PSYOP

Categories of psychological warfare

In his book Daniel Lerner divides psychological warfare operations into three categories:

White [Omissions + Emphasis]

Truthful and not strongly biased, where the source of information is acknowledged.


Grey [Omissions + Emphasis + Racial/Ethnic/Religious Bias]

Largely truthful, containing no information that can be proven wrong; the source may or may not be hidden.


Black [Commissions of falsification]

Intended to deceive the enemy.


(In the cases of 9-11, Osama bin Laden, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan the enemy is you, the citizens of the United States and the entire world.)

Mr. Lerner points out that grey and black operations ultimately have a heavy cost, in that the target population sooner or later recognizes them as propaganda and discredits the source.

He writes, "This is one of the few dogmas advanced by Sykewarriors that is likely to endure as an axiom of propaganda:

Credibility is a condition of persuasion.

Before you can make a man do as you say, you must make him believe what you say."

One victim of Black Psychological Warfare Pat Tillman (He believed what they said.)