PSYOPS TAKES AIM AT RELIGION

By Tesha Miller

We must fear them, the mainstream news media constantly tells us. They expertly flash just enough video images of bombings or violent flag burning photos to rattle our nerves. The repeated sound-bites declare that "they hate our freedom" and suddenly, deep within our psyche, a new fear is successfully planted. One that is obviously a threat to the very fabric of our society and must be stopped.  From these commonly used inferences, are you able to know exactly who I am speaking about? Why is this the case?

Weapons of the mind are being used daily on US citizens to support floundering war efforts and understanding PSYOPS is critical to understanding the shaping of public opinion. If you can control the way people think about their world, if you can implant your ideology into society's mind, you are free to pursue otherwise unthinkable political agendas without obstruction.

Religion has been called the "opiate of the masses" and a bloody history of crusades and religious persecution are a testament to how powerful of a drug faith can be when handed over to zealots. In the US, early settlers fled religious persecution from state affiliated churches and gained the ability to worship as one saw fit. This liberation from a state supported church literally freed the mind from state induced religious dogma. This most sacred right and a core aspect to who we are as sentient beings, how you wish to worship your creator, was finally realized. Make no mistake about it, the right to worship is the ability to think freely.

Like the nations before her, propaganda has been used in war efforts to rally the support of the citizens in the US. Just as our military weapons have developed over time, so too have the methods for gaining public support in matters of international conflict. War is marketed to us just like any other product sold in stores. Early labor conflicts in the US taught the powerful that a managed message could suppress the knowledge of even the most egregious acts and squelch the efforts of dissent if properly used.

Press releases were later manufactured by the elite for this exact purpose and connected a state message directly to the public ear. Press releases were not about presenting facts but, about propagandizing a states actions. Next time you watch a press release from The White House, bear this in mind. They are telling you what they want you to believe to be true.  

Psychological operations are used as methods to serve the US in diplomatic, military, informational and economic activities. There are three types used: strategic, operational and tactical. PSYOPS can be employed to encourage discontent, disrupt, confuse, discourage aggressive acts and as an informational tool which influences decision making.

Considering that PSYOPS has been used abroad succesfully, during times of war and peace, why would the US be exempt from such mental attacks? In 2008 members of congress urged the FCC to investigate the Pentagon's propaganda program in order to verify if the Pentagon-backed analysts on major networks violated federal law. According to The New York Times, more than 75 retired military officers were hired as military analysts right before the Iraq War. These men were given classified Pentagon briefings, provided with talking points and given free trips to Iraq. Clearly, shaping public opinion does happen in the US by our own government.

As I watch the news media blitz surrounding such events as building an Islamic community center two blocks from ground zero or some wild-eyed fundamentalist Pastor planning to burn Qu'rans at a church, I can't help but to wonder why these particular religious buttons are being pushed. Why are inflammatory issues regarding personal faiths being force-fed to us in such an overt manner; ones which will likely incite more hostile reactions from religious zealots? To answer this question we need not look upward from bended knees, we need only to ask Uncle Sam what he's got in mind for us in the near future. I bet it has something to do with war, as it always does. The question everyone should be asking, as we watch this media generated spectacle unfold is...which nation is in the cross-hairs now? 

Comments

[Shirley]

Interesting article. I didn't knew this things by now. CASCO