“Psychological warfare is probably man’s oldest weapon, aside from bare hands. In using it in today’s dirty, secretive wars, or in the future, the important thing to remember is that it is a weapon and that a weapon has its own unique use and its own effect.”
—Col. Edward G. Lansdale, “Military Psychological Operations: Part 11,” lecture delivered at the Armed Forces Staff College, Norfolk, Virginia, in March 1960
Kayfabe: the portrayal of staged events in professional wrestling as real. Using the pro wrestling lexicon to describe American politics is increasingly apt. The distinction between "kayfabe" and "fake" is subtle yet significant. In wrestling, sometimes the blood is real, and occasionally, performers deviate from the script.
At its core, the language of wrestling serves as a prism, splitting the bright line between the sacred and profane into its elemental parts, revealing the metaphysics that divide public and private sorcery. Wrestlers, akin to magicians wielding their unique language, conjure an exclusive sphere that separates them from the larger world. This vernacular, infused with the flavor of the carnie, draws its lineage from the circus. ‘The work’1 whether in the carnival or in the psychotronic war, requires deception. Mundus vult decipi: the world wants to be deceived.
National politics is kayfabe writ large, the images within the squared circle are titanic. Wrestler Trump built the wall with his own hands, the Corpse Biden is a cyborg sent to humiliate the crowd, telling them to take the UFO vaccine. The fiction overwhelms the constraints of reality, and the feelings suplex the facts. All this is revealed in the grimoire of the kinetic clown.
This PSYWAR primer should also serve as a prism, splitting apart the spectrum of legible concepts, so that we may salvage a few beams of light. At this very moment, when the lens of ‘common sense’ is orbiting the notion that ‘weaponized agencies’ are indeed engaged in hybrid warfare against the American people, all terms related to ‘PSYOP’ have started to distort as they undergo 'kayfabulation'.2.
Reminder, a very similar transmutation occurred in 2016 with the "deep state". Now, people must resort to using the "permanent state" or “the regime” to avoid losing status and credibility. Regrettably, we can expect many more useful words and phrases to be drawn into the rhetorical vortex in the upcoming election cycle. To preempt this and establish some solid ground away from the quagmire of 2024's "meme magic," I present to you this concise PSYWAR Primer.
This primer's structure rests on one fundamental assumption: if the intelligence community is indeed executing psychological warfare campaigns on the American populace, isn't it crucial for us to investigate their techniques?
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has a history of engaging in efforts to influence public opinion, both at home and abroad. These actions were supposedly countermeasures against the activities of Communist organizations during the Cold War, or more recently, against "Russian web brigades". This involvement included funding various organizations, establishing "fronts" or "cut-outs", planting news stories, and leveraging mass media assets.
The CIA reportedly had ties with numerous journalists and media organizations (Operation Mockingbird), which drew scrutiny during Congressional investigations in the mid-1970s. In its bid to shape narratives, the CIA has also collaborated with the entertainment industry, endorsing certain productions while rejecting others, and developing intimate relationships with certain film and game production studios.
Such operations frequently involve some form of psychological operations, or "PSYOPS," which are designed to sway foreign adversaries or populations in favor of US military or political interests. However, these tactics have also been utilized domestically, whether to garner public support for new policies or to foster divisions within the populace. In essence, PSYOPS use targeted messaging, imagery, and information to elicit strong emotional responses, intended to stimulate action or induce passivity.
Understanding the mechanisms and implications of psychological warfare is critical in navigating the complex landscape of the modern mediasphere. The historical case studies of socio-technical interference by US entities in foreign countries, and the genealogical progression of these tactics from government-run operations to privatized endeavors, reveal an alarming trend. As the terms "psychological warfare" and "PSYOP" undergo 'kayfabulation', becoming contested meme-words rather than serious analytical concepts, it's important to reclaim the discourse and dissect the operations behind these terms. Thus, in the face of increasing domestic psyops, reducing our 'known unknowns' about these tactics becomes vital to maintaining psychosecurity3.
Operation Wandering Soul
Perhaps one of the better-known “supernatural” PSYWAR campaigns, Operation Wandering Soul was a psychological warfare operation conducted by the U.S. military during the Vietnam War. The aim was to exploit the traditional Vietnamese belief in "linh hon" or "wandering souls," which are spirits of those who die violent deaths away from their family homes, believed to wander the battlefields. The U.S. Army's 6th Psychological Operations Battalion created a haunting soundtrack known as "Ghost Tape Number 10," which consisted of eerie voices, moans, and shrieks, designed to instill fear in the enemy.
This audio was broadcast from loudspeakers mounted on helicopters, boats, or by specialist infantry, typically at night. The audio included sounds of crying women, a child calling for her father, and voices of fallen soldiers pleading with their former comrades to abandon the conflict. There were instances when the tape seemed to have worked, with reports of soldiers defecting after hearing it.
The overall effectiveness of this operation was mixed. In some cases, instead of creating fear, the tape provoked enemy forces to open fire toward the source of the sound, which ironically helped expose their positions. In spite of its variable success, similar psychological tactics have been employed in subsequent U.S. military campaigns. Some argue that such outlandish methods are becoming more prevalent, as the military increasingly utilizes psyops to persuade both domestic and foreign populations to support their causes. This shift is particularly noticeable as these audiences begin to experience "psyop fatigue".
The following excerpt is from "Ghost Tape #10”:
Tragic ... how tragic
My friends, I come back to let you know that I am dead ... I am dead
I am in Hell ... just Hell
It was a senseless death. How senseless ... how senseless
But when I realized the truth, it was too late ... too late
Friends ... while you are still alive ...
There is still a chance that you can be reunited with your loved ones
Do you hear what I say?
Go home ... Go home friends
Hurry ... If not, you will end up like me
Go home my friends before it is too late…Go home! ... Go home friends!
! Ve Di ! ... ! Ve Di Ban !
!! VE DI !! ... !! VE DI !!
{More Moans From the Afterlife}
—USASOC History Archives, “Vietnam War Collection.” Fort Bragg, NC, 1967
Though Operation Wandering Soul is often depicted as a wacky departure from the normal operating procedure, it was based on an already well-established genealogy of “combat anthropology”. During WWII, when the United States reached the Philippines, it had to manage the Japanese who were battling Huk rebels. The U.S., post-WWII, continued efforts to control the region, setting up a US-sponsored government and preparing an army to counter the Huks.
Lt. Col Edward G. Lansdale, a former ad executive and Air Force officer, arrived in 1950 as part of the CIA's covert operations. His blend of on-ground operations, propaganda, and political maneuvers became the blueprint for modern psychological warfare.
Noticing that soothsayers and astrologers were popular in Vietnam but their predictions were not published, Lansdale suggested creating an almanac for 1955 featuring predictions from renowned astrologers and other mystical figures, particularly those predicting a bleak future for the Communists. This almanac was sold at a low cost in the North, ensuring it didn't appear as propaganda.
Incredibly, the hastily prepared almanac successfully predicted certain events in 1955, including strife in Communist areas, conflict within the Communist leadership, and the violent quelling of farmers who opposed poorly implemented land reforms. The almanac quickly became a bestseller, with even a large reprint selling out immediately. It was reportedly the first of its kind in modern Vietnam.
These “hyperstitional”4 tactics were implemented in concert with more conventional approaches. Lansdale also manipulated the political environment, convincing Defense Secretary Ramon Magsaysay to run for presidency with CIA backing. When Magsaysay won in 1953, the CIA controlled his governance, writing speeches and policies, and manipulating public perception of their puppet regime. They even launched smear campaigns against Magsaysay's political rivals. This is also where the CIA practice of “preference cascading” policymakers with planted articles finds its roots:
“One inventive practice of the CIA on behalf of Magsaysay was later picked up by Agency stations in a number of other Third World countries. This particular piece of chicanery consisted of selecting articles written by CIA writer-agents for the provincial press and republishing them in a monthly Digest of the Provincial Press. The Digest was then sent to congressmen and other opinion makers in Manila to enlighten them as to ‘what the provinces were thinking’”
—Killing hope : US military and CIA interventions since World War II ,Blum, William
Overall, Lansdale's pioneering work in psychological warfare significantly influenced U.S. operations and effectively facilitated the CIA's control of the Philippines during the latter half of the 20th century.
The Ascendancy of the Trickster in American Psywar
Conventional military men think of combat psywar almost exclusively in terms of leaflets or broadcasts appealing to the enemy to surrender. Early on, I realized that pyswar had a wider potential than that. A whole new approach opens up, for example, when one thinks of psywar in terms of playing a practical joke.
"PRACTICAL JOKES” BY General Edward Gary Lansdale, The Art and Science of Psychological Operations: Case Studies of Military Application. Volume Two
The preceding quote was taken from In the Midst of Wars: An American's Mission to Southeast Asia, an autobiographical account, detailing Lansdale's experiences during his assignments in the Philippines and South Vietnam. His efforts to employ a more nuanced, "hearts and minds" approach to combating insurgencies and his disagreements with conventional military strategies offer insight into the complexities of PSYWAR’s 20th century evolution.
In the chapter titled "PRACTICAL JOKES”, Lansdale discusses his use of humor as a countermeasure against Communist and authoritarian regimes. He recounts an anecdote from Europe where he used a laxative-laced hot beverage to distract demonstrators from violence.
Next, Lansdale narrates his use of local superstitions in the Philippines to boost the effectiveness of psychological warfare. For example, he manipulated the fear of an 'asuang', or vampire, to persuade a local Huk (Hukbalahap, a Communist guerrilla movement in the Philippines) squadron to relocate their base. This strategy defused a standoff with local politicians who were apprehensive about potential attacks if government troops were moved.
“A combat psywar squad was brought in. It planted stories among town residents of an asuang living on the hill where the Huks were based. Two nights later, after giving the stories time to circulate among Huk sympathizers in the town and make their way up to the hill camp , the psywar squad set up an ambush along a trail used by the Huks. When a Huk patrol came along the trail , the ambushers silently snatched the last man of the patrol , their move unseen in the dark night. They punctured his neck with two holes, vampire-fashion, held the body up by the heels, drained it of blood , and put the corpse back on the trail.”