How the Iran War Blurs the Mind and Battlefield

 

How the Iran war blurs mind and battlefield - America Out Loud News

The intricacies of Cognitive Warfare are quite complex as eloquently elaborated by Edward Haugland in his book “The Cognitive War: Why We Are Losing and How We Can Win”: “[It is} Primarily an ideological war between tyranny and freedom, control and independence, subjugation and democracy…In its most basic form, it is a war against good and evil…[it] can and does include irregular warfare and kinetics.”

The characteristics vary based upon the “theater” of activities, as the world’s attention is now focused upon the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran. There clearly is a “hybrid” dynamic at play currently of cognitive and kinetic components, as Mr. Haugland notes: “One challenge is denying, disrupting, and proactively superseding the global front of propaganda, false images, and narratives of Iran, Russia, and China, driving fear, economic reaction, and creating doubt.”

These statements highlight not only the subtle, covert psychological ploys the Iranian government activates against its own citizens (and the world) but also the domestic and international violence this theocracy advocates and employs. The overt atrocities committed by this regime have been evident for a prolonged period: systematic human rights violations, gender and sexual oppression, the engenderment of paranoia, and clear repression and punishment of free expression (to include murder). In addition to these activities, many other actions of the regime against its people are prevalent: information blackouts, coordinated disinformation campaigns, the instillation of psychological terror, coerced false confessions, and AI-generated mis/disinformation.

The US and Israel have also been utilizing cognitive warfare campaigns against Iran by virtue of their persistent bombing campaigns and the continuing targeting of the various “layers” of theocratic leaders. Moreover, Israel has used very creative “deception as a force multiplier,” such as launching strikes from within Iranian territory using pre-positioned remote platforms – such activities have led to reports of internal chaos as the Iranian leadership has been unable to determine the origin of the strikes.  

In addition, notwithstanding an internet blackout for the majority of Iranian citizens, the US has been able to bypass this blockade in disseminating accurate information by a number of means: Virtual Private Networks (VPNs), anti-censorship technology such as the Open Technology Fund, satellite internet (Starlink), encrypted communication apps, and white subscriber identity module (SIM) cards.

Lastly, the Iranian negotiators have proven to be an extraordinary challenge for Western and American negotiators as their cultural imprinting of deceit and prevarication (including to themselves) has complicated discussions with the regime immensely.  

I am privileged to have Mr. Ed Haugland discuss these and other issues pertinent to this topic. He has been a senior leader in the Intelligence Community as well as with the Departments of Defense, State, Homeland Security, and Energy. His book “The Cognitive War: Why we are losing and how we can win” is a clear “must read” for all those in the Intelligence Community, in federal service, and we “common citizens” of the West.

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