Psychological WarfareLinebarger, Paul Myron Anthony
History
Psychological Warfare
Linebarger, Paul Myron Anthony
Psychological warfare
The author hopes that, as U. S. agencies and other governments move
toward a more settled definition of doctrine in this field, a third
edition--a few years from now--may be able to reflect the maturation of
psywar in international affairs. He does not consider the time
appropriate for a fundamental restatement of doctrine; he hopes that
readers who have suggestions for future definitions of scope, policy, or
operations can communicate these to him for inclusion in later printings
of this book.
P.M.A.L.
_3 August 1954_
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This book is the product of experience rather than research, of
consultation rather than reading. It is based on my five years of work,
both as civilian expert and as Army officer, in American psychological
warfare facilities--at every level from the Joint and Combined Chiefs of
Staff planning phase down to the preparing of spot leaflets for the
American forces in China. Consequently, I have tried to avoid making
this an original book, and have sought to incorporate those concepts and
doctrines which found readiest acceptance among the men actually doing
the job. The responsibility is therefore mine, but not the credit.
Psychological warfare involves exciting wit-sharpening work. It tends to
attract quick-minded people--men full of ideas. I have talked about
psychological warfare with all sorts of people, all the way from Mr. Mao
Tse-tung in Yenan and Ambassador Joseph Davies in Washington to an
engineer corporal in New Zealand and the latrine-coolie, second class,
at our Chungking headquarters. I have seen one New York lawyer get
mentally befuddled and another New York lawyer provide the solution, and
have seen Pulitzer Prize winners run out of ideas only to have the
stenographers supply them. From all these people I have tried to learn,
and have tried to make this book a patchwork of enthusiastic
recollection. Fortunately, the material is non-copyright; unfortunately,
I cannot attribute most of these comments or inventions to their
original proponents. Perhaps this is just as well: some authors might
object to being remembered.
A few indebtednesses stand out with such clarity as to make
acknowledgment a duty. These I wish to list, with the caution that this
list is not inclusive.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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