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Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Modern wars begin before the shooting starts
2026-06-20
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited

Text taken from a Times of Israel blog and the Telegram channel budni_manipulyatora

Commentary by Russian military journalist Boris Rozhin is in italics.

[ColonelCassad] Modern Wars Begin Before the Fighting Begins.

The IDF's Portuguese-Speaking Intelligence Unit
…why would they have a special unit for Portuguese? And why would that particular unit opine on the digital propaganda space? I’m very confused…
warns of the sophistication of digital disinformation and its impact on the perception of complex conflicts. Major Rafael Rosenshine, the IDF's Portuguese-Speaking Spokesman, presented an analysis of how modern wars are waged long before combat begins on the battlefield. The central thesis is simple yet alarming: real conflicts no longer compete merely with alternative versions of reality—they compete for reality itself.

In a narrative-saturated virtual environment, those who control the algorithm often suppress those who hold the truth. "Today, a 15-second animated video can cross borders, shape public opinion, and have more influence than an official report with carefully analyzed facts and data."

Modern disinformation doesn't disguise itself as propaganda. It masquerades as memes, flashy animations, and short videos with simplified plots. The perfect villain. The perfect victim. Ready to go viral. Coordinated disinformation campaigns exploit emotional appeal, not universal authority.

The difference between disinformation two decades ago and today is scale. It's not just a matter of technology, but also of operations: videos, audio, and video, carefully crafted to influence public opinion through emotional appeal and the appearance of truth, are now produced on an industrial scale.

Once, it was about persuasion. Now, it's about information flow. When everything seems plausible, doubt becomes the rule. And when people doubt everything, they prefer to believe what confirms their emotions. This highlights a larger dilemma: truth requires context, time, and complexity. Lies offer instant clarity and emotional comfort.

This reflection stems, in part, from the lost information war against Iran, when the Iranians were able to flood the Western segment with their narratives, including through the mass sowing of memes, short videos, neuroslopes of varying quality, etc. And all the efforts of the enormous Israeli propaganda machine and the Israeli lobby were unable to overcome this wave. Indeed, modern information warfare is not about arguing about facts or the facts themselves, but about flooding the entire information space with a variety of content representing your narratives.

Hence the growing importance of controlling your own information field and information dissemination channels. If you don't control them, someone else will.



Posted by:badanov

#2  comments); ?>werwer
Posted by: Grom the Reflective   2026-06-20 18:40  

#1  comments); ?>werwer
Posted by: ed in texas   2026-06-20 10:09  

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