Psychological WarfareLinebarger, Paul Myron Anthony
History
Psychological Warfare
Linebarger, Paul Myron Anthony
Psychological warfare
=Pre-Belligerent Planning.= Pre-belligerent planning differs from
regular planning in that it does not have the substantial context of
actual military operations to make it realistic and urgent. Like all
plans, the pre-belligerent plan should enumerate the facilities
available, the basic course of action to be followed, and the limits
within which offensive propaganda will be permitted. In fairness to the
planners themselves, as well as to the authorities who will fit this
plan into related military, economic, or political plans, the plan
should define the proper scope of propaganda as applied to the
contemplated situation.
One of the most useful functions of the pre-belligerent plan lies in the
periodic exercise which it gives in propaganda discipline. Information
and intelligence agencies frequently see their jobs so technically that
they lose sight of the need for coordination within the mechanism of an
entire government. Press relations people try to get stories in the
papers. Radio people try to maintain listener interest. Educational
officers are concerned with the teachability of their materials.
Spokesmen of the different agencies in related fields (such as shipping,
air transport, currency control, social welfare) are apt to comment on a
particular situation without reference to the needs of an inclusive
national policy. How much advice was handed out on the occasion of the
ultimatum to Tito? The Jugoslav authorities plainly risked
politico-psychological pressure from us; they came prepared for the
consequences; but both American official and private opinion expressed a
wild medley of recommendations, suggestions, and analysis. Federal
officials showed no better discipline than did the private citizens.
Pre-belligerent planning may be forced on the United States by eventual
international crises, but before that stage is reached, private and
governmental persons working in the informational field might do well to
consider how readily they could offer or enforce cooperation in the
event of a real emergency.
[Illustration: _Figure 51: Basic Types: Start of War._ This leaflet
embodies almost all possible mistakes in psychological warfare. It was
prepared to explain why war came between America and Japan, but was not
even begun until many months after Pearl Harbor. The heading and style
are official and formal. The message is no more than a footnote to
history. Its last fault redeemed it; no arrangements were made for
dropping it.]
=Psychological Warfare Plans.= A general plan for psychological warfare
expresses the aims of the portion of the war (either in point of time,
or with respect to a stated area) to which it refers. It states the
maximum goals which psychological warfare can, with honest realism, be
counted on to accomplish if all goes well. It indicates the minimum
effect, which (unlike combat operations) can fall precisely at zero.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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