Psychology Of War

Since the beginning of time, when men could barely communicate and modern technology was only a dream, war has been prevalent as a means to attain glory, land and personal wealth. Although motives and weapons have evolved, war has been a common occurrence aimed at securing nationalistic goals or heightening fame and fortune. There are however, two types of wars. The more common and stereotypical is a physical war where people are killed and injured and victory is attained by annihilating the enemy or destroying its territory. The other type of war is the moral war, the war on the mind. The war on the mind, also known as psychological warfare, can, if used properly, be a very effective means of assuring victory and success. It is a bloodless
war that Edward Hunter likens to communism, which infests the minds of the people, turning them into slaves of the tyrant. "Great areas with enormous populations have fallen into the hands of the Reds, not through any approximations of the democratic process but through sheer power pressures, psychological warfare."(Edward Hunter) In a sense, the war on the mind is waged in order to convince the enemy that resistance is futile, to change the enemy 's perspective on the war 's outcome so that their views correlate more directly with those of the attackers. Psychological warfare can be used by itself or jointly with conventional military efforts to maximize the chances for victory.

There are many ways to reap the benefits of psychological warfare. From America 's "Shock and Awe" strategy of intense aerial bombardment of Iraq to simple propaganda to terrorism, psychological warfare has many devilish heads, each potent and powerful if used correctly. President Dwight D. Eisenhower characterized psychological warfare as anything "from the singing of a beautiful anthem up to the most extraordinary kind of physical sabotage." Almost anything that affects the emotions and behavior of an enemy can correctly be called psychological warfare. Even simple catch phrases such as "Remember the Alamo," or, "Give me liberty or give me death," create and instill such intense nationalistic feelings within people that they can be considered a form of psychological warfare. (Psywarrior) Words such as these can inspire and motivate people to accomplish things that they would have otherwise left untried and to feel passionately about ideas and causes that they would have otherwise neglected. The Psychological Division of the Allied Command claims that, "Psychological warfare is the employment of propaganda in a manner that breaks down the resistance of the enemy, demoralizes its armed forces and supports the morale of the allied forces." The psychological effects of propaganda and other types of psychological warfare are aimed at destroying an enemy 's will to fight, at defeating the enemy while incurring no casualties.

For any type of psychological warfare to be successful however, the propaganda needs to be administered correctly and used at exactly the right time. To create effective propaganda that convinces the enemy, you must know your enemy. His religion, beliefs, traditions, morals, likes and dislikes are all extremely crucial in developing the perfect psychological tactics that will accomplish the goal. For example, dropping leaflets on Nazi Germany that simply curse the Nazi regime and explain how crass, immoral and disgusting Hitler and his henchman are not only proved useless, but likely stiffened the will and increased morale amongst the Germans. Rather, "you must know your enemy 's beliefs and use them against him using intelligence, reconnaissance, research, defectors" in order to develop a capable psychological warfare campaign. (Psywarrior) You must study the enemy and learn his psychological weaknesses and cultural fears. The more you know about a potential victim, the easier it is for psychologists to come up with types of psychological warfare that will inflict the most emotional harm. "Psychological warfare projects demanded scientific accuracy and academic integrity, to be sure, but they were at their heart applied research tailored to achieve narrowly defined political or military goals. Government agencies sought scientific data on the means to manipulate targeted populations at home and abroad." (Simpson) As CIA director William Colby pointed out, there are at least three types of propaganda that can be used to manipulate such audiences and achieve effective psychological warfare. These include white, gray and black propaganda. "White propaganda is issued from an acknowledged source, usually government or an agency of a government, including military commands at various levels. This type of propaganda is associated with overt psychological operations." (Linebarger) Gray propaganda however, will not identify a source. Black propaganda, arguably the most useful and immoral type of propaganda, attributes the propaganda to a false source and is often used in covert psychological operations. (Linebarger) The results of such warfare have remained unchanged since the art of using psychology to win a battle was first used. Psychological warfare has thus been used in almost every major war in human history.

One of the earliest documented accounts of a general using psychological warfare to defeat his opponent was that of Alexander the Great. In his conquest of Persia, he repeatedly left numerous soldiers in the cities he conquered in order to maintain peace and stability. By the time Alexander 's army reached India, his army 's ranks had been stretched extremely thin. If Alexander retreated, enemy commanders would see his weakness and attack him, assuring his defeat. Therefore, he left behind armor forged for giants so the pursuing attackers would believe his army was comprised of giants and would choose not to follow Alexander 's retreating soldiers. This type of illusion played on the fears of Alexander 's enemies because rumors had circulated for many years that Alexander had won many of his battles through the help of giants. Knowing your enemy 's fears is a critical factor in achieving successful psychological warfare.

Genghis Khan of the Mongols also used psychological warfare as a means to conquer his enemies and extend his empire. His army had the reputation of being both brutal and successful, persuading many to surrender before facing certain and terrible defeat. Ironically, much of the great Khan 's reputation was merely an illusion to confuse the enemy. "The Mongols used espionage to plan their campaigns and deliberately used rumor and other means to exaggerate accounts of their huge numbers, stupidity and ferocity." (Linebarger) Using rumor, Genghis Khan created for himself a reputation for being immensely powerful and unyieldingly fierce, forcing his enemies to think twice before facing him in combat.

Both the American Revolution and the Civil War were filled with psychological warfare. The patriots in the Revolution made extensive use of speech and the press in order to ignite passion for revolution amongst the people. Speeches given by great orators such as Sam Adams and pamphlets by Thomas Paine explained the need for revolution, allowing Colonial leaders to inspire their own people to war.

Abraham Lincoln also used a form of psychological warfare when he passed the Emancipation Proclamation, declaring all slaves free. At the point in time when Lincoln issued the proclamation he had no control over the South and was unable to compel them to free slaves. Consequently, the proclamation was symbolic in that Lincoln knew he would win and therefore claimed authority over Southern property. This helped keep European powers out of the war and added to the South 's demoralization.

The war that claimed the largest use of psychological warfare was World War II.
Both the Germans and the Allies made extensive use of various psychological techniques in an effort to destroy the morale of their opponents. Hitler created the Ministry for Propaganda and Popular Enlightenment, headed by Josef Goebbels, for the sole purpose of rallying and inspiring the German people around war and Nazi principles. "Blaming all the German problems stemming from the Treaty of Versailles on other factors including Jews and Americans, and using sensational oratory skills, Hitler and the Nazis held a hypnotic grip on the citizens of the Reich." (Psywarrior) "It was the Germans who developed world- wide pre-belligerent propaganda to a fine art. They exploited every possible disunity which could contribute to the weakness of an enemy." (Linebarger) The Germans tried to drive a stake between anyone and everyone as long as it delayed action against the Reich. "Three basic propaganda accomplishments were achieved by the Germans. First, in the political warfare field, they succeeded in making large sections of world opinion believe that the world 's future was a choice between Communism and Fascism. Second, in the strategic field, they made each victim seem the last. Thirdly, in the purely psychological field the Germans used outright fright." (Linebarger) As they slowly took over Austria and the Sudetenland before the blitzkrieg of Poland, the Germans made it seem as if this was their
last act of belligerency. Consequently, England and France, wearied from the First World War and fearing a second, were reluctant to oppose Hitler. The Germans also showed videos of past attacks to future victims in order to lower morale and decrease the prospect of resistance.

The Allies also used psychological warfare against the Germans. Besides the extensive use of leaflets throughout the war, the Allies used propaganda to make the Germans believe that the D-Day invasion would be launched at the Pas de Calais, the point in France closest to England, and not the actual attack point, Normandy. Even after D-Day, the Germans persisted for several weeks in believing the attack at Normandy to be merely a diversion for the forthcoming attack at the Pas de Calais. Consequently, Hitler kept the 15th Panzer Army stationed at the Pas de Calais for weeks while the Allies advanced in Normandy.

Psychological warfare operations have been used as recently as the past two wars with Iraq. In each war, the Unites States used minimal grounds forces, but subsidized their attack with an increase in technology and a barrage of psychological warfare. The president even created a psychological military department based in Fort Bragg, North Carolina that could carry out PSYOPS, psychological operations, throughout the world.

These PSYOPS were selected to convey certain material and information to the enemy in order to influence the emotions, motives, objective reasoning and, ultimately, the behavior of their organizations, groups and armed forces, with its effectiveness only limited by the ingenuity of the commander using it. (Psywarrior) United States PSYOPS consist of three distinct types: tactical, strategic and consolidation. Tactical psychological operations are directed at specific audiences, being supported and executed in localized combat situations. (Linebarger) Strategic operations, however, are targeted toward much larger audiences and may span from a few weeks to many years. Consolidation, which will be very prevalent in the reconstruction of Iraq, assist the civil and military planners in consolidating gains and "establishing and maintaining law and order in an occupied country." (Psywarrior) All types of PSYOPS however, are designed to reduce combat efficiency, promote the surrender of enemy troops and support the actual use of force.

The psychological department at Fort Bragg was responsible for the small fleet of EC-130 Command Solo aircraft that broadcasted the "Voice of the Gulf," an American information channel posing as an actual Iraqi radio station that attempted to convince Iraqis to put down their arms and surrender. The aircraft were able to scramble all other radio stations so that the American channel was the only one available. (Radio Netherlands) Furthermore, in both wars, an immense leaflet operation was carried out. Particularly useful in Desert Storm, the millions of leaflets that were dropped are thought responsible for the majority of the 87,000 soldiers that surrendered to coalition forces because most of them were caught clutching leaflets. The leaflets, which were designed by clinical psychologists with expertise in the unconscious dynamic of human behavior and motivation, contained messages that inspired Iraqi soldiers to give themselves up. Some contained messages such as, "Saddam exists no more," or "Surrender now and embrace your freedom." Still others were sent in succession of each other where two initial leaflets would be dropped on an enemy division warning of an upcoming bombing raid. After a devastating raid, if the enemy had not yet surrendered, another leaflet would be dropped warning that the next raid would completely destroy them if the previous had not. This package of leaflets along with sufficient military force proved very successful.

In Operation Iraqi Freedom, Saddam Hussein seldom talked, appeared in public or wrote responses to UN questions until the U.S. built up a massive force on the Kuwait border, showing Saddam that his time to respond was quickly disappearing. It took the prospect of war for Iraq to even allow arms inspectors back within its borders. In order to speed up the inspection process, Bush repeatedly threatened war. Additionally, when war finally began, the Pentagon and military planners wanted to weaken Iraqi resolve to fight by showing Iraq that they could under no circumstances win the war. This was done through pictures, a psychological tactic that personalizes the war, and through the now infamous "shock and awe" strategy where coalition bombers dropped an enormous amount of bombs on Iraqi targets to impress Iraqis with overwhelming force. A similar strategy was used against Japan in World War II, with the use of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. The devastating attack was meant to end the war and minimize American casualties by showing Japan the immense strength and power of the United States. Iraq used the Arabic T.V. network, Al Jazeera, in its own form of psychological warfare. They tried to show the world that the coalition was committing crimes against humanity by portraying pictures of maimed and killed Iraqi civilians. Palestinians use the same strategy against the Israeli army to cause a world outcry against the alleged inhumane tactics of the IDF.

The Palestinians and many other people throughout the world also use another violent yet reliable form of psychological warfare to advance their national interests - Terror. Terror is not only a war on the minds of a country 's citizens, but "it is aimed at the heartbeat of a people," causing intense fear and anxiety throughout the country. (Ganor) Terror is so profound because it is a random, sporadic array of attacks, targeting anyone and everyone, attempting to kill in the name of a cause. It is this randomness that instills anxiety in every citizen so that each person spends considerable time thinking of ways to avoid being the victim of the next attack. "By personalizing the attack, the attacker creates an irrational fear." (Ganor) People feel the need to connect themselves to an attack by remembering a time when they were previously at the location of the attack or by talking to someone who was. Instead of realizing that the chances of being a victim of a terrorist attack are far less likely then being a victim of a car accident, this form of psychological warfare instills an unparalleled amount of fear in the hearts of the victims. "By creating unremitting paralyzing sensation of fear in the target community, modern terrorism makes every individual fear that the next attack has his name on it so that people are not always interested in the amount of deaths but rather in the fear and the threats that precede an attack." (Ganor) The fear that terrorism causes creates a sense of helplessness regardless of any technological superiority that the country may have. A country suffering from extreme anxiety and fear is much more likely to be persuaded to concede to the demands of certain groups just to regain a sense of normalcy in their lives.

Although psychological warfare is carried out by soldiers, acclaimed psychologists are forming the backbone of the psychological departments in the military.
Psychologists are needed to figure out how the enemy feels and what psychological tactics will be most effective in each situation. Years of research are needed so that psychologists can "prescribe [effective] media, radio, leaflets and whispering agents " amongst an enemy. (Linebarger) Psychologists can understand more than anyone what will instill fear into the hearts of people so that a conventional war can be ended as quickly as possible. "He can show how to convert lust into resentment, individual resourcefulness into mass cowardice, friction into distrust and prejudice into fury." (Linebarger) Bibliography Ganor, Boaz. Psychological Warfare and
Terrorism.

www.ict.org.il/articles/articledet.cfm?articleid=443 Linebarger, Paul M. A. Psychological Warfare. Washington D.C.: Combat Forces Press, 1954.

Pyschological Warfare. www.psywarrier.com/psyhist.html Radio Netherlands. Iraqi Psy- War.

www.rnw.nl/realaudio/features/html/iraq-psywar.html Simpson, Christopher. Science of Coercion. New York, New York: Oxford University Press, 1994.