Mind Games

Mind Games: Why Rolling Stone’s Article on the Military’s Domestic PSYOP Scandal Gets it So Wrong by Matt Armstrong at Foreign Policy. BLUF: “… The original purpose of the Smith-Mundt Act was to give America a voice in the building war of information around the world. Introduced in Congress in October 1945, the prohibition on domestic dissemination of material intended for foreign audiences by the State Department was to protect the government and the American public from the “drones,” “loafers,” and “men of strong Soviet leaning” within the department. In other words, it not an anti-propaganda law, but a protective measure against a department of questionable loyalty. If it had been, or currently is, a broad brush law, we would not have had the campy “perils of communism” films or administration officials appearing on Sunday talk shows. It is ironic that a law intended to counter disinformation is subject itself to so much misinformation. This is ultimately another cautionary tale about people doing something they are not trained for and the media commenting on something they know little to nothing about. Both of which must be fixed for the sake of U.S. national security.”