<story><title>Pentagon opens sweeping review of clandestine psychological operations</title><url>https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/09/19/pentagon-psychological-operations-facebook-twitter/</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>neilv</author><text>When I was a kid in the 1980s, we heard about Soviet government propaganda to its citizens, including via Pravda.  We were also taught how great the US is, by contrast, that it doesn&amp;#x27;t do those things.&lt;p&gt;Later, I thought I&amp;#x27;d learned (maybe misheard?) that US could engage in propaganda or psyops, but that there were strict rules not to do it against US citizens.&lt;p&gt;That seems like good guidance, and I&amp;#x27;d welcome an honest review that checks whether we&amp;#x27;re living up to standards that have been an inspiring part of our national character in the past, and leads to any corrective action.&lt;p&gt;Maybe US collective leadership realizes a way here that we can build upon our ancestors&amp;#x27; great ideals, and follow through further, not drop the ball.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>Lutger</author><text>I don&amp;#x27;t really understand why not doing it to US citizens makes it ok. I can imagine one would find it permissible to use such techniques against your enemies, but this is very clearly also about your allies.&lt;p&gt;To the US, American lives are all that really matter? I mean, there&amp;#x27;s also the policy that torture is ok but not against Americans and not on US territory, hence the secret CIA torture spaces during the Gulf War and guantonomo bay (simplifying a bit here). Isn&amp;#x27;t that obviously wrong?&lt;p&gt;How can one maintain that their country is the greatest with such dubious ethics? I mean specifically using the argument &amp;#x27;doing objectionable things only to non US citizens&amp;#x27; as part of the case for America&amp;#x27;s greatness seems...odd at best. I feel like I&amp;#x27;m missing something here. A cultural gap maybe. Or is American superiority deemed so self evident that it legitimates itself in a circular justification?&lt;p&gt;I don&amp;#x27;t want to sound combative, though I probably do, but really I want to understand how this works for Americans.</text></comment>
<story><title>Pentagon opens sweeping review of clandestine psychological operations</title><url>https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/09/19/pentagon-psychological-operations-facebook-twitter/</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>neilv</author><text>When I was a kid in the 1980s, we heard about Soviet government propaganda to its citizens, including via Pravda.  We were also taught how great the US is, by contrast, that it doesn&amp;#x27;t do those things.&lt;p&gt;Later, I thought I&amp;#x27;d learned (maybe misheard?) that US could engage in propaganda or psyops, but that there were strict rules not to do it against US citizens.&lt;p&gt;That seems like good guidance, and I&amp;#x27;d welcome an honest review that checks whether we&amp;#x27;re living up to standards that have been an inspiring part of our national character in the past, and leads to any corrective action.&lt;p&gt;Maybe US collective leadership realizes a way here that we can build upon our ancestors&amp;#x27; great ideals, and follow through further, not drop the ball.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>unity1001</author><text>&amp;gt; Later, I thought I&amp;#x27;d learned (maybe misheard?) that US could engage in propaganda or psyops, but that there were strict rules not to do it against US citizens.&lt;p&gt;That law was repealed in 2010. Since then its all out propaganda.</text></comment>