyes of those who will read it, sympathize with them and care about their well-being. And by inviting the Carinians to fight as badly as possible, Themistocles is pursuing another line - black propaganda among the Persians, which should make them think that any Ionian who fights carelessly secretly sympathizes with the Athenians. And this technique meets all modern standards of combat leaflets.

Rice. 5. REVOLUTIONARY PROPAGANDA

When a revolution occurs, followed by a war, propaganda becomes a tool that one government uses against another. This leaflet was issued by Japanese puppet Subhas Chandra Bose's Indian Liberation Army in Singapore, which was called Shonan in 1943 and 1944. The leaflet does not directly mention the Japanese, so it is an example of black propaganda. Its theme is simple - the British are overeating while the Indians are starving. At that time this argument was very convincing. A famine broke out in Bengal, but among the thousands of people who died of starvation, not a single white person was found.

Rice. 6. PROPAGANDA FOR THE ILLITERATES

Propaganda gained a huge audience during the Second World War. The most interesting inventions in this regard were made by employees of the Indian Broadcasting Company and their Japanese competitors. The drawings shown here tell the story in Hindustani (written in the Devanagar alphabet) or in Romanized Hindustani. The pamphlet was intended for Hindus who could read both forms of script, and the pictures were drawn for the illiterate. It begins with an image of the British flag and ends with the Congress flag, which was the banner of the puppet pro-Japanese ruler of India, Subhas Chandra Bose.

Another method of ancient military propaganda was political denunciations, which, when announced at the very beginning of the war, were then cited as legal and ethical justification for one side or another. The Chinese novel San Guo Ji, or Romance of the Three Kingdoms, which has probably been read by more people than any other work of fiction, preserves the text of a proclamation issued by a group of rebels seeking to restore the power of the Han dynasty on the eve of the outbreak of war. actions (c. 200 AD). The text of this proclamation is of great interest because it combines several successful propaganda methods: 1) an accurate identification of the enemy; 2) appeal to “the best people”; 3) sympathy for ordinary people; 4) the requirement to support the legitimate government; 5) a statement of one’s strength and high morale; 6) a call for unification and 7) an appeal to religion. The release of the proclamation was associated with a very elaborate official ceremony.

“Difficult times have come for the House of Han - the ties of imperial power have weakened. The rebel leader, Dong Zhuo, took advantage of this to do evil, and disaster befell the noble families. Ordinary people are mired in cruelty. We, Shao and his comrades, fearing for the safety of imperial prerogatives, gathered an army to save the State. We now vow to exert all our strength and exercise the full power with which we are vested. There should be no uncoordinated or selfish actions. Let the one who breaks this oath lose his life and leave no offspring. May the Almighty heavens and the Universal Mother Earth and the enlightened spirits of our ancestors be witnesses of this.”

In the history of any country one can find examples of such appeals. Those cases where they were deliberately used along with military operations can rightfully be called great propaganda.

Emphasis on ideology

In a certain sense, the experience of the past can, unfortunately, shed light on the future. During the last two world wars, the role of ideology, or political faith (ideology is defined below), as the leading force in war increased, and the role of cold calculation, called diplomacy, decreased. Wars became more bloodthirsty and less gentlemanly; They treated man not as a living being, but as a fanatic. To the usual devotion of a soldier to his unit or army - no matter whose side it is fighting on, right or wrong - was added devotion to some ism or leader. Thus, modern wars have come to resemble wars of faith. Therefore, it is very useful to consider the psychological methods used during the wars of Christians with Muslims and Protestants with Catholics. This will help to identify those problems that are psychologically and militarily relevant to our time. How quickly can you convert a conquered people to your faith? Under what circumstances can you trust the enemy's word of honor? How to destroy heretics (in modern terms “people who engage in subversive activities”)? Are there weaknesses in the enemy's faith that can be used against him at the right time? How should we write about subjects that are sacred to the enemy, but unacceptable to us?

During the spread of the Islamic faith and the expansion of the empire, forms of propaganda were created that cannot be ignored in our time. Mohammed, for example, argued that the faith of other people should not be destroyed by force, since force alone is not enough to change people's minds. If this were true, then Nazism would never have been destroyed in Germany, and the people of democratic countries captured by totalitarian regimes would have had no hope that they would be able to adapt to the demands of the new masters, and having adapted, they would then be able to return to free principles. In real life, Mohammed's commanders and his followers applied two principles of long-term psychological warfare that are still relevant today.

Rice. 7. PROPAGANDA THROUGH NEWSPAPER NEWS

News is one of the most effective methods of psychologically processing the enemy. One of these newspapers was published for the German troops occupying the Aegean Islands; the second - by Germans for Americans in France. Of both of them, the Allied newspaper [in German] was made more professional. Notice how the appeals are separated from the articles, how the news columns are separated from each other, and also the indication at the top, made in Greek, that this newspaper is intended for Germans.

A person can quickly be converted to another faith if he is given a choice - conversion or death. This way you can quickly eliminate those who are intractable. To help a person convert to a new faith, he must be forced to participate in public ceremonies and master the formal language of that faith. It is also necessary not to let the converts out of sight for a moment, lest they return to their former faith. But a formal conversion will only become sincere if all media stop mentioning the former faith.

According to the US leadership, conducting psychological operations is an important way to achieve goals with minimal cost. Psychological operations have many-sided applications, the most common methods are: influencing the human psyche using modern technical means of various types, for example, EMR damage, ultra- and infrasonic effects, the 25th frame effect, etc. An example of this type of damage to the population is the use of psychotropic weapons. Let's look at an example of using this method of warfare:

In 1993 in Kyiv, several members of a certain sect “White Brotherhood” were absolutely ready for public suicide. They explained their decision by the approaching end of the world, during this period of time many were inclined to believe in this. One of its activists was a wonderful and smart guy, he got straight A's at school and loved playing the guitar. However, after being influenced by the sect, he changed completely. He tore up his photographs, abandoned his friends and generally began to behave extremely strangely. As it turned out, at the meetings of this sect, recordings were listened to using so-called “sound bookmarks”, which the sect members did not know about. In addition to the will of the person, thoughts of suicide were instilled into the subconscious of the sect members. This is an example of the application of neurolinguistic programming known as hypnosis.

After a series of strange events in the Bermuda Triangle area, the CIA became extremely interested in this phenomenon. It turned out that in this area there is a fault in the earth's crust, which is a source of strong electromagnetic radiation, causing in people an overwhelming feeling of fear, because of which they simply threw themselves overboard, leaving the ship in horror. This phenomenon began to be actively studied by the CIA, and the research results were used everywhere. The CIA called this phenomenon Mind Control. There are several wavelengths that can cause different mental reactions in a person, for example:

range 1 - alarm (frequency about 20 Gz); range 2 - fear, extremely depressed state (frequency about 2 Gz); range 4 - capable of driving a person crazy and driving him to suicide.

On TV they show an advertisement for a domestically produced electromagnetic device for rodent control. It is an example of such a weapon, since a person has a different range of feelings of fear. People have a certain biorhythm of the brain, which, if disturbed, can cause any condition, any mental disorder, even panic and mass suicide. In the USSR, development of this type of weapon was carried out. In 1979, an audio coding method was developed at the First Medical Institute. It consisted in the fact that people heard a recording similar to ordinary noise, but words that were not audible to the ear were recorded in the subconscious. The first experiment was carried out there, at the Institute, on employees. The radios broadcast a recording with the words encoded in it: “The rats are starving in the basement, quickly bring them food. “Of course, people did not run in panic to the basement, but soon cutlets, sandwiches and other edibles appeared in it. The Soviet scientist I. Smirnov, who conducted research in the field of psychotropic weapons, the former director of the institute, stated that “hypnosis using the audio coding method can be carried out even through a computer fan.”

Another effective method of mind control is disparate video, now used in medicine. It is a viewing of images, where an image is given in parts, which is then put together in the mind after viewing all the frames, for example: ... eye ... forehead ... ear ... = person. This type of psychotropic weapon has already found widespread use in elections, where the candidate will look so familiar and close that voters will undoubtedly vote for him. The audio coding method makes it possible to eliminate unwanted persons, for example: take the program for coding people in Russia in 1996. For several months, the words “Yes, yes, no, yes” were heard on television programs, which were broadcast on all television programs. When TV viewers went to vote, they chose President B.N. Yeltsin for a second term.

The influence of the media is also used, for example, propaganda, hypnotic influence from television screens, suggestion, etc. The influence of these methods of influence is similar in psychological effect to psychotropic weapons, but requires longer use, because if a person is told a hundred times that he is a pig, he grunts. If you show him scenes of violence from the screens a hundred times as an absolutely normal phenomenon, then a negative impression of what he saw will somehow be deposited in the person’s subconscious, and many will even have an urge to repeat it. The emergence of numerous “new” churches and sects has a great influence, for example, the influence of the Church of Scientology, with the help of which the default in Russia in 1998 was carried out. A parishioner of the sect was Prime Minister E.T. Gaidar, who decided on “shock therapy.”

The psychological impact of terrorist acts on the country's population as intimidation of the population. Intimidation occurs as long as people begin to fear others, various ownerless things, people of other nations, and the emergence of persistent hatred towards them. Let us give examples of psychological operations of the US armed forces in wars and conflicts of the 20th century: Changes in the military-political situation in the world have made significant adjustments to the views of the military-political leadership of NATO on the nature and types of wars, and methods of waging them. At the same time, much attention began to be paid to the issues of increasing the readiness of forces and means of psychological warfare, improving their organizational structure and tactics of action, and increasing the level of technical equipment.” Local wars and armed conflicts of the second half of the 20th century, and there are more than 300 of them, took place in various theaters of war: in Southeast Europe, East and South Asia, in the Near and Middle East, in North, Central and South Africa, in Central and South America. In the course of their conduct, the forms and methods of psychological warfare were improved. For example, the Korean War was the first open clash between two opposing ideologies since World War II. The experience of psychological operations accumulated by the United States and other states in that war was used for psychological and ideological influence on the enemy.

In Korea (1950 - 1953), the Americans faced not only determined armed resistance, but also active ideological resistance. For the first time in the post-war years, during combat operations, 47 thousand people deserted from the US armed forces within a year and a half; subsequently, their number continued to remain at the level of 35 - 40 thousand per year. This forced the US military-political leadership to reconsider the concept of conducting psychological warfare, change strategy and tactics, begin to reorganize the apparatus, and improve the forms and methods of carrying out psychological operations. The main task facing the US psychological warfare authorities was to show the actions of the American armed forces as a legitimate defensive operation of the United Nations. When compiling information and propaganda materials, they tried to avoid sensitive political topics and arguments that were ideological in nature. A significant number of leaflets and radio broadcasts were devoted to voluntary surrender. Those who went over to the side of the American army were offered a large monetary reward and were promised citizenship. Much work was also carried out on the psychological reorientation of prisoners of war. During the Korean campaign, propaganda was structured in accordance with manual FM-33-5, “Conducting Psychological Warfare Operations,” adopted in August 1949. It indicated that the most important means of conducting psychological operations is propaganda as a system of measures to disseminate political information. It was also classified according to its source (“white,” “gray,” and “black”) and content (political and military).

To conduct psychological warfare in Korea, the apparatus and structure of the relevant units were rebuilt. At the psychological warfare department of the headquarters of the US armed forces in the Far East, a radio broadcasting and leaflet publishing group was created, which included a headquarters and three companies - headquarters, reproduction and radio broadcasting (mobile), which were intended to solve strategic problems in the interests of supporting military operations. To solve tactical problems, a company of loud-speaking installations and publication of leaflets was formed. It allocated a section of loud-speaking installations to the operational subordination of each building. In addition, in the fall of 1950, a tactical information detachment was deployed from Fort Riley to Korea. In 1951, the Ministry of the Army created a department of psychological warfare, and the training of special personnel began, for which a separate department was founded in the combined arms school of the ground forces. Reserve officers, to one degree or another connected with propaganda, began to be called up for military service. In 1952, psychological warfare training units were transferred from Fort Riley to Fort Bragg, North Carolina, where a psychological warfare center was established. The main forms of psychological warfare were printed propaganda, oral broadcasting and radio propaganda. Visual propaganda was used to a lesser extent. The 1st radio broadcasting and leaflet publishing group produced an average of 20 million leaflets every week, and the 1st loudspeaker and leaflet publishing company of the 8th Army produced 3.5 million. In the first three days of hostilities alone, the American side distributed 100 million . copies. Radio propaganda was carried out both by mobile military radio stations and with the help of civilian transmitters. For this purpose, 19 radio stations operating on medium and short waves in the cities of Seoul, Daegu, Busan, and Tokyo were used. Radio broadcasting programs took up more than 2 hours a day. Structurally, radio propaganda consisted of broadcasts of the latest news and reviews of the military situation, prepared by the psychological warfare department. Oral propaganda was carried out using loudspeaker installations mounted on various combat vehicles, including tanks.

Military operations in Korea showed that, despite changes in the concept of psychological warfare, the strategy and tactics of its conduct, as well as the organizational structure of special services, American propagandists failed to achieve their ultimate goals - to disintegrate the Korean People's Army and Chinese volunteers. At the same time, American specialists have achieved certain progress in the art of propaganda. In particular, good results were achieved when working with prisoners of war, some of whom refused repatriation after the end of the war. The experience of the army psychological warfare service was critically analyzed. Thus, already in 1955, manual FM-33-5 was revised. It now emphasized: “Psychological warfare includes activities by which ideas and information are transmitted to influence the consciousness, feelings and actions of the enemy. They are carried out by the command in combination with combat operations in order to undermine the morale of the enemy and in accordance with the policy proclaimed by the governing authorities.” Psychological warfare services also underwent organizational changes. The Department of Psychological Warfare, which existed during the Korean War, was transformed into the Department of Special Warfare in 1955. Thus, psychological warfare gradually became part of special operations.

The updated concept of special warfare was tested during the Vietnam War. To centralize the planning, direction and control of all psychological operations (PsyOps) within the US information agency, a joint public affairs department was created. He developed political directives for the propaganda apparatus in the troops, planned campaigns for it on all targets, interacted with the Ministry of Information of South Vietnam, and managed all psychological operations in the military, political and economic fields in North and South Vietnam. Direct management of the implementation of PsyOps programs of the US Army, Marine Corps and Navy, as well as coordination of actions with aviation, was carried out by the psychological operations department of the headquarters of the command for military assistance to Vietnam. The tasks of PsyOp battalions included the development, production and distribution of propaganda materials. Each of them had its own printing house, sound broadcasting stations, machines with film projectors, video-sound and other equipment. The operational management of these units was carried out by the commanders of the four zones of responsibility. The psychological operations apparatus of the ground forces alone numbered about 1,000 people, and 118 spoke Vietnamese. In addition, hundreds of Vietnamese were involved in cooperation. The national psychological characteristics of the local population, morals, customs, and superstitions were widely used. As psychological pressure on the population, methods of unjustified violence and barbarism were used, pursuing the only goal - to induce a feeling of fear. For example, to spread panic and instill fear in the residents of Hanoi, 60 km away, the city of Fuli was razed to the ground. The bombing of North Vietnamese cities and other populated areas was necessarily accompanied by intense propaganda. Subsequently, this technique will be widely used in almost all local conflicts. For the purpose of psychological impact, the Americans widely used weapons that caused severe bodily injury, severe pain and psychological shock, in particular napalm, ball bombs, and arrow-shaped lethal elements. Complex propaganda methods affecting the senses produced tangible results. There were cases when, under their influence, fighters of a number of units of the NLF were demoralized even before the start of hostilities and surrendered.

Television was used on a large scale for the first time in conjunction with traditional forms of psychological warfare. Television programs were developed for civilian and military audiences. A studio and four transmitting stations were created, broadcasting 6 hours a day. 3.5 thousand television receivers were distributed among the Vietnamese, and televisions were installed in many schools and reading rooms. In 1971, already 80 percent. the local population could watch television programs.

In order to influence the population, “souvenir” propaganda was used: cigarettes, chewing gum, toothpaste, toys, bags of rice and candy were distributed. Similar packages with gifts, equipped with American symbols and propaganda slogans, were dropped by air onto the territory of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. Slogans and inscriptions were usually brief - for example, “From the children of America to the children of North Vietnam.” During the first 14 months of the war, 8 million vitamin tablets, 29 thousand toothbrushes, combs and pencils were distributed among the population of Vietnam for a total of 4 million dollars. The practice was to pay monetary rewards for surrendered weapons, intelligence information, and delivered defectors ($24 for a soldier, $2,100 for a political commissar).

In Vietnam, the collection, processing and accumulation of information began to be carried out using computers, and an attempt was made to create a unified global information system for psychological warfare (PAMIS). The Americans were defeated in Vietnam, but psychological methods of warfare strengthened their position. Thus, during the period of hostilities, about 250 thousand Vietnamese voluntarily went over to the enemy’s side.

Based on the experience of psychological operations in Vietnam, the government commission developed appropriate recommendations for the future: the creation of civilian structures to coordinate activities in the field of psychological warfare; increase in peacetime the number of forces and means to wage such a war by 10 times; increasing the level of training of reserve psychological operations forces; development of high-tech radio stations and organization of a network of mobile television stations; creation and use of a unified data bank in the interests of PsyO; increased attention to the apparatus and problems of PsyOps on the part of the government and the Ministry of Defense. According to a number of officials, the Americans were defeated in Vietnam precisely at a time when they lost the support of the population of their own country and the world community. Based on this, the military-political leadership of the United States, when participating in all subsequent armed conflicts, sought to reliably provide such support. After the Vietnam War, experts in the field of PsyOps came to the conclusion that they can only be successful if they are total in nature, planned and carried out in advance and comprehensively, directed not only against the enemy, but also the population and armed forces of neutral and friendly people. states These provisions formed the basis of the modern concept of psychological operations, tested by both the Americans and their NATO allies during subsequent small wars.

A new development in the organization and conduct of PsyOps since the mid-80s was the introduction of the concept of “national security strategy” into propaganda materials. This strategy was developed by the Reagan apparatus in 1981 and in general consisted of four components: diplomatic, economic, military and information. At the same time, the emphasis on the information component as the main one was confirmed already in the armed conflict in Grenada (1982). Using the “national security strategy” argument, American experts have put a lot of effort into processing international public opinion, for example, disseminating disinformation materials using television. Special programs were being prepared to convince people of the “just” nature of the war on the part of the United States. The broadcast was carried out through the USIA Euronet television network, which connects television channels in the United States and Western European countries using satellites. To promote the “liberation” mission of the West, the most powerful radio complexes were used - “Voice of America” and “Deutsche Welle”.

The technique of influencing people included direct disinformation, elements of half-truths and objective information. Since information could also be obtained from other media, American propaganda increasingly included elements of half-truths and truths. The following features of psychological operations were characteristic of that time: close interaction between units of special forces and PsyOps (1st PsyOps battalion), as well as a complex moral and psychological impact on the local population and military personnel of the opposing side.

A special forces unit was one of the first targets to seize the Free Grenada radio station, which was immediately renamed Spice Island Radio and began to be used by psychological operations specialists. Subsequently, units of the 1st PsyOps battalion deployed their own 50 kW transmitter (the total broadcast time was 11 hours per day). Along with radio propaganda, leaflets and the newspaper “Voice of Grenada” were published, and broadcasts were broadcast through loudspeaker installations. The propaganda was aimed at inciting contradictions between the civilian population of the island, the revolutionary army and Cuban military personnel, and at creating an atmosphere of loyalty towards American soldiers and officers.

Along with psychological influence, material incentives were used. Thus, 17 thousand weapons were handed over for a monetary reward. As a result of complex measures, approximately half of the personnel of the Grenada troops capitulated or were handed over to the invading Americans by the local population.

An important consequence of the conduct of psychological operations in Grenada was a circular from the Ministry of Defense to the heads of military colleges (branch, staff and command), which proposed to revise training programs in order to increase knowledge in the field of PsyOps. In terms of developing the theory of local wars, psychological operations were considered as a multiplier of the combat potential of troops in all types of combat operations. These theoretical principles were confirmed in practice by PsyOps units during the US military invasion of Panama (1989), when, unlike other local conflicts with the participation of the United States, special forces acted according to a pre-developed plan, which was actually an annex to the general plan of combat operations. It determined the forces, means, and timing of the transfer of materials to civilian media. The place and role of psychological operations in Panama were determined by the fact that from the very first days the United States was faced with personnel of the national defense forces that were psychologically well prepared for intervention. The Americans had to resort to the strongest informational and psychological pressure, using primarily the forces and means of PsyOps (the total number of their formations was 3.5 thousand people).

When conducting PsyOps in Panama, experts assumed that victory in a low-intensity conflict is impossible without creating favorable public opinion. Therefore, a new theoretical position was introduced that the use of military force in such conflicts is the last argument for achieving economic, political and information impact. A feature of PsyOps was the increased psychological pressure on General Noriega and his discrediting in the eyes of the people. He was accused of drug trafficking, racketeering, canceling the results of democratic elections, and brutal reprisals against officers who tried to carry out a coup.

In Panama, a new system of interaction between the PsyOps apparatus and civilian and military media was tested. For this purpose, a specially selected and instructed contingent of journalists and photo reporters was created, which was transferred to the appropriate facilities by the beginning of hostilities. Thus, the command sought to limit the access of undesirable persons to the combat zone. The main information came through the public relations service, which skillfully influenced its direction through briefings, press conferences and meetings with prominent politicians, businessmen and other influential people. An information bridge was created between the Pentagon and the public, which made it possible to neutralize the impact of other, unwanted sources. PsyOp tactics noted the method of so-called “harassing” actions. All surrounded Panamanian groups were broadcast through loudspeaker installations, then given 15 minutes to think, after which, as an ultimatum, they were asked to hang out white flags and surrender their weapons. In case of non-compliance with the requirements, “limited use of force” began. At the call of the commander of the unit blocking the garrison, a fire support helicopter arrived, which simulated an attack on the object, and sound broadcasting equipment called for the surrender of weapons and set a new time. If this time the garrison continued to resist, then the order to open fire followed. This method had a strong psychological impact on the personnel of the Panamanian troops.

The PsyOps experience accumulated during the war in Panama was used during the preparation and implementation of combat operations in the Persian Gulf zone (1991 - 1992). Here, psychological operations were carried out in two directions: foreign policy and direct information and propaganda support for military operations. In the first case, the main goals were to ensure support for the countermeasures of the multinational forces against Iraq, strengthening the position of the anti-Iraqi coalition and weakening the aggressor. In the second case, the increased constant psychological pressure generated by the military situation should have contributed to the deterioration of the moral and psychological state of the population and personnel of the enemy’s armed forces, and a decrease in their combat effectiveness.

Psychological operations throughout the conflict were carried out through the following channels: national media; federal departments (CIA, research institutes, etc.), armed forces (DIA, PsyO units, etc.). Using all these forces and means, the United States managed to mobilize world public opinion against Iraq, promote the activities of the anti-Iraqi coalition, deepen the existing split in the Arab world, and ignite the euphoria of “jingoism” in the United States and other Western countries. Iraq's attempts to find support in the world community actually failed.

When analyzing the preparatory period for organizing and preparing psychological operations, first of all, it is necessary to note the highest level of decision-making about their implementation. Thus, former US President George W. Bush, before the outbreak of the conflict in the Persian Gulf, signed three directives defining the procedure for organizing and conducting psychological operations for the entire period of the crisis, regulating the activities of intelligence services, research institutions dealing with the problems of the Arab world, psychologists and a number of army personnel. organs. The very fact of the adoption of these documents is evidence that the army command placed psychological operations on a par with combat ones.

The following tasks of psychological operations were identified as the main ones: misinformation to the command of the Iraqi armed forces and the general public regarding military action plans; undermining the trust of the Iraqi population in President Saddam Hussein; supporting the resistance movement in Kuwait and providing assistance to opposition forces in Iraq; the conviction that resistance to multinational forces is futile. The direct executor was the 8th battalion of the 4th PsyOps group of American troops, numbering about 200 military personnel and having at its disposal television and radio stations, sound broadcasting installations, and mobile printing houses. One of the areas of psychological operations, especially at the stage of preparation for the start of hostilities, was strategic disinformation, that is, convincing the world community of the need for measures taken by the American leadership. For this purpose, rumors were spread about the presence of a huge amount of chemical weapons in Iraq, as well as plans for their combat use, inflated data were given about the size of the Iraqi group, etc. In addition, it was necessary to mislead the Iraqi leadership regarding the timing of the start of multinational operations strength

The main forms of psychological influence were radio and television broadcasting, oral and printed propaganda. To ensure round-the-clock radio broadcasting, repeaters were installed in Saudi Arabia to transmit materials from the Voice of America and BBC radio stations. At the same time, in the interests of radio propaganda, the BBC, for example, increased the broadcasting time in Arabic from 3 to 10.5 hours per day, for which a special group was created, numbering 80 employees. The command of the multinational forces, with the help of nomads and aviation, distributed about 150 thousand cheap transistor radios with fixed frequencies among Iraqi military personnel and the population. According to surveys, four out of five prisoners of war listened to enemy radio broadcasts. With the onset of Operation Desert Storm, radio propaganda was conducted in close cooperation with the electronic warfare units tasked with suppressing Radio Baghdad's broadcasts.

Video propaganda was carried out through widespread distribution of videotapes in Jordan and other countries neighboring Iraq, for subsequent transportation to Iraq and Kuwait. They advertised the power of the American army, weapons and military equipment, showed the high level of training of military personnel, and criticized the regime of Saddam Hussein. The success of printed propaganda was largely due to the skillful involvement of the Iraqi opposition. Since September 1990, leaflets began to be distributed in Iraqi cities calling for the overthrow of Saddam Hussein “in the name of the security of the country.” He was accused, in particular, of organizing the massacres of the best sons of Iraq and genocide. The US and British Air Forces were widely used to distribute leaflets. For example, on January 31, 1991 alone, 5 million leaflets were distributed, dropped by 50 planes and helicopters. US Marine artillery units were also involved in distributing leaflets. The effectiveness of printed propaganda was highly appreciated by the enemy. According to the commander of one of the Iraqi divisions, “leaflets were second only to aerial bombardments in their impact on the morale of soldiers.” 70 percent of Iraqi military personnel taken prisoner in surveys confirmed that it was the leaflets that influenced their decision to desert or surrender. And this is despite the order to shoot anyone who is found with an enemy leaflet.

During the fighting, oral broadcasting was widely used through mobile sound broadcasting stations installed on off-road vehicles or helicopters. The commanders of units and subunits along the entire front of the US ground forces were assigned 66 groups of specialists with sound broadcasting equipment, which were assigned to provide tactical support and persuade Iraqi soldiers to surrender. Sound broadcasting stations were also used to mislead the enemy regarding the movements of units of the multinational forces and their deployment.

A peculiar touch of the psychological impact on the opposing side was the prompt saturation of the international market with goods with anti-Iraqi symbols (for example, knitwear with the image of a flying rocket and the inscriptions “Greetings to Saddam from the US Marine Corps,” “See you in Baghdad,” etc.). Thus, the complex impact on the population and personnel of the Iraqi army during the PsyOps of multinational forces contributed to the successful conduct of combat operations and the achievement of assigned tasks with minimal losses in manpower and equipment. After the successful use of psychological operations forces and means in the war in the Persian Gulf, the US military-political leadership was faced with the question of expanding the scope of their use. This area was peacekeeping and military operations and humanitarian assistance activities carried out within its framework. For example, “Sea Angel” (providing assistance to refugees from Haiti, 1991), “Revival of Hope” (in Somalia, 1992 - 1993), “Support for Democracy” (removal of the military from power in Haiti, 1994), military-humanitarian actions in the former Yugoslavia (1991 - 1994), “United Shield” (withdrawal of UN troops from Somalia, 1995), “Joint Effort” in Bosnia and Herzegovina (1996).

An example of PsyOp failure is the actions in Somalia. In December 1992, the American 96th Civilian Outreach Battalion took part in the peacekeeping operation Restore Hope. The goal of the large-scale propaganda campaign was to present the United States as the only force capable of protecting the war-stricken population of Somalia and establishing peace and order there. PsyOps units were assigned the following tasks: explaining the humanitarian goals of the US armed forces mission under the auspices of the UN; preventing possible hostile actions from the local population and armed groups; supporting the actions of American units in achieving their military and political goals. As during the period of preparation for hostilities in the Persian Gulf, the US population and world public opinion were subjected to significant propaganda processing. Data published in Newsweek magazine on December 5, 1992 showed that a majority of Americans (66 percent) supported sending American troops to Somalia. However, despite the success of consolidating propaganda within the United States, Operation Restore Hope was a failure. According to experts, the reasons for the failure were as follows:

• - psychological operations specialists tried to transfer the experience gained in the Persian Gulf zone to a completely different situation in a country where a civil war was being fought;
• -- US military personnel had little knowledge of the cultural, religious traditions and customs of the country's population, and the PsyOps apparatus had no experience of working in conditions of an action unique in its scale;
• -- there were not enough specialists who spoke the local language.

As a result, the United States failed to gain understanding and support for the goals of Operation Restore Hope among the population and major armed groups. This was evidenced by the growth of anti-American sentiment in a number of regions of the country. During the fighting in Somalia, more than 130 military personnel of the multinational forces and a large number of civilians were killed; in fact, 2 billion dollars were spent in vain.

The administration of President Bill Clinton, having analyzed psychological operations in Somalia, drew the appropriate conclusions. The first step to eliminate the identified shortcomings was the theoretical development of the actions of PsyOps forces and assets in so-called “peacekeeping operations.” The result was FM-100-23, Peacekeeping Operations, published by the Department of the Army in December 1994. In accordance with it, psychological operations specialists not only provide information and propaganda support for peacekeeping operations, but also play an important role in the process of forming local temporary power structures. The timing of PsyOps, which are conducted in peacetime, are activated during a threatened (special) period, and are intensively conducted during hostilities, has been revised. The United States also has a psychological impact on its own population. The new US-produced film “Three Hundred Spartans” contains information that the United States is preparing its already war-weary population for a new bloody struggle with Iran, which acts as a world evil and “rubs” faith in the “king” into the brains of its population. Bush, which is especially important on the eve of the upcoming presidential elections. “Only he, only our king...” - this is a phrase that reveals one of the true purposes of the film, secretly inciting people to be loyal to their leader, in other words: “Only him, our George.” The Iranian government regarded the filming of this film as a signal to accelerate the preparation of its troops for war with the United States.

The doctrine of psychological operations is an essential component of military theory. Based on press reports, we can conclude that its components are the doctrine of low-intensity conflicts, the doctrine of terrorist warfare using Muslim mercenaries, the doctrine of psychotropic warfare using the media, and the doctrine of waging war by unconventional means. In July 2003, American propaganda began to use the concepts of “preventive war” and “preventive diplomacy”. To understand these phrases, one should recall the 2002 incident in Yemen, when the Americans destroyed a car with 6 passengers who “posed a threat to the United States” with a missile from an unmanned aircraft. In the same vein, the display on American TV in 2003 of devices that, at a distance of 50 meters, knock a person off his feet with sound waves inaudible to the ear is interpreted. Preventive war was evidenced by an incident in Latin America in 2002, when a fighter jet shot down a single-engine aircraft on a tip from an American E-2C aircraft. In the same series was the case when in 2002 the FBI wiretapped telephone conversations of Russian citizens in Venice. These facts allow us to conclude that, after all, the existing doctrine of warfare by non-combat methods sets the task in peacetime to destroy foreigners who are considered potentially dangerous to the United States. For this purpose, the latest scientific achievements are used.

Also in the context of waging psychological warfare, the large full-page picture at the beginning (page 2) of the multi-color textbook of US evangelical schools draws attention. The text of the textbook was revised in 1992 (1992 revision), when the USSR had already ceased to exist. The diagram, in black and white, depicted Russia and China surrounded by chains. On the territory of these countries there was a huge soldier's boot with the image of a sickle, a hammer and a star. His heel was located in the region of European Russia, his toe was in China on the Bohai Gulf. Chained to the heel of the boot was a barefoot man with disheveled hair and shabby trousers, the left leg of which had been torn off above the knee. The prisoner's legs were in the region of Kazakhstan, his head was near Moscow. One chain shackled his right arm, the other his left leg. On the diagram south of the Caspian Sea hung a huge American flag the size of Africa to Vietnam, and three American soldiers with rifles at the ready were advancing towards Russian territory. The textbook formed a negative stereotype. Children were shown that Russia and China are hostile communist countries that oppress and keep their populations in poverty. The picture painted Russia as an enemy of freedom, democracy and the United States. Thus, psychological operations were constantly modernized as part of US combat operations in Korea, Vietnam and other regions of the world, and subsequently in peacetime. Currently, a large-scale hidden psychological war is being waged against Russia, which manifests itself in everyday life as negative social changes and subsequently a number of other factors. This creates the need to study psychological operations and their consequences in order to prevent their influence on the social environment of Russia and create the possibility of adequately countering this non-combat method of warfare.

You can often hear the phrase: “I can hit you mentally.” No one even suspects what such a blow can mean for a person. The thing is that a verbal skirmish is only half the story, but a clear strategy to “hit”, “kill” morally is already psychological warfare.

The worst thing is that psychological warfare is equivalent to physical warfare. In addition, it is precisely this type of war that can become the start of, roughly speaking, a world apocalypse.

If you go into history, then an interesting trend can be traced: armies that were skeptical about the war had greater confidence in their own abilities, while the enemy’s excessive fanaticism led to self-deprecation. Thus, Americans were more likely to win global fights when they were ideologically prepared. A skeptical attitude helped them to oppress the enemy morally, although, in essence, they did nothing, they simply set a peculiar rhythm of attitude towards wars and skirmishes, which the enemy keenly felt.

It is worth considering that a psychological altercation can reach global proportions. Propaganda, for example, acts on a person as mass hypnosis. What good does propaganda bring? It depends on what to promote. The fact is that psychological warfare accompanies everyday life at every step.

Let's look at several categories of psychological warfare:

Psychological warfare in the family. This war, most often, destroys everyday life, although such things begin with it. A husband and wife, who differ in character, spend a very long time getting used to each other, despite high feelings and a desire to live together. Psychological warfare begins with the phrases: “Wash the dishes” or “Don’t throw your socks around.” These banal phrases give rise to a mini-rebellion against everyday life and an unwillingness to give in in the family. No matter how much you would like this, you will have to give in to someone, otherwise life together will not work out. Wise husbands silently put away their socks, and wise wives wash the dishes after the first warning or, better yet, of their own accord. But there is still an opinion that wise people do not point out the mistakes of others, but help to quietly correct them.

Psychological warfare in politics. Politics is a dangerous thing. It’s better not to go there if you have weak nerves. Political moral warfare is expressed in the presence of a dispute in which the so-called “troll” wins. Pay attention to which politicians are successful and popular? Fanaticism in politics is welcomed only if it is ideologically justified and belongs to a person who is guided by fanaticism solely for the purpose of popularizing his role for the country.

Psychological warfare in a team. A crowd of people with different personalities and different views on life causes discomfort for everyone. Some people talk about this discomfort, while others withdraw into themselves and turn into a passive worker whose performance noticeably decreases and their mood drops. You can survive all this, but there will always be a person who will try to oppress the general situation. Psychological warfare in a team ends only when the boss acts as a so-called “educator” and carefully solves the problem with the help of easy, casual communication, from which one can try to understand the essence of the problem and solve it.

Psychological war with yourself. This is the most difficult and longest war. The person seems to be torn apart, suffering from his own exaggerations and far-fetched fears. There are people who oppress themselves, calling it sober self-criticism. Sometimes even self-criticism goes beyond all boundaries, when a person convinces himself and everyone that he, for example, is a loser, and gives up. The war with oneself ends thanks to training and work with a psychologist.

Psychological warfare is a solvable problem. But it’s worth going back to history again: the biggest military mistakes were made due to an incorrect assessment of the enemy’s morale. This does not mean that you should look closely at everything and consult a personal psychologist in everything, just remember: a person who is strong in spirit is not affected by any psychological warfare. Be confident in yourself and no psychological obstacles will affect you.