WARFIGHTING: Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon and the truth.
In 2016, two wks after the American election, this Handbook of Russian Information Warfare was published.
To cure the sickness, we must know what we are fighting.
Thread.
krypt3ia.files.wordpress.com/2016/12/fm_9.p…
1/ A NEW KIND OF WAR: The handbook, primarily based on Russian sources, was published by @NATO_DefCollege and brilliantly written by @KeirGiles who is adept at relaying complex matter simply, succinctly and comprehensively.
Below is his intro to “warfighting.”
2/ CHEAP TRICKS: Aside from the usual tyrannical blather about intellectual superiority, the bottom line: information warfare is cheap.
3/ WAR AND PEACE: The information warfare is waged during peacetime and is ongoing.
4/ ALL OF THE ABOVE: This “hybrid war” is all encompassing and traditional war lines blurred.
Psyops relayed by any memes necessary: smartphones, media, celebs, trolls, bots, leaders(!)...psych pressure, destruction of enemy computers...global networks.
5/ LACK OF CONSENSUS: While Western nations are still trying to define cyber warfare, the Russians are going all in.
6/ MIND AND MATTER: Russian information warfare is aimed at altering the minds of its target victims as well as the technical systems of entire countries... using any means available, during peacetime and war.
7/ FUNDAMENTALS OF DEMOCRACY: “Our doctrines do not allow us to do a lot of this stuff till the fighting basically starts.”
But Russia considers itself to be in a state of war... lies and denial embedded into warfighting to erode the spirit of the target nation’s population.
8/ IW: Like a tarantula hawk wasp paralyzing its prey, Russia uses information warfare to “incapacitate a state as much as possible before that state even knows a conflict has started.”
New tech based on 100-year-old thinking.
And like the spider, citizens lose consciousness.
9/ WAKE UP AMERICA: “...a massive dedicated impact on the consciousness of citizens...within a matter of days... deprived of actual sovereignty without the state’s territory being seized.”
IW’s aim: regime change... “through destroying the organs of govt.”
Well done TrumPutin.
10/ PERCEPTION MANAGEMENT: The Russian military mind works backwards from the selected objective... IW (information warfare) is used to direct the people of the victim country to support the aggressor acting against their own interests... choosing actions advantageous to Russia.
11/ AGITATION AS WARFARE: What if our decision-making is being agitated toward a specific outcome... what if.
12/ POLLUTED INFORMATION: Lying is the message.
Parroting falsehoods lends authority to complete and utter bullsh*t, which is a boon for the aggressor in warfighting.
Everything we’ve ever stood for is at stake, and yet, MSM parrots away.
13/ SUBVERSION AND DESTABILIZATION: “Trusted media sources” spread propaganda—wittingly or unwittingly—validating Russian narratives.
History is revised and propagandized as part of foreign policy, an undermining of truth and democratic principles, while IW victim-nations assist
14/ ACTIVE MEASURES:
* Influencing policies of another govt
* Undermiming confidence in its leaders and institutions
* Disrupting relations between other nations
* Discrediting and weakening governmental and nongovernmental opponents
Sound familiar.
15/ DISMISS, DISTORT, DISTRACT, DISMAY: Our freedom of expression and human rights are being targeted by surgical disinformation attacks and resulting in a demoralized public.
16/ UNPREPARED FOR ACTIVE DEFENSE: As mass media stirs up chaos, IW front groups go unchecked...the infiltration both foreign and domestic. Author Giles, when citing Russian sources, notes they refer to Western aggression. Clearly, in post-modern times the mirror is double-sided.
Share this Scrolly Tale with your friends.
A Scrolly Tale is a new way to read Twitter threads with a more visually immersive experience.
Discover more beautiful Scrolly Tales like this.