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A House Divided – BBG vs. State vs. White House

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Screen Shot 2015-05-16 at 4.36.11 PMU.S. Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA), Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee’s criticized Voice of America (VOA) in the press release accompanying the reintroduction of the bill:  “The Agency’s recent budget request proposed ending its Central Africa broadcast services, contrary to the advice of the State Department, and at a time of Burundi and Rwanda’s greatest need.” (Bolded and underlined below so you can find it easily).

In fact, the White House instructed the agency to eliminate the foreign language broadcasts to Central Africa.

VOA appealed but was told by OMB to take out the already modest funding for the service (it has a staff of just three people reporting in Kirundi to Botswana!).

In this administration, the White House and the State Department are not on the same page.


Chairman Royce, Ranking Member Engel Reintroduce U.S. International Broadcasting Reform Legislation

Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA), Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and Rep. Eliot Engel (D-NY), the Committee’s Ranking Member, introduced the bipartisan H.R. 2323, the United States International Communications Reform Act of 2015.  The legislation improves the missions, objectives, and effectiveness of U.S. international broadcasters, which are overseen by the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG).  The Committee will consider the legislation at a markup on Thursday, May 21 at 9:30 a.m. [A section-by-section summary of H.R. 2323 is available HERE.]

On April 15, the Committee examined the destabilizing role that Russia is playing across Europe through its vast propaganda machine and the failure of the U.S. to respond effectively.  During that hearing, one witness stated that “to put muscle and focus into U.S. broadcasting strategy, the BBG must be reformed.”

Upon introduction of H.R. 2323, Chairman Royce said:  “Right now, groups like ISIS, Putin, and Iran are ‘weaponizing’ information to undermine regional stability and stoke violence.  We’re on the defensive and failing to cut through the misinformation with facts.  By clarifying the BBG’s mission, creating accountable leadership, and reducing the bureaucracy, more of the agency’s budget can be spent countering foreign propaganda – and not on Washington bureaucrats.  Former BBG Governors, think tanks, and government oversight agencies have all identified structural, functional, and cultural problems at the BBG.  The Agency’s recent budget request proposed ending its Central Africa broadcast services, contrary to the advice of the State Department, and at a time of Burundi and Rwanda’s greatest need.  This shortsightedness points to an agency adrift.  We don’t have the luxury of minor tweaks; this legislation responds to the need for complete overhaul.”

Ranking Member Engel said: “During the Cold War, the Voice of America, Radio Free Europe, and other U.S.-backed broadcasters were the global gold standard for transmitting honest, unbiased news around the world.  Today, the need for that information is just as great.  Authoritarian governments and extremist groups are flooding airwaves and covering websites with propaganda and misinformation.  Modern technologies have provided new avenues for disseminating lies and distortions to massive audiences.  Unfortunately, America’s ability to respond effectively hasn’t kept pace.  It’s time to breathe new life into American international broadcasting by modernizing and streamlining the BBG.  I’m proud to cosponsor this legislation with Chairman Royce and I’m eager to push forward with these needed reforms.”

H.R. 2323 reiterates the reforms proposed in H.R. 4490, legislation Royce and Engel introduced in April 2014.  The Committee unanimously passed H.R. 4490 in April 2014; the House passed H.R. 4490 in July 2014; the Senate never considered H.R. 4490.

The United States International Communications Reform Act of 2015:

  • Fixes Well-documented Management Problems. Currently, five U.S. international broadcasting entities report to the Broadcasting Board of Governors (“BBG”), a group of 9 part-time individuals, who meet once a month to make management decisions. Important decisions can languish if the Board does not have a quorum, which is often the case. This legislation would establish a full-time, day-to-day agency head and reduce the role of the Board to a more appropriate advisory capacity. These changes have been recommended by the State Department’s Office of the Inspector General and are widely recognized as needed reforms.
  • Clarifies the Mission of the Voice of America (VOA). The VOA charter states that VOA will provide a “clear and effective presentation of the policies of the United States.” Over time, VOA has abandoned this mission and adopted a mission of the so-called “surrogates” to provide uncensored local news and information to people in closed societies. This legislation makes clear that the Voice of America mission is to present the broad foreign policy of the United States and “tell America’s story.”
  • Consolidates “the Freedom Broadcasters.” Radio Free Europe-Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), Radio Free Asia (RFA), and the Middle East Broadcasting Network (MBN) have the same mission – to provide uncensored local news and information to people in closed societies – with different geographic reach. Consolidating these organizations into a single, non-federal organization will achieve cost savings, allow for closer collaboration, and improve responsiveness. While the consolidation would mean shared administrative staff and other economies of scale, they would retain their distinct “brand names.”

Chairman Royce and Ranking Member Engel’s letter to the Broadcasting Board of Governors regarding proposed cuts to the Central African service can be found HERE.

In addition to Chairman Royce and Ranking Member Engel, H.R. 2323 is co-sponsored by Rep.Chris Smith (R-NJ), Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA), Rep.Steve Chabot (R-OH), Rep. Ted Poe (R-TX), Rep. Matt Salmon (R-AZ), Rep. Jeff Duncan (R-SC), Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA), Rep. Albio Sires (D-FL), Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA), Rep. Ted Deutch (D-FL), and Rep. Bill Keating (D-MA).

Source: http://foreignaffairs.house.gov/press-release/chairman-royce-ranking-member-engel-reintroduce-us-international-broadcasting-reform


Filed under: Information operations Tagged: BBG, State Department, White House

Kerry Helped Free U.S. ‘Spies’ Trapped in Ukraine

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LET’S MAKE A DEAL. PHOTOGRAPHER: MIKHAIL KLIMENTYEV/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

Every US aid worker is a spy, according to the Donetsk People’s Republic.

Gimme a break.  With geniuses like this in charge, how can the DNR possibly hope to survive?

Mr. Lavrov, thank you for your assistance.


When Secretary of State John Kerry earlier this month was planning the first high-level talks between Washington and Moscow in years, he faced a problem: Two American aid workers were secretly being held by Ukrainian separatists.

On April 29, the self-proclaimed government of the Donetsk People’s Republic announced it had expelled seven Western aid workers accused of spying. But that was a lie. Only the five European aid workers detained were let go, while two Americans — a doctor and a humanitarian worker with the International Rescue Committee — were kept for nine more days. During that period, a network of aid groups and international organizations worked quietly behind the scenes to secure their release. They were finally freed on May 8.

What’s never been reported is that during those tense days, Kerry personally intervened and raised the issue over the phone with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, asking him to use Moscow’s influence over the Donetsk separatists to secure the release of the two Americans, a senior administration official told us. Several diplomatic sources told us that Lavrov came through, making it clear to the Donetsk leadership that holding the Americans longer was not a good idea.

The prime minister of the Donetsk People’s Republic, Aleksandr Zakharchenko, told the Russian media that he had decided to release the Americans before “Victory in Europe Day,” the Russian holiday that commemorates the Nazi surrender in 1945. “We freed two in the run-up to the May 9 holiday, one of whom was an employee of the CIA, the second was recruited by the CIA.” he said. “They were here in order to carry out intelligence gathering activities.”

Zakharchenko said the IRC employees had been caught trying to make contact with local officials and collecting information about local support for the separatist government. After the release, he said, he handed over confiscated electronic listening devices to American authorities. “This is the first diplomatic scandal for our republic,” Zakharchenko said, framing the negotiations over releasing the aid workers as a de facto U.S. recognition of his banana republic inside eastern Ukraine.

The International Rescue Committee told us the Americans, as well as aid workers from other countries, were not spies. Collecting information from locals is part of the regular work the IRC does in places such as Ukraine. Focus groups help determine the need for aid and inform the IRC’s response, they said. “Those allegations are untrue,” spokeswoman Colleen Ryan told us. “These are two humanitarian workers — impartial, neutral and focused on helping people whose lives have been ripped apart by the crisis.”

Ryan confirmed that several organizations, including the U.S. government, were involved in the diplomatic process to secure the workers’ release. Administration officials declined to comment about the detained Americans, citing privacy concerns. The IRC has suspended all of its programs in eastern Ukraine indefinitely.

IRC president David Miliband, a former British Foreign Secretary, said in a statement that the Donetsk separatist government’s actions were a blow to the overall ability of humanitarian groups to Ukrainians as the crisis continues. “In recent years, we have seen a concerning escalation in violence directed at humanitarians workers, particularly in conflict-ridden areas controlled by non-state actors,” he said. “These are women and men who have dedicated their lives to humanitarian aid — under no circumstances should they be targeted.”

Just before the Americans were released, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken had some harsh words for the separatists, accusing them and Moscow of violating the Minsk agreement reached in February. That pact was meant to end the violence between the Ukrainian military and the Russian-backed separatist forces, but is fraying badly.

“Violence is being perpetrated almost exclusively by the separatists and by the Russians who back them and indeed provide command and control,” Blinken said in Washington on May 8. “Every point of conflict is a result of the separatists trying to extend their territory, backed and supported by Russia, and the Ukrainians are acting defensively.”

Kerry finally met with Lavrov and Putin four days later in Sochi, Russia, where he struck a markedly different tone. He urged the Ukrainian government of President Petro Poroshenko not to be militarily aggressive. “If indeed President Poroshenko is advocating an engagement in a forceful effort at this time, we would strongly urge him to think twice not to engage in that kind of activity, that that would put Minsk in serious jeopardy,” Kerry said.

The Russian media heavily publicized Kerry’s comments, and the New York Times reported that his visit was widely interpreted in Russia “as a sign of surrender by the Americans.” Putin was able to show the world that the U.S. had no choice but to acknowledge Moscow’s important role in the world.

This is hardly the case. For Kerry, visiting Russia is not a concession to Putin. There are a host of issues he wants to work with Russia on, despite the impasses over Ukraine, including diplomacy on Syria and Iran. We previously reported that Kerry had been trying to arrange a trip to Russia for several months, and even scheduled one last fall that fell through at the last minute. Kerry and Lavrov’s successful effort to free two imprisoned Americans shows that their relationship, the only functioning high-level channel of communication between the two governments, can occasionally have benefits. There’s little upside to cutting off relations with Moscow completely.

Still, the lack of agreement on any other front in Sochi shows there is still a huge gap between how the two governments view the relationship going forward. Washington wants to trade sanctions relief for Russian withdrawal of support for Ukrainian separatists. Moscow has made it clear it has no intention of even entertaining such an exchange. The release of the two American aid workers could be the last true joint effort between the U.S. and Russia for the foreseeable future.

To contact the authors on this story:
Josh Rogin at joshrogin@bloomberg.net
Eli Lake at elake1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor on this story:
Toby Harshaw at tharshaw@bloomberg.net

Source: http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2015-05-19/kerry-helped-free-u-s-spies-trapped-in-ukraine


Filed under: Information operations Tagged: Donetsk People's Republic, Russia, Ukraine

If You Type ‘N—- House’ Into Google Maps, It Will Take You To The White House

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Screen Shot 2015-05-19 at 6.32.03 PMI just verified this, it’s true. I even used the N word ending with a and er.

This is horrible, racist and unforgivable.

Google, Google maps, this must be fixed – IMMEDIATELY!


President Barack Obama is no stranger to Internet racism, but this is just ridiculous: typing “nigga house” into Google Maps can land you at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

A screenshot of the glitch, confirmed by HuffPost Politics, was posted to Twitter by a user named Bomani Buckhalter.

“The screenshot first appeared from a fellow Howard University alum in our alumni GroupMe. I tested it out myself, and it started to spread rapidly in the other Howard University/DMV area GroupMe,” Buckhalter told The Huffington Post.

“It is location based, so [for] some of the students that are not currently in D.C., the search result was different. However, even if you’re not in D.C., ‘nigga house Washington D.C.’ shows the same result,” he added.

google maps nword house

Dropping the “a” and opting for the proper spelling of the slur achieves the same results for users in the D.C. area:

white house nword er

As Buckhalter noted, results can vary depending on a user’s location. One Twitter user found that typing the term into Google Maps took her straight to a Waffle House.

It’s unclear exactly what’s happening here, and Google did not immediately respond to HuffPost’s request for comment.

Google Maps has fallen victim to pranks in the past. Bryan Seely, who has created fake listings for the U.S. Secret Service and the FBI in Google Maps, explained to Search Engineland how hackers typically create such listings:

You create a business in Google Maps at an address where you can receive mail and with a phone number you can receive calls to. You get Google to send you a verification postcard to the address. Once the business is verified, you delete it from your account. Then you use another Google account to claim this now orphaned business. You gain control over it by doing verification via phone. Once that’s happened, you’re free to move the business to anywhere you want, change the name and alter other details.

Seely used this scheme to create a fake Google Maps entry last month for Edwards Snow Den, a “snowboard shop” with the same address as the White House. As far as we know, the famed NSA leaker was not anywhere 1600 Pennsylvania Ave at the time.

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/05/19/white-house-nigga-house_n_7323690.html?utm_hp_ref=black-voices&ir=Black+Voices



Filed under: Information operations Tagged: Cybersecurity, Racism

A Mighty Girl

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This has nothing to do with information operations, public diplomacy, influence, strategic communications or even propaganda.

This has everything to do with what is right, what is just, and the indomitable human spirit.  What an inspiration.


Ingeborg Rapoport was denied her PhD at the University of Hamburg in 1938 for “racial reasons” due to her Jewish heritage. Last week, the 102-year-old Rapoport at long last had the opportunity to defend her doctoral thesis on diphtheria before an academic committee — 77 years after she completed it. After she aced her oral exam, her PhD was approved and the degree will be awarded to her in a ceremony next month in Hamburg. When this Nazi injustice from decades ago is finally righted, Rapoport will become the oldest person in the world to ever receive a doctoral degree.

Rapoport was 25 years old when she submitted her thesis on diphtheria, an infectious disease that was a leading cause of death among children at the time. Her professor praised her work but, as Rapoport told The Wall Street Journal, “I was told I wasn’t permitted to take the oral examination.” Although she was raised as a Protestant, Rapoport’s mother was Jewish which, according to the Nazis, made her “a first-degree crossbreed” and ineligible for academic advancement. “My medical existence was turned to rubble,” she recalled. “It was a shame for science and a shame for Germany.”

That year, she emigrated penniless to the US where she did several internships at hospitals and eventually received her M.D. from the Women’s Medical College of Pennsylvania. After working for several years in the US and starting a family, she returned to Europe and founded the first neonatology clinic in Germany at Berlin’s Charité Hospital. Reflecting on her journey, she said, “I have never felt bitterness. I’ve been shockingly lucky in all this. For me it all came out well: I had my best teachers in the U.S., I found my husband, I had my children.” But in recent months, she began to wonder about the possibility of receiving her long-denied degree.

A Hamburg colleague of her son learned about her story and presented her case to the current dean of the medical school, Dr. Uwe Koch-Gromus. Koch-Gromus was determined that Rapoport should complete her degree — and that she should earn it, not be granted an honorary Ph.D., even though the university’s legal department said that was the simplest solution. Koch-Gromus arranged for Rapoport to do an oral examination on diphtheria, the subject of her original paper, and she began studying up on the past 70 years of diphtheria research. After her exam, Koch-Gromus said, “Frau Rapoport has gathered notable knowledge about what’s happened since then. Particularly given her age, she was brilliant.”

Rapoport will receive her doctorate at a ceremony in Hamburg on June 9, and in doing so will set a new world record for the oldest person to receive a PhD. Rapoport is thrilled to be receiving her degree at long last and pleased that the university is striving to amend this injustice. Koch-Gramus, she said, “has made a great effort to show that things are now different in Germany.” Most importantly to Rapoport, however, is the chance to reflect on the circumstances that preventing her from receiving her degrees decades ago: “I am happy and proud, but this is not about me. This is in commemoration of those who did not make it this far.”

To read more about Rapoport’s life in The Wall Street Journal, visithttp://on.wsj.com/1QLE3Oz

For an excellent book about courageous women who stood up to the injustices of the Nazi regime, we highly recommend “Women Heroes of World War II: 26 Stories of Espionage, Sabotage, Resistance, and Rescue” for ages 13 and up athttp://www.amightygirl.com/women-heroes-of-world-war-ii

For books about girls and women who lived during this period, including many who were impacted by Hilter’s “races laws”, visit out “WWII / Holocaust” book section athttp://www.amightygirl.com/…/history-biograp…/history-world…

For stories starring girls and women that encourage acceptance of differences of all types, visit our “Tolerance & Acceptance” section athttp://www.amightygirl.com/boo…/personal-development/values…

For Mighty Girl stories that emphasize the importance of justice, visit our “Fairness & Justice” section at http://www.amightygirl.com/boo…/personal-development/values…

Source: https://www.facebook.com/amightygirl/photos/a.360833590619627.72897.316489315054055/850250231677958/?type=1&fref=nf


Filed under: Information operations

Kremlin Conspiracy Theory

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If it’s on the Internet, it’s gotta be true, right?

A friend of mine who I really admire and trust, posted this today on Facebook.  I think… No, I pray she posted this as a joke.  This is so conspiracy theory like it deserves to be front page news on RT and pushed by the Kremlin, right?

But seriously folks, I have a little inflatable raft I’m going to blow up on the night of the 27th. Just in case.  I’ll throw in a package of Oreo cookies, just in case. Any excuse to eat an Oreo, right?

The video has some interesting logic.

I’m posting this as humor.  If Alex Jones, RT, Sputnik or Russia-Insider should pick it up as real news, I’m playing innocent.


Planetary Alignment Suggests Huge 9.8 Quake, California 28th May

According to YouTube user Ditrianum Media on May 28th 2015 there will be a series of planetary alignments where Venus and Mercury will be “charged up on the North-America / Pacific side” of the globe – which will cause a huge earthquake in California.

Nostradamus also apparently predicted the planetary positions for the day in a mysterious quatrain, where he writes:

The trembling so hard in the month of may,
Saturn, Capricorn, Jupiter, Mercury in Taurus:
Venus also, Cancer, Mars, in Virgo,
Hail will fall larger than an egg.


Filed under: Information operations Tagged: Conspiracy theory

Jade Helm Email

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Damn.

What a thing to read on a beautiful Sunday afternoon.

I received this email from a reporter friend, asking my opinion.  He didn’t seem to have a clue what the implications of this could be,

First, what an absolute crock of horsecrap, from beginning to end.

If I had to wager a guess, honestly, I’d say this is what the Soviets used to do, called “Active Measures.”  A false story meant to stir up angst, anxiety and/fears, based on the target audience’s unreasonable fears.

Seriously, it might be written by the Russians, I am not joking at all.

But, most likely, it is written by a conspiracy theorist trying to stir up the less than informed masses here in the US, who are paranoid as F about Jade Helm, a “government takeover”, a “military takeover”, martial law, or any of a number of less than sane conspiracy theories. That includes Alex Jones and his crap.

wee bit of analysis.

If someone was polling current military about this stuff, I would have heard about it.  If they attempted to poll retired military, I would have definitely heard about this. I didn’t hear squat.

Notice the broad numbers.  60%.  If this were an actual poll, we would see an exact number, not a rounded number.

“Enslave” under martial law. Martial law does not “enslave” anyone, that is solely intended to stir fear in someone.

There are few spelling errors, but one really pops up.  “withtheestablishment”  should be ‘with the establishment’.  Poor editing.

What’s with the (blank) websites?

Notice no names.  Notice no websites or sources cited. Notice the lack of references having to do with the “major study”, the poll, or the “Lt. General” (which, by the way, nobody shortens the rank that way – nobody).

Jade Helm is a legitimate Special Operations exercise and has stirred up all kinds of conspiracy theories, as was pointed out. It is a Public Affairs disaster.

Here’s the email he forwarded:

This May 24th Jade Helm update from Dave Hodges at the Common Sense Show is absolutely riveting. I am only including excerpts of Dave’s article, the actual email from the Lt General follows.

The Lt. General Speaks Out

On the morning of May 23rd, I was sent an email communication from a man claiming to be a recently retired Lt. General who was forced to retire in an Obama purge of military leadership in which the President has fired 270 command military leaders. He provided me with identifying clues so that I could verify his identity which I subsequently did. As a quality control check, I ran the same information by my two primary military sources. Both sources independently told me that they do indeed know both the identity of this individual and his former role and function in the military.
Lessons Learned

Back in November of 2012, when I broke the news about the attempted soft military coup in regard to the Benghazi story, I hesitated to publish my information for 10 days because I did not have outside collaboration for what I was being told. I almost lost my source as a result of my hesitation. As it turned out in this November 3, 2012 article, I was three months ahead of many outlets because the source was so controversial that many backed away from this topic. However, my information about the soft coup connected with the attempted rescue of Ambassador Stevens has proven to be accurate. I will not make the same mistake did with the Ambassador Stevens story. The Lt. General’s information is important and time sensitive. With his identity validated and confirmed, this is his message about the present national crisis connected to Jade Helm.
Revelations From the Lt. General

In 2012 this Lt. General  was part of a Pentagon study which studied how many military personnel would side with the government and how many could be counted upon to fire upon American citizens when ordered to do so. The 2012 Pentagon study reached the following conclusions:

Approximately 60% of active duty Army personal will side with the American people.

Eighty percent of the National Guard will not fire upon American citizens when, as the Lt. General said, “(not if Sir) but when the order is given to openly enslave the American people under Martial Law”.

Somewhere around 90% the Marines will side with the American people.

The Navy as a whole will stay out of the fight choosing to be the last line of defense against foreign intervention should the country fall into civil war. (Editor’s Note: Please refer to my previous reference to the fact that the Navy has engaged in five years of war games in order to keep most of its ships out to sea).

It is widely believed that in excess of 75% of the Air Force will side withtheestablishment.

Sir,

After reading your recent article “America’s Survival Depends on Stopping Jade Helm” on May 22nd, I felt compelled to write you. I was recently forced into retirement by President Obama along with 270 other flag officers after a distinguished career beginning on my 17th birthday when I enlisted in the Army.

I am not angry about being forced out (at least anymore) because it gave me the time to think about what is about to happen to America and what I could, would and should do.

In 2012 I was part of a Pentagon study which estimated that roughly 60% of active duty Army personal will side with the American people as will 80% of the National Guard when (not if Sir) the order is given to openly enslave the American people under Martial Law. Somewhere around 90% the Marines will side with the American people, the Navy as a whole will stay out of the fight choosing to be the last line of defense against foreign intervention. It is widely believed that in excess of 75% of the Air Force will side with government.

There are many within the active military both officers and senior NCO’s who see what is happening and what is coming. Many more than you can possibly imagine will not follow an unconstitutional order to move against the American people, nor will they allow foreign troops to openly attack American citizens. This would be the start of a fight these foreign forces could not possibly win as we will be fighting for our families, home, country and freedom. The Russian forces currently on American soil have no stomach for a fight with the American people, I know because I speak fluent Russian and I have met them and many of their officers, when push comes to shove they will stand down and go home. I have met President Putin and I found him to be a Nationalist, the man believes in Russia and while he is interested in expanding Russian influence and power it is because of the threat he sees from America, England and NATO not because he has designs on taking over America.

I was part of a major Pentagon study concerning how our military might react to the coming civil war, our forces will break down into three sides, Patriots, Government and those who choose not to take a side but will protect and defend civilians. With modern antiaircraft systems (mobile and man portable) air power will be all but useless. What we will see is a ground war, city by city, street by street. Additionally what is coming will be unlike any civil war in history, it will be very personal, the government will call the Patriots forces terrorists and traitors, they will arrest, intern, torture and murder suspected terrorists families, this will result in bloody reprisals which will start a vicious cycle lasting for years.

I have a son and a friend of the family both of which I am proud to say are excellent and decorated officers, my son commands a wing of Apache helicopters and the family friend commands an armored brigade. We were having dinner a few weeks ago with several current and former officers. As the evening wore on the mood turned somber as this very subject came up, they have all discussed this including what to do. As the evening concluded both of my son and my friend’s son, and to a man, all of the other officers O’s came together with one statement.

“Sir, when you need us we will be there”.

I am personally aware that many such meetings have taken place with similar pledges of support.

I have tried to teach my these young officers and the men under my command two overriding principals:

Never start a fight but always finish it, and when going into battle let your enemy know through your words, deeds and actions that while I migh die today, know that I will not die easily and God willing I will not die alone.

With Regards and Respect

Lt. General ___ (ret)

For a long list of eyewitness testimonials concerning the Russian troops that began being imported into the USA in 2012 visit the (blank) website and look in the menu on the right. I have been collecting these testimonies since 2012. The testimonies are sobering.

This whole thing is practically a joke if it weren’t so serious.

I was asked about this exact same thing by my Nephew today.  “B”, it is not true.


Filed under: Information operations Tagged: America, Helm, Jade Helm, Pentagon study, President Obama, President Putin

Feds’ ‘propaganda’ videos reflect ‘manic obsession with image management,’ undermine public service independence: experts

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The videos public servants shot of Employment and Social Development Minister Pierre Poilievre glad-handing constituents and explaining Conservative tax breaks are “propaganda” that show the government’s “manic obsession with image management,” experts say, and they’re undermining the public service’s independence.

Public service experts and critics on the political right and left are calling for reforms to federal government communication and advertising policies after The Globe and Mail’s Bill Curry reported May 15 that Mr. Poilievre (Nepean-Carleton, Ont.) had three public servants work overtime on a Sunday to film him talking to parents at a consignment sale in his riding about the Conservatives’ family tax benefits. Some are also calling for senior bureaucrats to intervene.

The government has already been criticized for its use of public funds for what many see as partisan advertising, and for Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s 24/Seven video series.

University of Ottawa research professor Ralph Heintzman—a former assistant secretary at the Treasury Board who wrote a paper for think-tank Canada 2020 last year about the politicization of the public service—said Mr. Poilievre’s videos provide “additional and very powerful evidence” that a Charter of the Public Service setting clear boundaries and regulating government communications is  “not only necessary but urgent.”

“They just prove the abysmal situation we’re now in and the urgency for measures to restore some degree of integrity and credibility to the public service,” he said of the videos, calling them “clearly partisan political propaganda” that contravene the Treasury Board’s basic rules.

The Treasury Board’s Values and Ethics Code for the Public Sector states that public servants should carry out their duties “in a non-partisan and impartial manner,” and that “chief executives are responsible for ensuring the non-partisan provision of programs and services by their organizations.”

Mr. Heintzman told The Hill Times that Employment and Social Development deputy minister Ian Shugart shouldn’t have allowed public servants and resources to be used in a partisan way, and he was critical of Privy Council Clerk Janice Charette and Treasury Board Secretary Yaprak Baltacioglu “for allowing this kind of flouting of the general principles and values of public service to go on and to demoralize the public service.”

Opposition MPs—including Liberal David McGuinty (Ottawa South, Ont.) whose private member’s bill would create an independent board to review government advertising and approve it as non-partisan—and NDP MP and Treasury Board critic Mathieu Ravignat (Pontiac, Que.) have called on Ms. Charette to explain why taxpayer money was used to create the “vanity videos.”

“If there’s any time in which the public service should be leaning over backward to emphasize its non-partisan character, it’s at this time,” Mr. Heintzman said, with a federal election five months away.

“If the clerk gave a clear signal that in a pre-electoral period she wants it to be clear to all the political parties that this is a non-partisan, professional public service that can serve any and all parties in an equally even-handed manner, she could make that very clear to her deputies and her deputies would know what to do.”

Mr. Heintzman said public servants should refuse to perform partisan tasks; while he admitted that’s difficult for those “down the food chain,” it “should be a piece of cake” for a deputy minister to intervene.

The major public sector unions have also criticized the videos as using public resources for partisan purposes.

Martin Ranger, legal counsel for the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada, said he doesn’t know of any complaints from members being asked to perform partisan work.

The procedure, he told The Hill Times, if there were such a complaint, would be to “obey now and grieve later”: the union would meet with the member to review the matter and discuss whether it’s worth filing a complaint under the under Public Servant Disclosure Protection Act to the Office of the Public Sector Integrity Commissioner.

A spokesperson for that office could not say, due to confidentiality provisions, whether any such complaints had been registered.

The Employment and Social Development department launched a five-member “creative production team” in 2008 that has a $50,000 annual budget, in addition to salaries, to produce video and photography.

The department said it followed government policies in making the video, pointing to Treasury Board communications policy that “institutions must maintain a capacity for innovation and stay current with developments in communications practice and technology,” and that ministers are the “principal spokespersons” to explain government policies, priorities and decisions.

The government’s communications policy, revised in 2006, states that “Public service managers and employees are expected to provide information services in a non-partisan fashion consistent with the principles of parliamentary democracy and ministerial responsibility.”

Mr. Poilievre defended the videos in question period May 15 saying that he’s proud to work seven days per week and that the opposition parties object because they don’t support the tax cuts.

“We will continue to deliver these benefits and I will work aggressively to communicate the benefits that families deserve and are entitled to receive,” he told the House.

Josh Greenberg, director of Carleton University’s School of Journalism and Communication, said the argument that the videos fulfill the responsibility to inform the public is “unpersuasive.”

“Given the proximity to the election, the clearly partisan tone of the videos, and the fact that public servants were paid overtime on a weekend to produce them, I would argue they clearly violate the spirit, if not the letter, of the rules and limits circumscribing legitimate communication between the government and public,” he said in an emailed response to questions from The Hill Times.

The videos don’t provide information in a non-partisan fashion, he said, and “explicitly undermine and erode” the public service’s impartiality and integrity.

“In many ways, the videos are yet another example of the current government’s persistent efforts to blur the boundaries between the neutral operations of the bureaucracy with its own partisan priorities,” he said.

Prof. Greenberg said the videos fit into the government’s efforts, already seen with the 24 Seven videos, to bypass the press gallery and traditional media and shape public opinion by speaking directly to Canadians, even if it’s not reaching very many of them.

When The Globe reported the story, Mr. Poilievre’s videos had about 300 views each; by press time on May 21, one had about 5,700, the other almost 7,500.

“The videos are consistent with the government’s manic obsession with image management, but also its commitment to transforming itself into a media organization,” Prof. Greenberg said.

The government’s communication policy needs modernizing to establish clear rules and roles for public servants, he said.

Aaron Wudrick, federal director of advocacy group the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, also said he didn’t accept the minister’s response that he’s informing Canadians about government policy.

“He’s not really informing them about the policies when he does these videos. He’s talking about the values behind them, the principles behind them,” Mr. Wudrick said in an interview.

“He’s panning the entire government record from 2006. This is not informational stuff—this is spin, this is propaganda. This is not something the taxpayer should be on the hook for.”

The CTF has already been critical of the advertising spending and called for a law similar to Ontario’s to govern partisan government advertising. The same individual or body evaluating ads could examine activities like the Poilievre videos, Mr. Wudrick said.

David Coletto, the CEO of polling firm Abacus, said the videos show a blurring of lines between electioneering and the public service.

“I don’t think you can deny that these videos that he’s producing are promotional and meant to increase awareness about what the government’s doing but also to have people view it positively,” he said in an interview.

But he’s not convinced the backlash in political Ottawa over the ads and videos will matter to average voters, or whether the negative attention would outweigh the ads’ benefit of promoting the tax breaks to voters.

“If you don’t pay a lot of attention to politics, you probably don’t know this is happening,” he said.

His research on the ads shows most people view them as information like any other government ad, he said.

mburgess@hilltimes.com

The Hill Times


Filed under: Information operations Tagged: propaganda, Public Information

Russia’s Armed Aggression against Ukraine


Putin Classifying Troop Losses Proves They’re in Ukraine – Analysts

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Legal amendments introduced Thursday that classify as state secrets any losses sustained during peacetime special operations are further confirmation of Russia’s direct involvement in the Ukraine conflict, legal and military experts told The Moscow Times.

The amendments, signed by President Vladimir Putin, make “information disclosing the loss of personnel … during special operations in peacetime” a classified state secret.

Putin has repeatedly denied any involvement of Russian troops in the armed conflict in eastern Ukraine. Asked to explain Putin’s move Thursday, his spokesman Dmitry Peskov had no immediate comment, Reuters reported.

Military servicemen who are killed, injured or go missing can be considered military losses, meaning their relatives will be forced to keep information about their deaths a secret, lawyers said Thursday.

“Even a death notification sent to parents or other relatives [of a soldier] can be considered a secret under this decree,” Ivan Pavlov, a leading lawyer in the field of government transparency who has successfully defended treason suspects, told The Moscow Times.

The federal list of what constitutes a state secret can be accessed publicly, but government agencies also compile their own lists that are themselves usually classified. Moreover, what the Defense Ministry classifies as a secret could be considered open information by the Interior Ministry, Pavlov said.

“If a citizen, for instance a journalist, obtains information that is considered a state secret, they face prison. The problem is that they might not even know it was a state secret,” said Pavlov, who successfully defended Alexander Nikitin, a former nuclear inspector who was accused in the 1990s of espionage for raising the alarm about the dangers posed by decaying nuclear submarines.

Truth and Consequences

Since the conflict in eastern Ukraine broke out following a popular uprising that toppled the former pro-Russian president Viktor Yanukovych last year, many journalists have investigated reports of Russian troops fighting — and dying — there. The Kremlin denies there are Russian soldiers fighting on the side of pro-Russian rebels in Ukraine.

Last August the Pskovskaya Guberniya newspaper published a series of articles alleging that secret funerals had been held for paratroopers from a local regiment believed to have been killed fighting in Ukraine. One of the newspaper’s main writers, Lev Shlosberg, was severely beaten by three unidentified men shortly afterwards.

Leading Russian opposition politician Boris Nemtsov was also working on a report about alleged Russian troop losses in Ukraine at the time of his murder in central Moscow in February.

Other journalists and human rights groups have attempted to find proof that the Russian army is directly involved in helping pro-Russian insurgents in Ukraine.

The St. Petersburg branch of the Soldiers’ Mothers Committee — an organization that campaigns to defend the rights of soldiers and their families — sent around 30 requests for information to military units that soldiers’ families and media reports have identified as suffering losses in 2014.

Only one unit responded in full, according to the NGO’s spokesman Alexander Peredruk.

“The main consequence of this law is that it will basically be impossible to obtain information,” Peredruk said in a phone interview with The Moscow Times.

“We won’t know what the statistics are, but the truth is, we didn’t know before either,” he said.

After Russia’s five-day war with Georgia in South Ossetia, which was referred to as a special operation, the General Staff announced that it had lost 74 servicemen there.

According to Alexander Khramchikhin, deputy director of the Institute for Political and Military Analysis think tank, there is no internationally accepted norm for classifying special military operations.

“Each country handles these questions its own way; for many this is not an issue. In the United States, such operations are completely classified,” he told The Moscow Times in a phone interview.

Ordinary Victims

The key point of the legal amendments is that ordinary people will suffer as a result of them, said Grigory Pasko, a military journalist and director of the Moscow-based Foundation for Investigative Journalism.

“The main victims of this decree are parents and relatives and also soldiers themselves who have gone missing or were killed in combat,” he said.

A former officer of the Russian Navy, Pasko served a prison term for espionage in connection with research he did for a report on environmental issues in the Sea of Japan.

Pasko said the Russian state already has all the necessary means to protect its secrets. The high treason article of the Russian Criminal Code says that in addition to espionage and disclosure of state secrets, “any other assistance rendered to a foreign state, a foreign organization or their representatives in hostile activities to the detriment of the external security of the Russian Federation” shall be punishable by up to 20 years in prison.

Svetlana Davydova, a mother of seven, was detained in January on suspicion of high treason over a phone call she made to the Ukrainian Embassy in which she warned that Russian troops might have been deployed to eastern Ukraine. She was released and the charges dropped in February.

Source: http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/putin-classifying-troop-losses-proves-theyre-in-ukraine–analysts/522577.html


Filed under: Information operations Tagged: #RussiaFail, #RussiaLies

Counter-Russian-Propaganda for 4 June 2015

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4 June 2015

Today’s feature is “The Russia Challenge”, a report from The Chatham House. Excellent. At #5.

At #11 is a Russian counter to it, which is absolute horse ca-ca.

  1. After today, Russia can forget about Europe lifting sanctions any time soon http://qz.com/419151/after-today-russia-can-forget-about-europe-lifting-sanctions-any-time-soon/
  2. Racism in Russia laid bare: more than 100 incidents in just two seasons http://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2015/jun/04/racism-in-russia-incidents-world-cup-hosts
  3. S. Creates Russia Sanctions Loophole to Counter Kremlin Spin http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-06-04/u-s-creates-russia-sanctions-loophole-to-counter-kremlin-spin
  4. Russia’s fancy new stealth fighter is in serious trouble http://theweek.com/articles/558397/russias-fancy-new-stealth-fighter-serious-trouble
  5. The Russia Challenge http://www.chathamhouse.org/publication/russian-challenge?dm_t=0,0,0,0,0# (From an Australian IW expert: Very good report on Russia produced by Chatham House in the UK. I had to concur with every single conclusion, although they fail to articulate everything that could be done to drive Russia out of Ukraine. An excellent baseline.)
  6. Western Defeat in Ukraine http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/05/opinion/roger-cohen-western-defeat-in-ukraine.html?_r=1 (Not counter-Russian-propaganda but, instead, necessary reading for perspective)
  7. Experts explain why Putin fighting near Marinka (Russian) http://inforesist.org/eksperty-obyasnili-dlya-chego-putinu-boi-pod-marinkoj/
  8. Russians Looking For The Exit http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-32976294
  9. Who Has Destroyed The “Mole”? http://www.rg.ru/2015/06/04/krot.html (Russian. Russian propaganda worth reading. A wee bit of conspiracy theory but not too much.)
  10. You do not want the Third World: Prepare for the Third World. http://cont.ws/post/91872 (Russian. Absolute horsecrap Russian propaganda. Read if you want your eyeballs to bug out in disbelief)
  11. Chatham House: The West Should Prepare For A Worsening of Relations With Russia http://ria.ru/world/20150604/1068051283.html (Russian. A Russian perspective of the Chatham House report (#5 above). Completely skewed from what the report says)
  12. Shoigu Discussed The Training of Peacekeepers With The Defense Ministers of the CTSO http://tvzvezda.ru/news/forces/content/201506040858-2mm8.htm (Russian. While Russia seemingly prepares for an invasion, this might well be a deception to lull the West into complacency).
  13. Days of America as a World Superpower are Numberd. What’s Next? http://mixednews.ru/archives/81139 (Russian.. No citations, no references, only an assumption of the cessation of the US as the World’s Superpower. Absolute Russian propaganda).

Filed under: CounterPropaganda, Information operations, Russia Tagged: #RussiaFail, #RussiaLies, Chatham House, propaganda, Racism in Russia, Russia, Russian propaganda

IOTA Global Selected to Partner with Norwegian Defence Research Institute

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Screen Shot 2015-06-05 at 12.38.19 PMPRESS RELEASE

IOTA-Global is delighted to have been chosen by the Norwegian Defence Research Organisation (FFI), the research arm of the Norwegian Ministry of Defence, to assist and advise in the use and future development of Information Operations for Norwegian national defence.

IOTA Global will work with FFI-project 1368, ‘Cyber and Information Operations in a New Security Environment’, and will supervise FFI in undertaking two specific studies involving Influence and Target

As part of the project launch, in Oslo on 2 June 2015, General Sveere Diesen (the former Chief of the Norwegian army) spoke of the growing importance of Information Operations, the absolute need to understand the motivations for audiences behaviours and the potential cost efficiency of IO compared with conventional kinetic operations.

Cdr Steve Tatham, Director of Operations at IOTA-Global, said he was “delighted to be contracted to assist the Norwegian Government. Following on from our recent major contract with the Canadian Government and NATO this was further proof of IOTA-Global’s world reputation for excellence”.

Norwegian Defence Research Establishment (FFI) is the prime institution responsible for defence-related research in Norway. The Establishment is the chief adviser on defence-related science and technology to the Ministry of Defence and the Norwegian Armed Forces’ military organization.

IOTA Global is an organisation of the world’s most recognised military Information Operations, Psychological Operations and Influence professionals, backed by proven social and behavioural scientists, who provide capability transfer and advice to governmental clients, globally.

IOTA-Global was recently selected by the Canadian government to deliver a seven week Target Audience Analysis training course to NATO personnel from eleven different member nations at the the NATO Centre of Excellence for Strategic Communication in Riga, Latvia.

Mr Henning André Søgaard

Project Manager, Cyber and Strategic Communications in a New Security Environment

Cdr (rtd) Dr Steve Tatham RN


Filed under: Information operations, Information Warfare Tagged: information operations, information warfare

IO in the Gerasimov Model of Warfare.

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http://kkrva.se/mot-vapnad-konflikt-ii/ ht to mj

Against Armed Conflict II

Very interesting discussion of the Gerasimov model of warfare. There is one paragraph about IO, quoted below. It brings up part of Russia’s new model of warfare.  I am developing a paper on the overall IW efforts, for publication. This article reinforces some of my points about IW.

The following paragraph is powerful (Translated from Swedish by my Chrome browser):

Information operations, mainly in the form of psychological operations via the media, continues with increased frenzy. The new budget for 2015 in Russia meant a significant increase in funding for both RT Rossiya Segodnya. Margarita Simonyan serving as Editor in both Entities and Rossiya Segodnya launched in November a major expansion abroad through the establishment of the new company Sputnik in 34 countries. We can clearly see how Russia organizes a structure for an escalation of information operations, which now also taken off. Among other things, can not handle the media in the West at all times to review the news critically anymore. On the west side, we have now begun to talk about how we should respond to this tidal wave of strategic communication and built misinformation, but without any major upshifts kvalitetet or quantity. At this operation line is an interesting indicator of which way the development goes. A consequence of the Russian model is that it comes to guaranteeing a future use of armed miliärt violence.

Notice the offensive nature of Russia’s use of media. The object of the formation of Sputnik by Margarita Simonyan was clearly to overwhelm the counter-offensive nature of Western media.  The natural defenses of Western media, that of collegial examination, discussion and response, is negated by Sputnik’s sheer volume.

It is mandatory for me to note that this is a whole of nation effort and a myriad of other non-military tools are at work.

Russia did not declare their objectives in any of their operations, so we must guess at every stage.  This will be the object of another blog, soon.


Filed under: Information operations, Information Warfare, Russia, Ukraine Tagged: information operations, information warfare, Russia

Adversary use of Social Media and Technology in 10 years

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I answered a question which contained the title on a group on LinkedIn and wanted to share my response and expand just a little.

Unfortunately, I don’t believe any mainstream scientists are looking out ten years. Next year, perhaps, but next year is almost projecting too far out.  Moore’s law and all that. There are little nodes, niche offices, which are looking out a generation or two.  Where they are, I don’t know.

Adversary? Todays friend is tomorrow’s enemy and vice versa. I can’t even count on some nation-states being in existence in ten years.  There are a lot of non-State actors on the rise and anarchists seem to enabling the technologies needed to supersede nation states.  There are basic problems with the concept of anarchy, so I don’t believe they will gain a true foothold.

Talking generically, perhaps a prediction can be made.

Something to bear in mind, if you will. I presented a class a few months ago, at Drexel University, about security and future technologies. Anywhere from ten to fifteen years from now some are predicting we will reach a point of singularity. At this point computers will be as smart and talented as their human creators.  After that giant strides will be made, humans partnering with computer assistance and input.

We’ve already passed the point of the beginning of wearable computers, on Apple Watches and Google Glass, for instance. We’re even seeing the advent of computer implants.

Put the internet on steroids, give it ten years. Turn up the heat and stir.

Ten years from now. 2025. I don’t think the brain/computer interface will be seamless yet, but it will be within grasp. Social media will be almost ubiquitous, but will probably but very generic.  It may be known as “the board”, “the forum” and will be a place within reach for everybody. Stills and vid will be in a cloud, connectivity will be everywhere there is a building nearby. I put it up versus uploaded, meaning anyone can reach it.

This raises the question of haves and have-nots.  Third world countries may still access the interweb (or simply the web) through cell phones and smart phones only, I can’t see the world’s economy changing that drastically in ten years.  Nation-States are going to fight like hell for their existence, we’ll certainly observe some very self-centered behavior, blockage of innovation and promotion of more corporations and oligarchs. The worst of mankind versus the best, I honestly can’t express an opinion which is good because both have their faults and advantages.

After this it gets fuzzy. I have my opinion that ‘we’ are going to see a reduction in individual mental evolution at the expense of a socialized (literally) – shared experience. I’m struggling to see how extraordinary talent and genius can be harnessed if we’re so limited by a ‘shared experience’ environment.

Articles expanding on this? Fuhgedaboutit. Perhaps the World Future Society, the CEO is a friend, but even DARPA is limiting their projections to three years max. Office of Net Assessments, perhaps…


Filed under: Information operations Tagged: Future, Prediction, social media

Unreal Propaganda

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A Russian propagandist is trying to say that Russian propaganda is good for you.

I agree.

  • Good for your digestive system – it provides roughage.
  • Good for the economy, but only if you print it out. Paper sales are in a slump.
  • Good for pharmaceutical sales. Sales of Aspirin and Tylenol will go up.  Unfortunately mind-altering substances will take a hit, there won’t be a need

If this is written as a satirical or parody piece, the author, Pavel Rodkin, seems to miss the basic concept of humor. If this is a serious piece, they’ve inadvertently introduced humor.

These two paragraphs are very thought-provoking.

Thus, at a certain point in history, Soviet propaganda started losing out to Western propaganda. This happened because, despite the sheer volume of propaganda and its well-developed institutions (and its contents, the ideology), the people stopped believing in and sharing Soviet propaganda.

It was openly laughed at. Under objective social laws, the resulting vacuum was filled with foreign propaganda, which ultimately led society to catastrophe. What caused such an estrangement of society? Soviet propaganda lagged behind the post-WWII level of education and development of society, which was fairly high in the Soviet Union. Propaganda was at a pre-war level and couldn’t be properly accepted by society, which was at a higher level.

The author continues, but begins to throw barbs at “the West” and Ukraine – for two whole sentences. It felt like the article was written and the editor said “put in something anti-American and anti-Ukraine”.

Overall, I got the feeling the author made a point and had to change it before he was allowed to hit the publish button. The continuity was shot at times.  Somehow the author understands how Russian propaganda is perceived:

propaganda is now equivalent to misinformation, lies, manipulation, brainwashing, etc. “Inconvenient” news, photo and video evidence is declared, in turn, propaganda, and is branded as fake.

Then the author jumps back into what looks, feels and smells like Soviet-style propaganda when making his final recommendations:

1) return institutional propaganda to the public agenda;

2) fill it with social, cultural and political meanings (ideology);

3) increase the level of propaganda to suit the level of society in order to avoid further disconnect.

This article appears to fight with itself.  …and loses, badly.


Real Propaganda

ZINOVIEV CLUB
14:56 09.06.2015

Russian society has yet to overcome the biases and the propaganda myths against propaganda, says Pavel Rodkin from the Zinoviev Club.

The particularly negative perception and attitude towards propaganda that exists and is spreading across Russian society has become an obstacle in communication between the state and society. The way out of this situation lies in bringing society back as a subject of propaganda and relaunching real propaganda, which in turn means Russia’s return to the real story.

The propaganda image of propaganda in Russia

Today, in Russia, a negative image of propaganda continues to be formed. The word itself makes people wary. This perception has developed as a result of myths implemented in the public and political agenda.

First, propaganda is presented as something purely Russian, as if in other countries, there’s no propaganda at the state and corporate levels and there’s nothing but objective news and truth in advertising.

This picture of the world appears truly terrifying: In it, Russia wages information wars, manipulates the minds of its citizens and deceives the entire civilized world. It was aptly described by Alexander Zinoviev: “throughout the history of the Soviet Union, the Soviet people have been receiving negative images of the West from the state ideology. There was nothing criminal or immoral about this. It’s a usual business in real history. After all, in the West, where there’s no single state ideology, the masses were, and now are, even to a greater extent, fed ideologically-driven and false notions about the Soviet Union and communist society in general. There was an unprecedented pivot in perception of the West, even in the official ideology. It rushed to the other extreme, with the consent of the highest authorities of the country and upon their instructions.”

Second, propaganda is now equivalent to misinformation, lies, manipulation, brainwashing, etc. “Inconvenient” news, photo and video evidence is declared, in turn, propaganda, and is branded as fake.

The positive functions of propaganda, such as spreading good values, principles and ideas of a particular society are completely excluded. Such an attitude is justified by historical references to the propaganda in Nazi Germany.

Third, propaganda is seen as a purely political tool. At the same time, corporate propaganda (marketing, branding, advertising, PR) is ignored and removed from the list of suspects, even though its role and importance in consumer society exert a no less powerful impact on humanity.

Fourth, propaganda is believed to be exclusively a function of the media. Other forms of influence on society (e.g., books denigrating a country’s history) are removed from the realm of propaganda and are granted the alibi of freedom of speech.

All of the above makes the following possible: first, to create a negative image of the state and separate it from society with a wall of “lies” and mistrust; and, second, make the ideology — the substantive part of propaganda — invisible and non-essential for understanding. Thus, denial of the right to propaganda (that is, one’s own propaganda) destroys and devalues public communication.

Ideology: Real propaganda

Even having cleaned propaganda in Russia from propaganda constructs and clichés, we won’t come to understanding real propaganda, its functions, structure, mechanisms, etc. Propaganda institutes are nothing more than ideological tools.

The real ideology is disguised. In many ways, this happens because it is often too inhumane; modern Western propaganda barely hides its visceral Russophobia.

It is precisely ideology in the form of propaganda that provides the real impact that can unify or destroy society. The Soviet Union collapsed not because of mechanical propaganda, but the indoctrination of its population during the Cold War.

As Zinoviev pointed out, “the official Soviet ideology was completely unable to defend the positive achievements of its social system and criticize the Western defects; it was unprepared for a massive ideological attack from the West. The country was stricken by ideological panic.”

Thus, society is the most important element of ideology. Society must become not only a passive object of propaganda, as is commonly believed, but also an actor in it, in order to be protected from external propaganda and viruses of mentality.

Society as object and subject of propaganda

Society is the real subject of propaganda. Propaganda’s effectiveness is secured not only by its substance, but, above all, by the people’s acceptance. In this sense, propaganda is able to broadcast any kind of nonsense and even outright lies, but if shared by society, it will work.

Thus, at a certain point in history, Soviet propaganda started losing out to Western propaganda. This happened because, despite the sheer volume of propaganda and its well-developed institutions (and its contents, the ideology), the people stopped believing in and sharing Soviet propaganda.

It was openly laughed at. Under objective social laws, the resulting vacuum was filled with foreign propaganda, which ultimately led society to catastrophe. What caused such an estrangement of society? Soviet propaganda lagged behind the post-WWII level of education and development of society, which was fairly high in the Soviet Union. Propaganda was at a pre-war level and couldn’t be properly accepted by society, which was at a higher level.

Interestingly, modern Western propaganda and its agents in Russia are revisiting this gap, the high point of which came in the late 1980s. Western propaganda today remains at an intellectual level of uncritical perception of the reality of the 1990s, and is perceived at best as another case of a “Psaki worldview.”

Society has advanced, having suffered a real understanding of many social and economic processes. Ukrainian society has yet to go all that way.

Resetting propaganda as a way to return to history

Russia doesn’t yet have its own working propaganda system. It is still in the process of being formed. In order for this process to take place, it’s imperative to resolve the following positive tasks:

1) return institutional propaganda to the public agenda;

2) fill it with social, cultural and political meanings (ideology);

3) increase the level of propaganda to suit the level of society in order to avoid further disconnect.

The latter task is particularly complex, multidimensional and important, as a decline in the public consciousness results in either dumbing it down or making it totalitarian. Thus, the transition to real propaganda marks the transition to real history. Remaining there is a matter of survival for Russia.

Source: http://sputniknews.com/zinovyev_club/20150609/1023125364.html


Filed under: CounterPropaganda, Information operations, Propaganda Tagged: #RussiaFail, #RussiaLies, CounterPropaganda, Pavel Rodkin, propaganda, Russian propaganda, Soviet Propaganda, Soviet Union, Zinoviev Club

Wednesday June 17th, 2015 – COL Carmine Cicalese – Chief, Army Cyberspace and Information Operations

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Carmen CicaleseAssociation of Old Crows Capitol Club

Luncheon Presentation, Wednesday June 17th, 2015

The Association of Old Crows (AOC) Capitol Club invites you to a briefing by

COL Carmine Cicalese – Chief, Army Cyberspace and Information Operations.

COL Cicalese will be briefing us on the Army Cyber Career Field. His bio is listed below.

Lunch will be served promptly at 11:30AM and the presentation will begin at 12:00 noon followed by informal discussion.

The Cost for attendees is $15 (cash or checks only) collected at the door. Please RSVP your attendance prior to 5:00 PM Monday, June 15 to CrouseKL@aol.com.

Remember, space is limited so please take a minute to reserve your seat by RSVP-ing to CrouseKL@aol.com no later than 5:00 PM Monday, June 15.

On behalf of the Capitol Club of the AOC, I hope to see you there!

Best regards,

Paul Vale, John Irza
Capitol Club Flacks

Location:

Schafer Corporation will be our host for this meeting.

Schafer is located at: 3811 North Fairfax Drive, Suite 400, Arlington VA 22203. Schafer is located 1 and 1/2 blocks south of the ORANGE/SILVER Line – “Virginia Square – CMU” METRO station on the West side of the street (map is below). Lunch will be “build your own sandwich.”

Metered parking is available along North Fairfax Drive and side streets (about $1.25/hour with a 2-hour limit). Parking behind the building, near the public library has a 4-hour limit.

Speaker BIO:

Colonel Carmine Cicalese is a 1987 graduate of the United States Military Academy.  Upon commissioning, he entered the Signal Corps serving in several positions and units in Korea and Fort Lewis, Washington.  Within the first five years of service, LT Cicalese served as a platoon leader twice, a company executive officer, a Field Artillery Battalion Signal Officer and a Battalion S-1. After the advance course, CPT Cicalese served in Hawaii as an Aviation Brigade Signal Officer and Assistant Battalion S-3.  Between these assignments, he commanded HHC, 1-25 Aviation Battalion and deployed the company to Haiti in support of Operation Uphold Democracy.

CPT Cicalese then served at Fort Meade Maryland as a Military Intelligence Battalion Information Management Officer where he gained experience to the emerging cyber threat and counter-intelligence.  His next assignment was at Fort Meade as a Combatant Command Information Assurance officer with the National Security Agency.  During his time at Fort Meade, MAJ Cicalese chose to serve in the Information Operations career field.

His first information operations assignment was with the 1st Cavalry Division at Fort Hood Texas. With the First Team, he developed his skills to coordinate MISO, Electronic Attack and other IO capabilities as part of non-lethal fires focused on an adversary’s Center of Gravity.  After 9-11, the Army temporarily assigned Major Cicalese to the 1st Information Operations Command for one year who further tasked him to support the Army Space Command, Combined Forces Land Component Command – Kuwait and the Joint Staff.

Following his tour completion with the 1st Cavalry Division, LTC Cicalese served at Joint Special Operations Command.  He further developed his skills with regards to coordinating MISO, Computer Network Operations, Electronic Warfare and Special Technical Operations while conducting global Special Operations training and deploying to Afghanistan and Iraq in support of Special Operations Command.

In 2005, LTC Cicalese returned to Fort Hood and the 1ST Cavalry Division where he completed a successful tour as the Assistant Chief of Staff, G7 with Multi National Division – Baghdad.  He coordinated Information Operations and also served as the lead agent for the Division’s Communication Line of Operations.

From 2008-2012, COL Cicalese worked at the Joint Forces Staff College as a faculty member, the Information Operations Division Chief and the Director, Joint Command Control and Information Operations School.  He is currently assigned to the Army Staff as Chief, Cyberspace and Information Operations Division.

He has earned a Bachelor of Science degree from the United States Military Academy and a Masters of Science from University of Maryland University College.  He has completed Army MEL 4 training, the Joint Professional Military Education Level II, and is currently enrolled in the Army War College Distance Education Program.

He is married to Angela Marie.  The couple has three children.


Filed under: cyberwar, Information operations Tagged: cyberwar, information operations

Congressman Conyers and Congressman Yoho – Azov and Manpads

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Congressman John Conyers, Jr. (D-Mich.) and Congressman Ted Yoho (R-Fla.) co-sponsored bad amendments to theDepartment of Defense Appropriations Act of 2015.

Azov Battalion

…said Rep. John Conyers.  “I am grateful that the House of Representatives unanimously passed my amendments last night to ensure that our military does not train members of the repulsive neo-Nazi Azov Battalion…

– http://conyers.house.gov/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=0DC46F90-801E-433D-B565-5E8A67C81A83

Russian Neo-Nazis

Russian Neo-Nazis

Congressman, the Azov battalion uses symbology reminiscent of Neo-Nazis, but the Azov Battalion is neither full of Neo-Nazis nor do they engage in Neo-Nazi, anti-Semitic or Racially prejudiced behavior, and I have watched them, consistently, for close to 18 months.  If you were to apply the same logic to Russia, much of the Russian Army are Neo-Nazis.

Manpads

MANPAD

Added Conyers, “Both U.S. and Israeli officials have feared that these weapons could be used by terrorists to bring down commercial jets.  As the boundaries are increasingly blurred between insurgents fighting the Syrian government and those fighting the Iraqi government, providing additional arms could further destabilize the Middle East.  The same can be said for Ukraine, where an anti-aircraft missile allegedly downed Flight MH17 last summer, killing 298 civilians. The possibility that MANPADS—or any weapon—could fall into the hands of radical groups in Iraq, Syria, or Ukraine, would unquestionably increase the already-devastating human toll in both of these volatile regions.”

SA-11 (Russian-Buk), like the one that downed MH17

Congressman, the system used was a a SA-11 Gadfly (Russian – Buk), which is not is a Man-Portable Air Defense System (MANPAD).  Your background facts are wrong, your logic is flawed, your decision is bad.

Amendments by Congressman John Conyers, Jr. (D-Mich.) and Congressman Ted Yoho (R-Fla.) – a direct result of Russian propaganda

But the Congressmen were misinformed and Ukraine is not happy

And of course the Russian and Russian-Proxy Media loves what Representative Conyers did

Ukraine didn’t like being blocked from receiving MANPADs by Representative Conyers

Russia will continue to milk the information cow from Representative Conyers


Filed under: Information operations

Everyone Relax—The Army’s Native American Helicopter Names Are Not Racist

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Lakota tribespeople christen the Army’s LUH-72. Airbus photo

Every now and then I’ll share an article which is just good reading.


There’s a difference between honor and exploitation

Sometimes, you look at an article twice just to make sure it’s not from The Onion. That was certainly the case when I read last Friday’s Washington Post, which featured an op-ed from Simon Waxman demanding the U.S. military drop the references to Native Americans from its helicopter names.

This of course comes in the wake of the recent controversy surrounding the Washington Redskins.

But Waxman, the managing editor of Boston Review, created a false equivalence between a football team named after a term generally considered to be a racial slur—“redskin”—and products named after the proper names for Native American tribes—Apache, Kiowa, etc.

A quick tip for op-ed writers. For something to be offensive, people generally need to be, well, offended in the first place. Yet notably absent from Waxman’s missive are any quotes from irate Native American leaders—a particularly glaring omission.

Nor did Waxman appear to have even bothered to contact the U.S. military for an explanation. Fortunately for rational people everywhere, I was on hand to do a little research. It took little more than a quick Google search to put me in touch with the remarkable staff of the U.S. Army Aviation Museum at Fort Rucker in Alabama.

Even most Army helicopter pilots are baffled as to just how the ground combat branch came to name its aircraft for Native American tribes. The staff of the Aviation Museum helped clear things up.

Continued at https://medium.com/war-is-boring/everyone-relax-the-armys-native-american-helicopter-names-are-not-racist-d21beb55d782


Filed under: Information operations Tagged: anti-censorship, Helicopter

Russians fighting Ukraine are Neo-Nazis – Rep. Conyers

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Today near Donetsk town of Shyrokino this Russian “anti-fascist” all covered with Nazi tattoos who came to fight Ukrainian “fascists”was detained. Russia appears to be always lying and hypocritical.

I’m curious, Representative Conyers.  This Russian soldier is a Neo-Nazi – OBVIOUSLY – why don’t you pass an amendment against him?


Filed under: CounterPropaganda, Information operations Tagged: Congressman Conyers, Rep Conyers

Who Was “Colonel Maggie”?

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Her beret was Green, presented to her by President Johnson

I served in the company of legends, when I was in Special Forces.

I was on a Special Forces ODA, and guys on my team were legends.  Some went on to Delta, some had been on the Son Tay Raid, some had taken part in cross-border operations during Vietnam, some were in Operation Phoenix, some were in Det-A and some worked in other classified assignments.  When I pulled guard duty at the JFK Special Warfare Center and School, I would see pictures of all the Special Forces soldiers who had won the Medal of Honor.  It was all quite humbling.

But there was one person, a female, we all held in the highest place of respect and honor in our hearts. The only civilian buried in the Fort Bragg Post Cemetery, to be near “her” Special Forces.  Colonel Maggie or Martha Raye.

She paid her own way to Vietnam, eight different times. She was wounded twice. She stayed in the boonies with “her guys”.  She always contributed, worked and entertained.  She worked, often, as a nurse. But she had a soft place in her heart which made everyone feel a little better.  Soft, warm and tender, she gave greater comfort to Special Forces men than anyone else.

This blog was published today and touched me. I just wanted to share.


Martha Raye. known as “The Big Mouth” was considered the female equivalent to Bob Hope, Martha Raye was an American icon. It was well recognized that Martha Raye endured less comfort and more danger than any other Vietnam entertainer.  

“Colonel Maggie,” Martha Raye, was an honorary member of the Special Forces.  She had received her prized Green Beret and the title of Lieutenant Colonel from President Lyndon B. Johnson, himself.

From 1964 to 1973, Martha traveled from camp to camp in isolated areas throughout Vietnam making eight (8) visits.  She would stay “in-country” from four to six months at a time–usually at her own expense–to be with the troops she so dearly loved. She used the nurse’s aide skills she learned back in the 1930s, and surgical techniques she picked up during World War II to help treat the wounded.  Whatever her official nursing qualifications, her assistance was often needed and very much appreciated.  Her presence, whether as entertainer or as a nurse, helped to make life bearable for so many enlisted troops and officers.

Martha was wounded twice during her visits with the Green Berets.

In May 1965 Martha began the first of her eight USO tours of Vietnam, visiting military camps and outposts.  She was accompanied by Earl Colbert, a guitarist, and Ollie Harris, a bass fiddle player. During one of her visits, she was performed with Johnny Grant, Eddie Fisher, and John Bubbles.

…to entertain our armed personnel wherever they needed a laugh, a song and a touch of home.

MarthaRaye_web

In October that year, Martha was back in Vietnam with the USO for another six weeks. Until America ‘s withdrawal in 1974, Martha toured in Vietnam at least annually, sometimes with the USO (1965-1970) but most often on her own and at her own expense.

She was reported to have made several jumps from planes and helicopters. She received an Airborne Beret. BUT the Green Beret was what she wore the most.

I did not know this.  Don’t let the sun go down without reading this about Martha Raye. The most unforgivable oversight of TV is that her shows were not taped. I was unaware of her credentials or where she is buried. Somehow I just can’t see Brittany Spears, Paris Hilton, or Jessica Simpson doing what this woman and the other USO women, including Ann Margaret & Joey Heatherton did for our troops in past wars.  Most of the old time entertainers were made of a lot sterner stuff than today’s crop of activist bland whiners. The following is from an Army Aviator who takes a trip down memory lane:

“It was just before Thanksgiving ’67 and we were ferrying dead and wounded from a large GRF west of Pleiku. We had run out of body bags by noon,  so the Hook (CH-47 CHINOOK) was pretty rough in the back.  All of a sudden, we heard a ‘take-charge’ woman’s voice in the rear. There was the singer and actress, Martha Raye, with a Special Forces beret and jungle fatigues, with subdued markings, helping the wounded into the Chinook, and carrying the dead aboard. ‘Maggie’ had been visiting her SF ‘heroes’ out ‘west’. We took off, short of fuel, and headed to the USAF hospital pad at Pleiku. As we all started unloading our sad pax’s, a  USAF Captain said to Martha…. “Ms Raye, with all these dead and wounded to process, there would not be time for your show!”To all of our surprise, she pulled on her right collar and said …… “Captain, see this eagle?  I am a full ‘Bird’ in the US Army Reserve, and on this is a ‘Caduceus’ which means I am a Nurse, with a surgical specialty…. now, take me to your wounded!”

He said, “Yes ma’am…. follow me.”

MarthaRaye

Several times at the Army Field Hospital in Pleiku, she would ‘cover’ a surgical shift, giving a nurse a well-deserved break.

Continued at https://cherrieswriter.wordpress.com/2015/06/15/who-was-colonel-maggie/


Filed under: Information operations Tagged: Special forces

Which IO or IW Class Do You Want or Need?

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I’ve been asked to offer round 2 of IW/IO classes sometime during the last two weeks of June.

Last time I taught a class on Russian Information Warfare.  I could teach that again. Or I could teach a class on Propaganda, I have some reall good examples PLUS we’re going to have one helluva discussion.  I recently received input from a real-life self-affirming Russian propagandist, yes, really!

I’m switching classrooms at the AOC from the 3rd floor to the second floor, so we can have ten students maximum.  Is there a good or bad date?

Right now I’m planning on four hours of class, a half day, on 25 June 2015.  If somebody really wants, I’ll switch, but you need to make a committment soon!   I have to dig up one more great instructor…  or I could even teach both classes, the Russian IW and the Propaganda class!  I’m thinking, for a working title: “21st Century Propaganda”.

I know, I know, don’t forget to coordinate with the guys in the Pentagon.  Gotcha. Somebody is sure to want to stand up and say “Don’t forget about us!”

I’ll even invite someone from the BBG and State to brief. Any preferences?

The price, again, is free.  What a deal!


Filed under: Information operations, Information Warfare Tagged: information operations, information warfare
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