“Propaganda is my most powerful scalpel” – Lenin. That hasn’t changed since Lenin was laid to rest in his tomb inside the Kremlin Wall. Russian-style ideology does not change significantly with changes in personalities like it does so radically in the West and in America most notably. Reagan was a master at propaganda and it resulted in the Iron Curtain being shredded to ribbons. His advisors implored him not to include “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!” in his speech but he did anyway – and they did. Reagan is alone among American presidents who has understood the importance of information and messaging in defeating communism. (see: Fighting the War of Ideas Like a Real War by J. Michael Waller).
American taxpayers pay a lot of money supporting Psychological Operations units in the United States Army. There is the 4th Psychological Operations Group stationed at Ft. Bragg, N.C. as part of the U.S. Special Forces Command whose mission is – before Political Correctness infested the entire military – presumably, to conduct such operations (see: FM 3-05.301, Psychological Operations Tactics, Techniques and Procedures). They have contract Phds who are area specialists, satellite coverage of real-time foreign current events, and the most and best linguists of any other unit in the Army. They are the most under-utilized asset in the American military – in American foreign policy in general.
There are three types of propaganda: white, grey, and black. These categories have probably been PC purged (along with actual Russian military doctrine in favor of a politically inoffensive “Krasnovian” threat). I learned Russian Threat Doctrine at Ft. Benning, Ga. as an infantry lieutenant and at Ft. Huachuca as an Intelligence Analyst captain in the 1980s . The Army has since thrown out all the “trivial” details of Soviet-style strategy like rates of movements for specific units and critical tools like the Decision Support Template. This stubby pencil learning and analysis stays with you – unlike million dollar computer systems that haven’t worked in over 25 years.
White propaganda is basically the Truth about what is actually happening as it affects the battle space. Radio Free Europe and Radio Cuba are examples of this. Reagan ramped those up when he occupied the Oval Office. Gray Propaganda is a mixture of Truth and “unTruth”. Black Propaganda is an outright lie.
A beautiful example of Black Propaganda was British Major General Orde Wingate’s ruse during WW I when, as a young officer assigned to a native African unit tasked with attacking the Italian army in Somaliland, used a captured Italian field phone to call the Italian headquarters. Posing as an Italian outpost being overrun, he alerted them that the Brits were approaching with several divisions of combat troops (they were only a company-sized unit). The Italians deserted the whole area poste haste and Wingate won a significant victory with no casualties.
Properly used, propaganda is a powerful weapon. There is nothing immoral or illegal about it as a weapon in “peace or war.” In the communists view, there is no such thing as “peace and war” – it is always war with the West.
Ukraine’s most powerful weapon right now is propaganda. They should be broadcasting on Russian military channels and loudspeakers their most valuable message – especially when you’re so up to your neck in alligators its hard to remember to drain the swamp. They should be disseminating propaganda leaflets with the same messages:
- Do you want to die for Putin? He lied to you about your purpose here!
- Are you willing to die for the criminals / gangsters in the Kremlin?
- We are your cousins and neighbors! Don’t commit fratricide against your relatives – your brothers!
- We have the same desires for our families as you do – freedom and prosperity!
- Putin is threatening to annihilate your families and the world with nuclear war!
- We are fighting for our freedom, our families and our homes! What are you fighting for? A madman?
- If you join us we will welcome you as brothers and fellow citizens!
- Join us in our fight for freedom! etc. etc. etc.
- Offer a monetary or economic incentive to defecting Russian soldiers.
- Today it is Ukraine. Tomorrow it is your home! Your family!
The average level of education among the average Russian soldier is not that high – particularly when much of that education consists of reciting communist ideology – kind of like public education in America. That, like in America, makes the average Russian soldier very susceptible to psychological imprinting. (see: Propaganda by Edward Bernays; The Rape of the Masses by Sergei Chakhotin; The Crowd: A Study of the Popular Mind by Gustave Le Bon; and The True Believer by Eric Hoffer)
Psychological operations have a synergistic effect when you are freezing, hungry and your equipment fails you. Even more so when you are shocked to learn that your “maneuver exercises” have turned into a shooting war and your comrades are dying next to you.
These themes should be broadcast to the Russian people as well. Well tailored propaganda is a powerful Force Magnifier that is so badly – if ever – used by the United States. I questioned one of my students in the Captain’s Career Course at the Army’s Intelligence School, Ft. Huachuca, AZ about the use of propaganda in Iraq. Specifically about disseminating the video of a famous terrorist leader having difficulty operating an AK-47. That would have devastated his reputation as a warrior amongst the macho Muslim men. His reply stunned me: “We started using it to great effect but were then told by “higher” (probably the State Department) we couldn’t use it because it might offend the Muslim community.” “Higher” was assuming the same thing that our politicians assume about ethnic voting – they’re all on the same sheet of music. They are not. Neither are the Russian people. Neither is the Politburo. Propaganda is the information Javelin the Ukrainian government needs the most help with right now. The targets are the Russian soldier and the Russian people.
Victory for Ukraine will be won in the hearts and minds of the Russian soldier and the Russian people.
Another Psychological weapon not being used is jamming the Russian military’s communications. This can be done at considerable distance from the Forward Line of Troops (FLOT) with low risk. This was done during Desert Storm to great effect. Communist troops are particularly susceptible to this because they don’t move a muscle without guidance from higher. Remember the videos of Iraqi soldiers surrendering en mass with white flags and leaflets? That’s the PsyOp effect of offensive Signal and Information operations.
And all without putting a single American boot on the ground.
See also: The Sling and the Stone: On War in the 21st Century by Colonel Thomas X. Hammes, USMC
