---

Ancient Psychological Warfare Was the Beginning of Tyranny. We Must Look at History to Teach Us the Warning Signs of the Police State That Grows Today in the US.

---

As long as mankind has existed, humans have been warlike.

Ancient psychological warfare had its origins in the Stone Age when Neanderthals threatened each other with sticks and stones and used psychological tactics and strategies to subdue the enemy.

The intention of war, after all, is not to destroy the enemy but to subjugate them. Destruction of the enemy is definitely the second choice in most warlike endeavors.

This is where psychological warfare comes in and it can be traced as far back as the first moment man stood up on his hind legs.

It will be useful here to give a definition of psychological warfare as it is used today.

Encyclopedia Britannica defines it as “the use of propaganda against an enemy, supported by whatever military, economic, or political measures are required.”

The aim of ancient psychological warfare was and still is to demoralize an enemy or to win them over to a different point of view.

Ancient biblical texts describe the Israelite army using ancient psychological warfare tactics against their enemies, including banging loud cymbals and shouting to scare the enemy.

Assyrian armies used techniques designed to influence by intimidation as much as by military force.

The ancient Greek and Roman armies used many kinds of techniques to inspire fear and awe in the countries they invaded.

Also, there are detailed records of ancient psychological warfare practiced by Genghis Khan.

His conquests were aided by expertly planted rumors about large numbers of ferocious Mongol horsemen in his army, which inspired terror in the hearts of his enemies.

---

---

21st Century Warface

More recently, special psychological warfare units were a major part of the German and allied offensives in World War II.

The Nazis used many of the techniques employed by the ancient Romans to impose their will on the countries they invaded, such as the use of the eagle symbol and the swastika, which is an ancient Hindu symbol.

Psychological warfare was also widely practiced by the U.S. armed forces during the Korean and Vietnam wars.

Strategic psychological warfare as practiced today may be described as mass communication directed at a very large audience or over a considerable expanse of territory.

Tactical psychological warfare, on the other hand, implies a direct connection with combat operations, such as demands to surrender and calling the enemy cowardly through broadcasts and loudspeakers.

Today there is another type of psychological warfare called consolidation psychological warfare.

Consolidation psychological warfare involves communications distributed to the rear of one’s own advancing forces with the aim of protecting the lines of communication, imposing military governments, and preparing the way for such governments to carry out administrative tasks.

---

Psychological Warface Today

Although modern psychological warfare has come a long way since the basic practices of ancient psychological warfare, the aim is the same: to subdue and control the enemy by psychological means rather than brute force.

Much of today’s psychological warfare is fought by means of the technological distribution of information.

The term ”information warfare” refers not to a single notion or technique but to an array of tools and techniques centered around the concept that military success relies on the dissemination of ideas just as much as the deployment of weapons and the use of tactics.

Thus modern psychological warfare is a very refined sort of warfare involving the popular media and many technological means.

---

Libicki’s Definition of Information Warface

Martin C. Libicki, of the National Defense University, has identified seven distinct areas of information warfare.

He describes this set of seven as: intelligence-based, command and control, electronic offensives, psychological tactics, and information warfare involving economics.

Finally he cites cyber-warfare and computer hacking as examples of techniques of information warfare.

These are highly targeted types of psychological warfare and examples of these in practice include several of the techniques applied by the United States in modern conflicts.

The offensive in the Gulf War of 1991 and the overall campaign of ”shock and awe” waged as part of the 2003 Operation Iraqi Freedom are further examples.

What psychological warfare are we seeing today? As citizens we should look for brainwashing through every source of communication, especially including the popular media.

This is where the average citizen spends the most time and is therefore the mnost susceptible. Warfare isn’t just for warriors, after all. 

---

---