Hybrid Warfare and Propaganda

Natalka found this excellent piece on Telegram. She posted it on Twitter. It summarizes something that books have been written on. It is a good primer on how propaganda works.

I think it will help you when targeted by it. At the moment, a lot of it is thrown in spaces like TikTok, Twitter, Facebook, and, yes, alternate media. I am bringing this to prime you for an actual hybrid campaign that is at work right now:

The methods used by Russian propaganda described by a Russian journalist:

“I studied at the Faculty of Journalism of Moscow State University. We had a military department. In an atmosphere of secrecy, we were taught special combat propaganda — the art of sowing discord in the ranks of the enemy with the help of disinformation and manipulation of consciousness.

Let me tell you, it’s a scary business. I’m not kidding.

Combat, or “black,” propaganda allows any distortion of real facts to solve propaganda problems. This is an effective weapon used for the sole purpose of knocking out the enemy’s brains.

The “rotten herring” method. The “inverted pyramid” method. The “big lie” method. The “40 to 60” principle. The “absolutely obvious” method.
You also know all these methods and techniques. You just don’t realize it. As intended.

We were taught to use special propaganda techniques against soldiers of the enemy army. Today they are used against the civilian population of our own country.

For two years now, reading Russian newspapers or watching television shows, I have noted with interest that people coordinating the distribution and interpretation of news in Russia clearly learned from the same textbook as I have, from the same cheerful colonel or his colleagues.

For example, the “rotten herring” method. It works like this. A false accusation is chosen. It is important that it is as dirty and scandalous as possible. For example, petty theft, child molestation, or murder, preferably out of greed work well.

The purpose of the “rotten herring” is not to prove the accusation. It’s to cause a wide, public discussion… How it’s unjust and unfair.

The human psyche is arranged in such a way that, as soon as the accusation becomes the subject of public discussion, its “supporters” and “opponents”, “experts”, rabid “prosecutors” and ardent “defenders” of the accused inevitably arise.

But regardless of their views, all participants in the discussion again and again pronounce the name of the accused in connection with a dirty and scandalous accusation, thus rubbing more and more “rotten herring” into his “clothes”, until finally the “smell” begins to follow him everywhere. The question “killed-stole-seduced or not” becomes the main one when his name is mentioned.

Or, for example, the “40 to 60” method invented by Goebbels. It consists in creating media that give 60 percent of their information in the interests of the enemy. On the other hand, having earned his trust in this way, the remaining 40 percent are used for extremely effective, thanks to this trust, disinformation.

During World War II, there was a radio station that the anti-fascist world listened to. It was thought to be British. Only after the war did it turn out that it was actually Goebbels’ radio station, which worked on the “40 to 60” principle he developed.

The “big lie” method is very effective It is a bit like the “rotten herring” method, but actually works differently. Its essence is to offer the audience such a universal and terrible lie with the highest degree of confidence that it is almost impossible to believe that it’s possible to lie about such a thing.

The trick here is that a properly composed and well-invented ‘big lie’ causes such a deep emotional trauma in the listener or viewer that it then determines his views for a long time, contrary to any arguments of logic and reason.

False descriptions of cruel abuse of children or women work particularly well.

Let’s say that the message about a crucified child due to the deep emotional trauma it causes will determine the views of the person who received this information for a long time, no matter how much someone tries to convince him later, using logical arguments.

But our cheerful colonel especially revered the method of “absolute evidence”, which delivers, although not fast, but reliable results.”

Instead of proving something, you submit what you want to convince the audience of as something obvious, taken for granted, and therefore unconditionally supported by the overwhelming majority of the population.

Despite its seeming simplicity, this method is incredibly effective, since the human psyche automatically responds to the opinion of the majority, seeking to join it.

It is just important to remember that the majority must necessarily be predominant, and its support absolute and unconditional — otherwise the desire to join in won’t take place.

However, if these conditions are met, the number of supporters of the “majority position” begins to gradually but surely increase, and over time increases exponentially — mainly due to representatives of low social strata, who are most susceptible to the “attachment effect”.

One of the classic ways to support the method of “absolute evidence” is, for example, the publication of the results of various sociological surveys demonstrating absolute social unity on a particular issue.

The methods of “black” propaganda, of course, do not require these reports to have anything to do with reality.

I could continue. We’ve actually been taught for a whole year, and the list of methods is quite long. That’s not important, though.

However, the following is. The methods of “black” propaganda affect the audience at the level of deep psychological mechanisms in such a way that the consequences of this impact cannot be removed by the usual logical arguments.

“Big Lie” achieves this effect through emotional trauma. The method of absolute evidence is through the “attachment effect”. “Rotten herring” — introducing into the audience’s mind a direct association between the object of the attack and the dirty, scandalous accusation.

Simply put, combat special propaganda turns a person into a zombie who not only actively supports the attitudes embedded in his mind, but also aggressively opposes those who hold other views or try to convince him of something else using logical arguments.

It can’t actually be otherwise. All methods of combat and special propaganda are united by a single goal. It is to weaken the enemy’s army by introducing internal discord, mutual hatred, and distrust of each other into its ranks.

Today these methods are used against us. The result to which they lead is exactly the one for which they were created. However mutual hatred and internal discord arise not in the enemy’s army, but in our homes and families.

Just go outside and see how the country has changed over the past three years. It seems to me that combat special propaganda works even more effectively against its own population than against enemy soldiers.

Probably because, unlike enemy soldiers, civilians cannot protect themselves.”

Vladimir Yakovlev, 2016

So this was written in 2016, before the events in Ukraine. It was part of the preparation for war. They have been increasingly militarizing Russian society and centralizing it. The old games of denunciations are also back. Criticism of the army, or the war, has become a crime.

They are using techniques similar to those used against the West. And they are not alone. So, we have all seen the shutdown of Palestine's actions. We all have watched how they have gone after civil events, airports, and other facilities. We now have evidence that the People’s Republic of China drives some of this.

Why? Weakening or bringing down American democracy. It’s the same as Russia, which has also been playing a role in hybrid warfare against the West. This is just one corner of the Moscow-Tehran-Beijing axis.

This is the report I will be citing from. It’s less than forty pages long; I recommend you read it thoroughly. For the record, some of the bad actors cited by them in the report go back to the early days of the global war on terror. A few others made their appearance at Occupy Wall Street as well. And I am sure because we have objective evidence, that the far right is also getting weaponized. So, this is not limited to the American left.

First, the groups mentioned in the executive report:

The ANSWER coalition first made its appearance after 9–11. I remember the posters calling to end the American empire and fight imperialism in Oahu. They were loud and organized, and after 10–7, they were ready to go the day after. This betrays the organization. And it’s not like you could get all those posters printed with a home printer in 2001. They had to get them pre-printed. So, the organization has always raised questions for me. And that is the reason.

Here is the about us on their page. They had posters up within a week. So, three days after does not sound very grassroots.

So, let’s dig into some of the report:

The People’s Forum, IPA, and ANSWER Coalition serve as the conduit through which CCP-affiliated entities have effectively co-opted pro-Palestinian activism in the U.S., advancing a broader anti-American, anti-democratic, and anti-capitalist agenda. These three far-left SID4P (shut it down for Palestine) Convenors are part of a network linked by close financial,interpersonal, and ideological ties to Neville Roy Singham and his wife Jodie Evans, apower couple within the global far-left movement with close ties to the CCP.

The “Singham Network” comprises a wide range of nonprofits, alternative media outlets, and donor organizations that have been funneling undisclosed funds and disseminating CCP-supported agendas and narratives into the United States since at least 2017. As outlined above, this network has played an increasingly significant role in fueling a moreradical pro-Palestinian activism. Singham’s association with far-left circles in the U.S. dates back to at least the 1970s.

According to a document dated June 5, 1974, Singham was the subject of an FBI investigation into his ties to “groups engaged in activities inimical to U.S. [interests].”10 Singham’s connection with entities associated with the CCP is believed to have begun in the early 2000s. From 2001 to 2008, Singham served as a consultant for Huawei, a technology and telecommunications giant linked to the CCP that has been the subject of espionage investigations in Canada and the U.S.11 He currently lives and works in Shanghai, where he shares premises with Shanghai Maku Cultural Communications Ltd., a Chinese propaganda firm focused on presenting a positive image of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to the global south.

At this point, this network includes Code Pink. One of the founders married Singham in 2017. That is Jodie Evans.

So, at this point, she is not saying a thing that could affect the PRC. As the report writers write, previous causes, like the Uyghur genocide, are nowhere to be found. This is not accidental.

We all know the demonstrations started seemingly out of nowhere. They were planned. They likely did not know the date of the attack, but like the ANSWER coalition in 2001, they were ready to roll. I see what ANSWER says: they were formed three days after 9–11, but they formed so fast that there is nothing grassroots about it. 

Yes, this is coming from a far-left fringe of American society…which, like the far right, believes in nonsense. But part of the conspiracy they take to heart is that democracy is wrong and capitalism is worse.

This is some of the material used at teaching ins for the movement; this particular one is from 2021:

Who is the Intifada? The Intifada is all those seeking to get free in solidarity with others; all those who recognize the interconnectedness of our struggles against settler-colonialism, imperialism, and racial capitalism across borders and identities; all those who refuse to allow our struggles to be isolated, segregated, and pitted against each other according to the classic colonial logic; all those who practice what Huey P. Newton called a “revolutionary intercommunalism” that sees the modern nation-state as a hindrance rather than vehicle when it comes to collective liberation.

It echoes some of the material students are learning at institutions of higher learning; it’s also part of it. The objective is to use our open society institutions to attack us from within. The idea that we are an imperialist power that needs to die is part of this thinking.

It also uses a lot of words, with imprecise use of the language. As George Orwell pointed out in his view of art criticism, these are a lot of words but lack precision or real meaning. It is post-truth at its best. And they want to destroy the modern nation-state, but nowhere do they speak of a replacement. 

The report suggests using the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) far more. That would be an excellent first step. But we also need to be aware that this radicalization could lead to open terrorism. And this is both our strength and weakness. One that bad actors exploit to try to bring us down from within. 

My personal feeling is that we will need to deal with this sooner or later, likely sooner, because we are already seeing violence. I have spoken of my fear of a Pogrom; I think it’s coming. This attack on Jewish businesses is but one example. I expect both more of this and the broader American polity.

This is an excellent example of how hybrid warfare and propaganda work in real time. We will see more of this as we get deeper into the presidential campaign.