Posted by: Cannoneer No. 4 | Tuesday, 11 December 2007

Civilian Irregular Information Operators Countering Hollywood Propaganda

From The Bookworm we learn that Some of the hottest videos on YouTube are of actual battles that have taken place in Afghanistan and Iraq.  Soldiers can now film combat that they are participating in while they fight, or duck, or take drink, or scan for targets, or wait.  These videos are ending up on YouTube and being watched for free by more people than are going to theaters to watch Hollywood’s “product.”

Who is putting them on YouTube?  Is this being done by some shadowy gang of feather merchants out of Dick Cheney’s basement?  Or do people see footage and decide to share it?

My phone does videos.  Does yours?  If we were in the right place at the right time, we could make history!  A picture is worth a thousand words, and moving pictures millions of words.  Lots of potential super-empowered individual strategic communicators out there.

Posted in Electronic Counter Media, Info Warriors, PSYOP Auxiliaries

« How can the US, as a society, do what the US, as a government, is forbidden to do?
Al Jazeera Has 2432 videos on YouTube »

Responses

Hey Cannoneer - I have wondered if there are issues with OPSEC? Any thoughts on that?

By: StarCMC on Tuesday, 11 December 2007
at 6:49 pm

Oh, there are always issues with OPSEC which, if taken to extremes shut down everything. Self preservation prevents most serious OPSEC breaches.

By: cannoneerno4 on Tuesday, 11 December 2007
at 10:17 pm

I have just always wondered about that. While I thirst for the “boots on the ground” Truth, it is tempered with a desire that our troops stay careful enough to be safe.

That said — the videos I’ve seen on YouTube of IED’s exploding are riveting. When the war broke out, my brother was sitting at Ft. McCoy waiting to go over (he was part of the group that Turkey wouldn’t let stage on the Northern border of Iraq) and my family was on vacation in Florida. My hubby and I spent probably 20 hours a day with the TV on, glued to what was happening. It was the most surreal experience in my memory. We sat there and watched and silently prayed for the troops and for their safety.

I get a little of that same feeling watching the YouTube videos.

By: StarCMC on Wednesday, 12 December 2007
at 1:22 am

I remember during The March Up watching hours and hours of the back of the Armored Personnel Carrier Greg Kelly’s Hummer was behind.

By: cannoneerno4 on Wednesday, 12 December 2007
at 4:13 am

I remember going home from work to “watch the war”…incredible…!

By: suek on Wednesday, 12 December 2007
at 2:13 pm

A lot of these videos don’t come wth narratives. Which removes 90 something percent of their propaganda value. There is no story behind it, except for the stories blackfive posts along with the videos from the actual soldiers that told blackfive of the story.

I’m only making an observation as to the actual potential intel value of such videos, btw.

War as it is actually occuring, is riveting. So is the same when fights break out and people gather to watch. It is instinctual. And even more so, it is overlayed by nationalism and patriotism, the belief that your team should win, that you should participate, if only indirectly, through whatever you can do to help.

Such is the social hierarchy of humanity and how it deals with life threatening stimuli.

By: ymarsakar on Sunday, 16 December 2007
at 3:12 pm

It is a powerful tool for good or evil. Precisely because you have a people’s instant attention.

By: ymarsakar on Sunday, 16 December 2007
at 3:13 pm

ymar, lefties love to bloviate about war not being a game and we shouldn’t be rooting for our side, but they fail to understand that teams sports are substitutes for war.

TeamAmerica SHOULD win. Of that I have no doubt. And I will do what I can to support the TEAM.

By: cannoneerno4 on Sunday, 16 December 2007
at 7:34 pm

And there are rules to this teamAmerica game as well. If you kill one of ours, like a Marine in Lebanon via the expedient use of explosives to crush him alive, we will crucify and stake 5,000 terrorists for every one Marine that you kill.

All wars must have rules after all.

By: ymarsakar on Monday, 17 December 2007
at 7:29 pm

Creating terrorists is necessary. We got a quota here people.

By: ymarsakar on Monday, 17 December 2007
at 7:30 pm

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