"Perception Control = Emotional Control = Mind Control"
In the undying philosophy of the Prussian military philosopher Carl von Clausewitz (1780-1831), "War is diplomacy by other means." Intended meaning aside, he didn’t say, "…on the battlefield." In modern global politics, the war for the human heart and mind is a tremendous struggle, whether the effort comes from profit-making machinery of Madison Avenue, or the "black ops" of Langley Virginia.
Von Clausewitz left the legacy of the "trinity model" of war. In that concept, he argued that the dynamics of the government, military and populace would determine the outcome of war, whether the government is offensive or defensive.
However, history leaves the legacy that the government and military can be totally destroyed, with the remaining will of the populace being the underlying determining factor. It is academic that the PSYOPS teams operate on this premise.
Iraq is one such classic case; leaving the legacy that the total destruction of a country’s military and government is a poor idea, as there is no one in remaining authority to tell the populace to quit fighting. In the case of Iraq, again, the Arab culture is sufficiently unique, that the American war effort left the extremely low probability of anyone in a surviving government delivering the "quit" message. The post-war Iraqi "resistance" speaks for itself.
Obviously, the PSYOPS teams have serious work to do. The one lesson which seems to escape military planners is that if the will of the populace can’t be broken, victory is impossible. The lessons of Viet Nam, Beirut, Mogadishu and even Northern Ireland have gone unheeded – and, at what expense? Conversely, we have the example of Iran; the Shah was overthrown by the simple will of the people being re-directed! No doubt, the multitude of PSYOPS groups took notice.
PSYOPS efforts are found in the News Coverage, Public Relations, Propaganda, blatant PSYOPS, or the mother of all tactics, "Coercive Persuasion" - the 'stuff' of Jonestown. The process begins with presented information, real, distorted, imagined or manufactured.
In the human experience, with rare exception, the first presentation (first-up) determines the long-term "perceived truth."
Perhaps, nothing can be more exemplary than the ‘plumped-up’ Osama bin Laden in the conveniently "unclear" videotaped confession to 9-11. With that tape, America went off to commit the War Crime Invasion of Afghanistan.
Enter the translation of a Funeral Article in Egyptian Paper: al-Wafd, dated as of Wednesday, December 26, 2001 - Vol 15 No 4633
News of Bin Laden's Death
and Funeral 10 days ago
Islamabad –

A prominent official in the Afghan Taleban movement announced yesterday the death of Osama bin Laden, the chief of al-Qa'da organization, stating that binLaden suffered serious complications in the lungs and died a natural and quiet death. The official, who asked to remain anonymous, stated to The Observer of Pakistan that he had himself attended the funeral of bin Laden and saw his face prior to burial in Tora Bora 10 days ago. He mentioned that 30 of al-Qa'da fighters attended the burial as well as members of his family and some friends from the Taleban. In the farewell ceremony to his final rest guns were fired in the air. The official stated that it is difficult to pinpoint the burial location of bin Laden because according to the Wahhabi tradition no mark is left by the grave. He stressed that it is unlikely that the American forces would ever uncover any traces of bin Laden.
We must note the distinct ‘missing-person’ character against the 2004 videotape, which lacked any shadows, inferring a sophisticated production, versus bin Laden’s pragmatic preference for caves. The image was sufficiently mechanical as to appear to be a Hollywood special effects production. Even the ‘message’ lacked the expected frequent references to Allah.
Considering such as the phony 9-11 "security camera" video images of the Pentagon ‘strike,’ the bin Laden videotapes fall highly suspect against his clear denials of involvement in the events of 9-11.
With regard to the subsequent US invasions, America didn’t bother to go to the library to look at such documents as the U.N. Charter, the Geneva Conventions or the Nuremberg Precedents. Unfortunately, historians await the American version of – "But, we didn’t know!"
In the events of 9-11; before, during or after, the medium for the psychological devices wasn’t limited to the ‘conventional’ mass media; the Internet played a key role – pro and con.
A major part of the events of 9-11 was the void of critical information which, while abundant, was never presented; but overtly and methodically blocked from local or mass-media dissemination.
A key indicator of such a tactic is found in Clinton’s Arkansas criminal associations, while Governor. While the information was available, it was never prominently presented by the mainstream mass media. Thus, he was TWICE elected as President.
The common availability of the personal computer makes it nearly rare to hear a person swear more by the conventional news media, than the Internet – the political ‘second opinion.’ Thus, a battle for the human heart is being rigorously fought, with the first element of the formula, "Perception Control."
It is not the least bit surprising that the arena of military Psychological Operations (PSYOPS) is being expanded to the Internet.