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| Psychological Warfare / PSYOP News |
- Posted on 9 December 2008 at 8:25 pm
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How African-Americans have been exploited in enemy divide and conquer psychological warfare campaigns from World War I to Vietnam. |
- Posted on 30 October 2008 at 10:53 pm
 | Herb Friedman's massive Propaganda and Espionage Philately article has been updated again and includes new research regarding this Office of Strategic Services / Office of War Information black propaganda label featuring a parody of a Third Reich postage stamp. |
- Posted on 17 October 2008 at 4:11 pm
 | A 45-page report on the work of the Third Psychological Warfare Consolidation Team of PWD/SHAEF in north-western France between August 23rd to October 8th, 1944.
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- Posted on 15 October 2008 at 9:40 pm
 | This 24-page booklet was produced by the Commander-in-Chief, United States Pacific Fleet and Pacific Ocean Areas in August 1944 and details the use of tactical psychological warfare against the Japanese in the Pacific Theater. |
- Posted on 12 October 2008 at 5:18 pm
 | Psychological operations were a key Battlefield Operating System used extensively to support Unified Task Force (UNITAF) Somalia operations. In order to maximise the PSYOP impact, a joint PSYOP Task Force (JPOTF) under the supervision of the Director of Operations was established, PSYOP was integrated into all plans and operations and limited the PSYOP focus to the operational and tactical levels.
Throughout the course of Operation Restore Hope, thirty-seven different leaflets and over a dozen handbills and posters were designed, printed and disseminated. Over seven million leaflets were dropped over central and southern Somalia.
One hundred sixteen different editions of the UNITAF newspaper RAJO, which means “Hope” in Somali, were published. As many as 25,000 copies were printed and distributed daily to every town and villages where UNITAF forces were deployed.
This booklet contains exemplars of those printed products. Each represents the collective efforts of members of the UNITAF JPOTF who provided PSYOP support to Operation Restore Hope.
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- Posted on 10 October 2008 at 11:13 am
- Posted on 9 October 2008 at 9:02 pm
 | The United States found itself involved in the nation once called Yugoslavia several times in the past decade. There was a violent disintegration of that country after the death of Joseph Broz (Tito) in 1980. In order to rule as dictator, Tito had divided the Serbian people, the largest ethnic group of Yugoslavia, into four "Socialist Federative Republics" and two Autonomous Regions. Some 42% of the Serbs were located outside Serbia Proper. This system worked only as long as Tito was able to rule with an iron hand.
In 1989, a new nationalist leader by the name of Slobodan Milosevic took power in the Serbian Republic. He had previously served as the leader of Belgrade Communist Party and the Serbian Communist Party. He wanted to dominate all of the old Yugoslavia, but when it became clear that he could not, he decided upon the ethnic cleansing of his country and the creation of a Greater Serbia. He abolished Kosovo's autonomy. Croats and Slovenes feared that they were next in line. There were daily news reports of murders, rapes, mass killings and other atrocities carried out by the Serbs as Milosevic drove the minorities from their lands and homes, "purifying" Serbia.
This article is not a history of the Balkan conflict as confined to the old Yugoslavia. It is a look at the PSYOP campaigns fought there in the past decade. |
- Posted on 8 October 2008 at 12:32 pm
A new addition to PsyWar.Org’s range of merchandise is this large (10” x 3”) 4mil vinyl bumper sticker printed using water and UV resistant inks - means no fading in the sun or bleeding in the rain. They are available singly at $5.49 each or a ten pack for $38.99, plus shipping.
- Posted on 5 October 2008 at 10:17 pm
 | The Times History and Encyclopaedia of the War: British Propaganda in Enemy Countries (WWI).
Originally published in 1919 by the Times, this booklet documents British propaganda work in the First World War. Topics covered include: Propaganda in war as theory and in operation, German activities, early British propaganda work, Wellington house, the Department of Information, the formation and scope of the Ministry of Information, Viscount Northcliffe becomes director of propaganda in enemy countries, operations against Austria-Hungary, Germany and Bulgaria, methods of distribution of literature, tributes to Lord Northcliffe’s work from Hindenburg, Ludendorff, and the German press.
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- Posted on 5 October 2008 at 12:12 pm
 | “This book contains exemplars of leaflets designed, printed and disseminated in support of Coalition Forces during Operation DESERT STORM. According to numerous sources, including captured Iraqi soldiers, these leaflets were extremely effective in convincing the Iraqi soldiers to cease resistance. Each leaflet in this collection represents the collective efforts of members of the Psychological Operations (PSYOP) team that provided support to Operations DESERT SHIELD and DESERT STORM. The psychological preparation of the battlefield began in earnest in December [1990] and radio, leaflet and loudspeaker operations continued non-stop throughout the air and ground phases of the conflict.” (18.7MB, PDF). |
- Posted on 4 October 2008 at 12:10 pm
 | This pamphlet, originally published by the 4th Psychological Operations Group, tells the story of “the crucial role which PSYOP played as a force multiplier in contributing to the success of Operation UPHOLD DEMOCRACY - an operation other than war.” It provides examples of the products generated by the Joint Psychological Operations Task Force (JPOTF) in Haiti following the US incursion to remove Haiti’s corrupt military regime. (6.1 MB, PDF) |
- Posted on 30 September 2008 at 4:35 pm
The PsyWar.Org online shop has been updated with new t-shirts reflecting the site's new look. The brown t-shirt with the green "V" for Victory logo is rather fetching, price $23.99 + shipping. Also available in "military" green and black.
- Posted on 30 September 2008 at 3:54 pm
Apologies for the downtime PsyWar.Org is experiencing at the moment. The forum remains down for the time being. I'm still trouble shooting the problem but hope to return to normal service as soon as possible. Update: as of 16:00 PST, the forum is back online and all seems to be working well. Sorry for the problems.
- Posted on 8 September 2008 at 12:05 am
 | PsyWar.Org features in the latest edition of Swindle magazine, issue 18. In their own words, "Swindle is the definitive pop culture and lifestyle publication… More than just reporting on culture, Swindle influences it. We believe in the humanization and personalization of design, and present all our stories – luscious fashion spreads, artist profiles or social & political issues around the globe – with a cutting-edge aesthetic."
The article gives a history of the use of airdropped leaflets in psychological operations, is well illustrated and also includes a little background information about myself. It also includes an interview with Colonel Boyd, Commander of the 4th PSYOP Group, based at Fort Bragg. |
- Posted on 7 September 2008 at 3:22 pm
PsyWar.Org's new design is now live! Afacelift of the website was well overdue and hopefully the makeover has a more contemporary feel. The page coding has also been amended so that it conforms to the W3C XHTML standard. To be honest the previous site had a mishmash of conflicting HTML code, some of which was originally coded over ten year ago.  The new design has been tested on the latest versions of Microsoft Internet Explorer (v.7), Firefox, Safari and Google’s new Chrome browser. All seems to be working well but if there are any glitches then please let me know. It is possible there might be minor issues (famous last words!?) with older browsers, particularly IE version 6. I’ll do my best to correct those as they are discovered but hey what are you doing still using IE 6? Get yourself Firefox! Some new developments are in the pipeline, especially in regard to database access for propaganda leaflet collectors. Perhaps we will have a couple of different user selectable themes as well, especially if the new look does not prove popular. Feedback is appreciated via the forum here: http://www.psywar.org/forum/index.php/topic,358.msg726.html PS Yes I know the forum is still using the old theme. I haven’t quite decided what to do with the forum just yet.
- Posted on 30 June 2008 at 10:05 pm
Herb Friedman shows us a wide selection of counterfeit banknotes used during the Cold War for psychological warfare and propaganda purposes.
- Posted on 3 June 2008 at 1:28 pm
| The latest addition to the PsyWar.Org archives is this 1962, Restricted British War Office psychological operations guidance booklet for officers, (PDF). |  |
- Posted on 31 May 2008 at 12:44 pm
 | Captain Pete Norton GC will be making a free-fall parachute jump with the British Army's "Red Devils" parachute display team at Langer Airfield, nr Nottingham on 1st July 2008 to raise funds for the Help for Heroes charity. Help for Heroes provides practical direct support to those British servicemen and women wounded in the line of duty in the current conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. In his own words: "In July 05 I was blown-up whilst working near Baghdad, losing my left arm, left leg and seriously damaging my remaining leg and buttocks. There followed 2 yrs in hospitals and rehabilitation before returning to 'normality'; I therefore know first hand just how important the work of Help for Heroes is."
Capt Norton GC is hoping to raise £7,500 (about $15,000 US) and can be sponsored through the JustGiving website here:
http://www.justgiving.com/peternorton
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- Posted on 28 May 2008 at 8:38 pm
Thanks to Marie-Catherine & Paul Villatoux for allowing PsyWar.Org to publish their unique article documenting the history of "voice" loudspeaker aircraft used in psychological operations from WWII to the present day. It is thoroughly researched and well illustrated.
- Posted on 22 May 2008 at 7:03 pm
 | Near the end of the Gulf War (1991), the Kurdish population staged an unsuccessful uprising against the Iraqi Government of Saddam Hussein. After the Kurds attempt at freedom had been quelled, they fled to the mountainous region of the Turkish-Iraqi border because they feared an Iraqi military backlash. Due to their hasty evacuation, the Kurds were ill-prepared for the hardships that awaited them. They faced death from starvation, exposure, contaminated water and unexploded munitions remaining from the Gulf War. At the height of the crisis, the number of refugees rose to 750,000 with a death rate of 4 per 10,000 a day. Under the leadership of the United States, the United Nations and numerous allied countries and organizations joined together to end the human suffering. This is the story of the contribution which psychological operations, a proven force multiplier, made to that noble international endeavour. Published by the US 4th PSYOP Group. (PDF, 5.3Mb). |
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