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2026-08-10 -Land of the Free

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Posted by badanov 2026-08-10 00:00|| E-Mail|| Front Page|| [281 views ] Top

Posted by Vernal Crereter7186 2026-08-10 04:56|| 2026-08-10 04:56|| Front Page Top

2 NATO began releasing their multi-domain cognitive warfare whitepapers last decade. Here's the genesis of the cognitive warfare model lifted from one of their white papers:

tl;dr - dont care!

On August 21, 2013, the world awoke to haunting images from Ghouta, a suburb of Damascus. Civilians — many of them children — were gasping for air, convulsing, and dying in the streets. The evidence pointed to a massive chemical weapons attack by the Assad regime, crossing the "red line" set by U.S. President Barack Obama only a year before.

Almost immediately, the information space was filled with competing narratives. Russian media outlets, diplomats, and proxy influencers, supported by botnets and troll farms, cast doubt on what had happened. Was it a false flag? Could the footage have been staged? In days, what appeared to be a clear-cut atrocity dissolved into ambiguity. These narratives, carried across RT, Sputnik, fringe West-ern outlets, and social media platforms, tapped into an old wound rooted in public mistrust aer the false weapons of mass destruction claims preceding the Iraq War.

This was more than propaganda. It was a deliberate campaign to muddy intelligence, inject doubt into Allied debates, and stall action. Washington hesitated, then backed away from strikes, accepting instead a Russian-brokered deal. Russia's approach in Syria remains one of the clearest examples of how cognitive war-fare can target military command and control (C2) at both tactical and strategic levels. By 2015, Russia had paired these narrative operations with electronic and cyber tools — spoofing communications, jamming UAV feeds, and disrupting intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) — to erode commanders' ability to act decisively. ese were not incidental effects but the intended outcomes of an integrated cognitive campaign: victory achieved not through combat, but through paralysed decision-making before the night began.

The lessons of Ghouta echo today. At the 2025 NATO Communicators Conference in September, participants underscored that adversaries are no longer simply contesting the information space; they are deliberately targeting the Alliance's ability to think, decide, and act. e message was clear: NATO must start taking the cognitive threat seriously, treating it as a contested domain in its own right.

However, this requires more than words. It requires investment in people, training, and capabilities on a scale reflecting the priority adversaries place on cognitive effects. Until NATO develops the ability not just to defend but to contest in this space, it risks repeating the same paralysis that followed Ghouta. That danger captures the essence of cognitive warfare...

Posted by mossomo 2026-08-10 13:16|| 2026-08-10 13:16|| Front Page Top

3 The US Army has a psyop org that is operational. They do not need modernization. What is needed is combatant commander understanding the value of psyops. Most commander use psyop troops as door guards because they think its a waste of time. The ghost of Kieve was a psyop that was brought about by US teams, it did well as did other information management efforts. Commanders need the training.

Posted by 49 Pan 2026-08-10 20:32|| 2026-08-10 20:32|| Front Page Top

4 ^Maybe, they also need to understand the culture of these they're trying to influence?

Posted by Grom the Reflective 2026-08-10 20:37|| 2026-08-10 20:37|| Front Page Top

5 4th POG is regionally oriented. They understand target nations very well. The Commanders just have no idea how to use them.

Posted by 49 pan 2026-08-10 21:32|| 2026-08-10 21:32|| Front Page Top

6 I remember the kefuffle around Ghouta back then, mossomo. Rantburgers had opinions, as I recall.

How do we change commander opinions, 49 Pan?

Posted by trailing wife 2026-08-10 21:36|| 2026-08-10 21:36|| Front Page Top

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