25 Tactics of Truth Suppression

I found this 'rough guide' to disinformation quite a while ago and have had it saved on my computer for some time now believing that it must surely already be on ATS.

Anyway, after coming across it again today and doing a search I couldn't find it on ATS (at least not under this guise) and thought it would make a decent addition to the Deconstructing Disinformation forum.

The first five have been posted with the remaining 20 being available at the original source.

I know them well by now and I'm sure many of you also do but there's no harm in a little revision now is there

As Sun Tzu said in The Art of War: 'Know your enemy'

1. Hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil.

Regardless of what you know, don't discuss it -- especially if you are a public figure, news anchor, etc. If it's not reported, it didn't happen, and you never have to deal with the issues.

2. Become incredulous and indignant.

Avoid discussing key issues and instead focus on side issues which can be used to show the topic as being critical of some otherwise sacrosanct group or theme. This is also known as the "How dare you!" gambit.

Example: "How dare you suggest that the Branch Davidians were murdered! the FBI and BATF are made up of America's finest and best trained law enforcement, operate under the strictest of legal requirements, and are under the finest leadership the President could want to appoint."

3. Create rumor mongers.

Avoid discussing issues by describing all charges, regardless of venue or evidence, as mere rumors and wild accusations. Other derogatory terms mutually exclusive of truth may work as well. This method which works especially well with a silent press, because the only way the public can learn of the facts are through such "arguable rumors". If you can associate the material with the Internet, use this fact to certify it a "wild rumor" which can have no basis in fact.

Example: "You can't prove his material was legitimately from French Intelligence. Pierre Salinger had a chance to show his 'proof' that Flight 800 was brought down by friendly fire, and he didn't. All he really had was the same old baseless rumor that's been floating around the Internet for months."

4. Use a straw man.

Find or create a seeming element of your opponent's argument which you can easily knock down to make yourself look good and the opponent to look bad. Either make up an issue you may safely imply exists based on your interpretation of the opponent/opponent arguments/situation, or select the weakest aspect of the weakest charges. Amplify their significance and destroy them in a way which appears to debunk all the charges, real and fabricated alike, while actually avoiding discussion of the real issues.

Example: When trying to defeat reports by the Times of London that spy-sat images reveal an object racing towards and striking Flight 800, a straw man is used. "If these exist, the public has not seen them."

5. Sidetrack opponents with name calling and ridicule.

This is also known as the primary attack the messenger ploy, though other methods qualify as variants of that approach. Associate opponents with unpopular titles such as "kooks", "right-wing", "liberal", "left-wing", "terrorists", "conspiracy buffs", "radicals", "militia", "racists", "religious fanatics", "sexual deviates", and so forth. This makes others shrink from support out of fear of gaining the same label, and you avoid dealing with issues.

Example: "You believe what you read in the Spotlight? The Publisher, Willis DeCarto, is a well-known right-wing racist. I guess we know your politics -- does your Bible have a swastika on it? That certainly explains why you support this wild-eyed, right-wing conspiracy theory."

Source

Bit of a bump

How to Spot Them How can you and I spot the government-funded fakers who, so often, pretend to be patriots and lovers of liberty? Here are some clues. Ask yourself...

1. Do they focus on the elite powers-that-be in high places of government, OR instead, do they waste their time attacking fellow patriots in the Truth Movement?

2. Do they constantly relish writing and publishing trash and smears against patriot leaders and truthtellers?

3. Do they call in to Patriot talk shows and target for smears and vitriol the host, the guest, or other patriot leaders?

4. Do they insist that only those who currently are exposing this or that particular group (whether it’s the CFR, Trilateralists, Zionists, Jesuits, Neocons, Blacks, Russians, etc.) are trustworthy?

5. Do they rail at legitimate patriot authors and leaders, calling them names and accusing them of being greedy and "in it just to make money?" 6. Do they seize on virtually every word or statement made by a patriot leader or author, trying to find fault or some minor inaccuracy? (Note: One author I know was accused of being academically inept simply because he had misspelled the name "Zbigniew Brzezinski" in his otherwise excellent, 300-page book).

www.texemarrs.com...

I'm sure they probably have an entire manual dedicated to it by now.

Originally posted by Paschar0
I'm sure they probably have an entire manual dedicated to it by now.

I'm certain you're possibly right

Ya know, I can't believe that this thread got only 1 reply. This thread should almost be at the top of every forum on ATS. To understand the attacks made by those pushing disinfo, will totally destroy those who do try to push disinfo.

reply to post by sporkmonster


I agree, it's a very good summary and I use it often for reference. I think a lack of replies could have something to do with how thorough the article is - there really isn't much to add. I just hope people bookmark the link and use it in future.

Thanks

Apathy is the best disinformation tool,IMHO
Make something uninteresting or complicated and the masses will flee from it like it's on fire.

The more verbose any document is the less likely that others will be interested in reading it and thus they will be uninterested in its contents.

Great thread Live, definitely a keeper.
I now have it bookmarked as a resource thread, and i don't do that too often these days.

Sadly because this is resourceful and informative it will probably disappear into the bowels of ATS.

Now if you had spiced it up a bit with some spiffy attention grabbing headline it would probably get the attention it deserves.Know what i mean?

Anyway great thread and thanks for the info.

Cheers.

Hey - I just wanted to thank you for this thread - I've got it bookmarked now. Very useful information!

Thanks,

John