Posted by: Cannoneer No. 4 | Thursday, 6 September 2007

Strategic Citizens

The currency of war amongst the people is not fire power. That’s the currency of industrial war. The currency of war amongst the people is information—not just intelligence, information—what you put out, what you get in.  

 – General Sir Rupert Smith, via Phil, at Amicable Collisions, who turns out to be one of my blog fathers.  A comment of his at In From the Cold a year and a half ago got me to thinking, and when I had thought long enough, I started this blog.

I have come to believe that the solution to our information war and public diplomacy problems lie outside of government. We have seen how effective the liberal dominated news and entertainment media in the US is at disseminating its message globally. There is no way that a government agency operating within the political, bureaucratic and financial limitations inherent in any gov’t program can successfully compete against private media. However those of us who are pro-American, pro-liberty and who want us to win this war, could create a non-profit media organization designed specifically to wage the information war. This organization could create books, movies, spoken-word audio programs, posters, brochures, give speeches around the world, write op-eds in foreign papers, offer workshops and conferences on America and the ideals and practical skills necessary in free societies etc. There are so many things that can be done and in a private organization we would be free to experiment to figure out the most effective methods. The reality is that we are going to have this same discussion about the inadequacy of the gov’t’s information war next year and the year after that and so on. But we can act now and be entrepreneurial and actually make a difference in the information war while the State Dept sits around twiddling its thumbs.

Just plain folks can have more influence than was ever possible before.   With sufficient motivation, imagination, and effort, just plain folks can become Strategic Citizens and come to the defense of the Strategic Corporals   dissed by Democrats.

Posted in IW, PSYOP Auxiliaries

« Propaganda Analysis
Cyber Psychological Operations »

Responses

Ok…now think about this…I sure hadn’t before running across this:

http://www.floppingaces.net/2007/09/06/welcome-ron-paul-cultists/

I’ve run across Ron Paul enthusiasts here and there on the net, and heard them call into radio talk shows. I’ve even heard them cheer for him at the “debates”, and in apparently very loud numbers. I don’t think much of Ron Paul, so I hadn’t paid much attention. Now I think I will. _Who_ are his supporters, and why are they supporting him? He’s Republican, not Libertarian, although that’s where he belongs. Still, the Libertarian party isn’t going anywhere soon, so maybe this is their effort to get representation? Pretending to be Republicans? Or does the Flopping Aces correctly point us in a new direction - that it is in the islamist interest to elect _anybody_ who has the strongly stated position of getting us out of Iraq, out of the ME, and into an isolationist mentality so that they are free to do as they will everywhere else?

Propaganda…leopards don’t change their spots, but it’s always possible that some other cat can don spots so that we _think_ it’s a leopard!

By: suek on Friday, 7 September 2007
at 12:57 pm

Ron Paul? You’ll have to excuse me, I’ve been out of the country and not paying attention to people who have no chance of getting elected.

By: cannoneerno4 on Friday, 7 September 2007
at 6:15 pm

Well, this is a pleasant surprise. For a long time now I had been operating on the assumption that my efforts to persuade people that this was an idea worth pursuing had been a failure. I discovered this blog a few days ago via PurpleSlog and have been very much enjoying your articulation of citizen-directed information ops. If we keep working at this maybe there will come a time when this idea is just “in the air” and we’ll see a rich proliferation organizations waging the war of ideas.

By: phil on Friday, 7 September 2007
at 6:58 pm

It does sometimes seem to be more trouble than it’s worth. There are a lot of bloggers working along similar lines, most of them more articulate than I am, and searching them out and reading them cuts into posting on MY blog, but it seems a better use of my time to educate myself than to presume to educate others. But then again, I have a very small following of lurkers and commenters who deserve content, and I am conceited enough to think my particular approach unique enough to continue.

I think reading YOUR stuff is going to improve MY stuff, and attract more smart commenters, and get us both more hits and more brains working on the same problem. As I type this Osama bin Laden is on my TV demonstrating the power of information operations. I am working towards the time when Americans no longer give him any credence and just laugh when they see his Grecian formula blackened weird beard.

By: cannoneerno4 on Friday, 7 September 2007
at 7:47 pm

>>I’ve been out of the country and not paying attention to people who have no chance of getting elected.>>

I understand…there’s so much going on! Still, when the term “Paulbots” comes into common usage, you have to pay some heed, if propaganda is your interest. As the Flopping Aces points out, somehow any mention of Ron Paul’s name in an article draws their attention. I don’t know if it’s worth your while to post an article with his name “in” it - as opposed to “on” it - just to test the reaction, but since I read and comment on a number of blogs, I do notice an influx of “other side” commenters who only show up when certain topics are the subject of an article. And when they show up, they do so in _droves_! I have suspected that some of them were islamists - especially after the article recommending that all good muslims with access to the internet should use that access to push home their “right” thinking, using “western” names. Dahma???whatever the name for proselytising is. Question one is: where do they all get the information that these topics are being written about? Question two is: is the influx organized, or volunteered as individuals are moved?
But the thing about Ron Paul in particular is that I agree with you - so who are his supporters? Maybe Libertarians, but it would also suit the islamist agenda to help him make as big a splash as possible, keep him in the race, and keep their agenda out there from a seeminly “impeccable” source. Another useful idiot. They could supply significant donations, as well.

By: suek on Saturday, 8 September 2007
at 12:06 pm

Ok…here’s the sort of thing I mean. This article is irrelevant to us in one sense - it’s about Holland. What makes it relevant is that it clearly shows that when political power is the goal, leopards may not change their spots, but plenty of innocent looking kitties may put on spots if it serves their purpose, only to remove them when the goal is achieved. We have to look to the _source_ of statements - no matter how innocent they appear - to try to ferret out the real intent of the person making those statements. And the source of the statements may not be readily ascertainable.

http://gatesofvienna.blogspot.com/2007/09/ex-muslims-against-ex-muslims.html#readfurther

By: suek on Saturday, 8 September 2007
at 1:46 pm

suek, check this out:

http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=89193286&blogID=302449444

By: cannoneerno4 on Monday, 10 September 2007
at 12:20 am

Heh. Nice list of congressmen who may need a voice of encouragement to continue to support the war, isn’t it! Really nice of them to compile it with links and all…!

By: suek on Monday, 10 September 2007
at 12:32 pm

cannoneerno4:

It may help to think of yourself as another man in a shield wall. There are many of you, but all must hold their ground or the wall fails.

As the Romans used to call out during times of hard press in battle, when the tide seemed against them “Ad Triarios Redisse!”

Every man plays his part, every part matters.

Keep doing what you can, and don’t worry about us. You provide us an insight and value that isn’t found in other places.

By: Grimmy on Wednesday, 12 September 2007
at 1:56 am

Thanks for the encouragement, Grimmy.

When I think of shield walls I think of Uhtred at Cynuit or a cohort of Roman legionnaires, but maybe I am more like a half-naked slinger.

By: cannoneerno4 on Wednesday, 12 September 2007
at 3:30 pm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triarii

Read up on that and see if maybe it’s more fitting to what you are doing.

By: Grimmy on Thursday, 13 September 2007
at 1:30 am

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