Psychological WarfareLinebarger, Paul Myron Anthony
History
Psychological Warfare
Linebarger, Paul Myron Anthony
Psychological warfare
And a Historian, to describe their Strength and Number, makes the
Spies whom the King of _Carizme_ had sent to view them, speak thus:
They are, say they to the Sultan, all compleat Men, vigorous, and look
like Wrestlers; they breathe nothing but War and Blood, and show so
great an Impatience to fight, that the Generals can scarce moderate
it; yet though they appear thus fiery, they keep themselves within the
bounds of a strict Obedience to Command, and are intirely devoted to
their Prince; they are contented with any sort of Food, and are not
curious in the choice of Beasts to eat, like Mussulmen [Mohammedans],
so that they are subsisted without much trouble; and they not only eat
Swines-Flesh, but feed upon Wolves, Bears, and Dogs, when they have no
other Meat, making no distinction between what was lawful to eat, and
what was forbidden; and the Necessity for supporting Life takes from
them all the Dislike which the _Mahometans_ have for many sorts of
Animals; As to their Number, (they concluded) _Genghizcan's_ Troops
seem'd like the Grasshoppers, impossible to be number'd.
In reality, this Prince making a Review of his Army, found it to
consist of seven hundred thousand men....[7]
Enemy espionage can now--as formerly--prove useful if the net effect of
it is to lower enemy morale. The ruler and people of Khorezm put up a
terrific fight, nevertheless, despite their expectation of being
attacked by wolf-eating wrestlers without number; but they left the
initiative in Genghis' hands and were doomed.
However good the Mongols were in strategic and tactical propaganda,
they never solved the problem of consolidation propaganda (see page 46,
below). They did not win the real loyalty of the peoples whom they
conquered; unlike the Chinese, who replaced conquered populations with
their own people, or the Mohammedans, who converted conquered peoples,
the Mongols simply maintained law and order, collected taxes, and sat on
top of the world for a few generations. Then their world stirred beneath
them, and they were gone.
=The Blindness Of John Milton.= Moving across the centuries for an
example, it is interesting to note that John Milton, author of _Paradise
Lost_ and of other priceless books of the English-speaking world, went
blind because he was so busy conducting Oliver Cromwell's psychological
warfare that he disregarded the doctors' warning and abused his ailing
sight. And the sad thing about it was that it was not very good
psychological warfare.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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