Written by Anti-Media News Desk<\/p>\n
(<\/b>ANTIMEDIA<\/a>\u00a0Op-Ed<\/b>)\u00a0<\/b>PSYOP\/MISOC targets foreign governments, groups, and individuals. The government program is similar to journalism, a mode of communication that spreads information, but often spins the narrative, according to<\/a> Colonel Curtis D. Boyd, Chief of Staff of the JFK Special Warfare Center and School at Fort Bragg, who gave a lecture on \u201cThe MISTRY* of PSYOP: Putting MISO in Perspective<\/a>\u201d in 2011.<\/p>\n The mission of the Military Information Support Operations Command<\/a> (MISOC) is to influence enemy, neutral, and friendly nations and forces into holding favorable opinions and\/or taking complementary actions regarding ongoing operations by the United States and its allies.<\/p>\n We’re revolutionizing the news industry, but we need your help! Click here to get started.<\/a><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n \u201cSenior ranking U.S. military leaders have so distorted the truth when communicating with the U.S. Congress and American people in regards to conditions on the ground in Afghanistan that the truth has become unrecognizable<\/i>, \u201d Lt. Col. Daniel Davis told<\/a> Democracy Now!<\/i> in 2012.<\/p>\n Before his death, Michael Hastings was one of the first to obtain Lt. Col. Davis\u2019s 84-page report<\/a> and published it in Rolling Stone<\/i> magazine.<\/p>\n In February 2012, Hastings was quoted<\/a> in regard to the report:<\/p>\n \u201cI think it\u2019s one of the most significant documents that we\u2019ve seen from an active-duty Army officer in terms of how they view the war in Afghanistan, even the war in Iraq. You can look at this as a significant document about the last 10 years of conflict in America. And it\u2019s not so much as what Colonel Davis is saying, though that\u2019s very important, too. It\u2019s the fact that you have a 17-year Army veteran, who\u2019s done four tours\u2014two in Afghanistan and two in Iraq\u2014who has decided to risk his entire career\u2014because he has two-and-a-half more years left before he gets a pension\u2014because he feels that he has a moral obligation to do so<\/i>.\u201d<\/p>\n MISO manipulates their targets into distributing information using logic, fear, desire, and other mental factors to trigger desired emotions, attitudes, or behaviors. It is vital for MISO communicators to fully comprehend how the target population acts, thinks, and communicates.<\/p>\n In 2010, the unpopular Psychological Operations field was rebranded<\/a> as Military Information Support and Operations. PSYOP = MISO.<\/b> The unit, which currently operates under U.S. Army Special Operations Command (USASOC<\/a>), is comprised of less than 3,000 members. MISO activities are built upon the idea that human will is shaped by information, beliefs, and perceptions.<\/p>\n While speaking to Business Insider <\/i>about the enactment of the Smith-Mundt Modernization Act of 2012, Lt. Col. Daniel Davis described<\/a> MISOC\u2019s overall objective of influencing target audiences to hold favorable opinions of the U.S. and its allies by using modes of communication similar to journalism:<\/p>\n \u201cIn context, Colonel Leap is implying we ought to change the law to enable Public Affairs officers <\/i>to influence American public opinion<\/i><\/b> when they deem it necessary to \u2018protect a key friendly center of gravity, to wit US national will.<\/i>\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n In the 2013 National Defense Authorization Act<\/a>, the use of psychological operations through propaganda on U.S. civilian populations was legalized<\/a>. This type of information warfare<\/a> comes in the form of propaganda approved by the Broadcasting Board of Governors.<\/p>\n Per the SF Gate<\/i><\/a>:<\/p>\n \u201cThe <\/i>Smith-Mundt Modernization Act of 2012<\/i><\/a> appears to serve this purpose by allowing for the American public to be a target audience of U.S. government-funded information campaigns.<\/i><\/p>\n \u201cLt. Col. Davis also quotes Brigadier General Ralph O. Baker \u2014 the Pentagon officer responsible for the Department of Defense\u2019s Joint Force Development \u2014 who defines Information Operations (IO) as activities undertaken to \u2018shape the essential narrative of a conflict or situation and thus affect the attitudes and behaviors of the targeted audience.\u2019<\/i>\u201c<\/p>\n Last month, a pair of Military Information Support Operations (MISO) instructors from Special Operations Command Forward Northwest Africa provided training to a small group of Moroccans in Tifnit, Morocco. This opportunity was only possible because of Exercise Flintlock 2017<\/a>, which involved more than 2,000 military personnel from 24 African and western nations.<\/p>\n \u201cTo conduct good [information operations], good MISO, you need an overall end state for what you\u2019re trying to accomplish,\u201d <\/i>said<\/a> the MISO element leader to Joel Harding. \u201cEngaging the people \u2014 getting them the proper amount of information, the right information, through whatever means they receive the information from\u2014showing them we\u2019ll back up what we say with what we\u2019ll do, they\u2019ll, in turn, trust us or the host nation government.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n A MISO communicator must understand exactly what they are trying to communicate before engaging with a target they seek a connection to, in addition to where and how that information exchange should take place. An optimized audience analysis<\/a> is critical for successful MISO actions. In order to be effective, MISO-trained personnel<\/a> must be experts when it comes to current events, history, culture, linguistics, and socio-political characteristics of their intended audience.<\/p>\n MISOC Capabilities:<\/p>\n