Wednesday 31 March 2010
(Image: Jared Rodriguez / t r u t h o u t; Adapted: Patrick Hoesly, CIA)
The CIA recommendations for influencing the European public into continuing their support for the mission in Afghanistan is receiving a lot of attention both in The Netherlands and beyond. But in a military conflict, war is only one stage of the struggle. The biggest struggle is for the hearts and minds of the public at large. What's special about the case of the document is not so much its content, but the fact that it is now available for all to see.
At the top of the CIA-document it states: ‘Why counting on apathy might not be enough'.
Phi Beta Iota: CIA and the Pentagon both stink at Information Operations because neither is interested in putting the truth on the table and working from there, only in manipulating perceptions to achieve ends that are neither strategic nor just. For an alternative perspective that treats the truth with respect, see INFORMATION OPERATIONS: All Information, All Languages, All the Time (OSS, 2006), and more recently, INTELLIGENCE for EARTH: Clarity, Diversity, Integrity, & Sustainability (EIN, 2010).
