Psychological Operations in Indonesia

[Mitch Rapp]

In The Art of War, Sun Tzu states “All warfare is based on deception.”

1 In order to deceive the enemy it is important to obtain information and/or provide misinformation. These deceiving tactics of information warfare have been prevalent in human society for thousands of years, as seen by Cyrus the Great using it against Babylon, Xerxes against the Greeks, and even
the conqueror Genghis Khan, who circulated rumors of large numbers of Mongol warriors in his army.

2 Today, it is arguable that the concepts of information warfare are relatively the same, but the means and technology are different. While information warfare embodies various components, one type in particular is being used more noticeably – psychological operations
(psyops). For simplicity, the term’s perception management, psychological warfare, marketing warfare, psyops, psywar, propaganda or any combination of them are assumed synonymous and generally refer to information operations that aim to affect the perceptions and behavior of others
in order to influence their psyche through emotions, reasoning, decisions, and ultimately actions.

3 Another definition, states that psywar is the use of propaganda against the enemy supported by military, economic or political bodies, intended to demoralize the enemy.

4 The definition of psyops has evolved into three classes, which are commonly referred to as white,
gray and black propaganda. Generally, white propaganda openly reveals the source of its information and is true, while gray propaganda does not reveal its information source and black propaganda gives a misleading source.5 This type of warfare, whether it be strategic or tactical, can be used during wartime but is more knowingly being used during non-wartime as seen by
people all over the world who are psychologically manipulated, whether it is purposeful or not, via television, radio, and the Internet.

http://www.seas.gwu.edu/~infosec/anujFinal.pdf

[Aetius]

How much is fact, and how much is rumour? It looks like the author of the text has himself sometimes fallen victim to an "Indonesian Psychological Operation".

Regarding the 1965 coup, the intention of creating a "peasants and workers' militia", armed with weapons provided by China, and meant to be a conter-force to ABRI, is widely documented, and not only in Indonesia.
To present the coup as a pure fabrication of Suharto is, in my humble opinion, over-estimating the man.
Before this coup, rumours were also spread that the CIA was behind all the parties opposing the PKI.

As far as I know, the principles of dwi-fungsi had been set before 1965.

In the case of General Benny Moerdani and his "harsh abhorrence of Islam", maybe the author of the text should do some more digging. It's hard to believe that NU leader Abdurrahman Wahid would have attended the funeral of somebody with such an alleged deep hatred of Islam. This image was largely spread by people who wanted General Moerdani to lose Suharto's confidence. Another rumour spread at the time was that General Moerdani was planning a coup against Suharto. This rumour, combined with open critics made by General Moerdani of Suharto's family business, had him swiftly removed from position.

Don't forget the rumour spread by God knows who in the 1980's/1990's that Suharto himself was Chinese, or half-Chinese.

By the way, "Assosiasi Pengusaha Hutan Indonesia" is the association of Indonesian logging businessman, not the Armed Forces.
And, if not mistaken, Tengku Abdullah is a guerilla leader in Aceh, nothing to do with East Timor.

The report gives the impression that only Indonesian military is involved in psychological operations. It would however appear that more and more manipulations are carried out with purely political motives.