Download - Foreign Military Studies Office - U.S. Army

as a weapon for conducting psychological information warfare inside the
country.” 389 He recommended similar norms for international law.
Manipulation, from this perspective, could be branded a “tool of
warfare.” However, before undertaking a closer examination of manipulation
and why it is evolving into a serious threat, a look at a practical application is in
order.
Manipulation in Bosnia
Canadian General Lewis MacKensie, writing about his experiences as
head of the United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR) contingent in
Bosnia-Herzegovina in 1992, observed that “perception is often more
persuasive than reality.” 390 MacKensie was confronted with a multitude of
incidents where one side attempted or succeeded in manipulating world opinion
against another side, often at the expense of the UNPROFOR. MacKensie’s
credibility as a peacekeeper was frequently challenged by the perception of
impartiality. Both sides used any opportunity to manipulate a peacekeeper’s
conduct to their advantage. In many cases, MacKensie’s force had no weapons,
and when they did, they could not fire unless fired upon or threatened.
Knowing these rules of engagement (ROE), the antagonists worked to use them
to their advantage, sometimes by threatening to use force and sometimes by
taking hostages. 391
The combatants manipulated news coverage, convoy assistance,
mortar and other armed attacks, cease-fires, ROE, and the statements, actions
and presence of the UNPROFOR. Disinformation, deception, perception
management, or PSYOP were used to manipulate international mediators and to
convince the opposing side to take some action or to make some decision.
Examples included the following:
News Coverage
General MacKensie noted that on one occasion the UN High
Commissioner for Refugees was missing several trucks, which eventually
arrived a few hours late after being detained at roadblocks. Bosnian Defense
Minister Doko’s staff seized on the report that the trucks were missing and, not
knowing they had arrived, informed the New York Times that the trucks had
transported Serbian soldiers, giving them freedom of movement. Because the
Serbs were in UN protected trucks, the principle of impartiality was violated
389 Gennadiy Zyuganov, “On the Threshold of a ‘Government of Seven Boyars,’”
Sovetskaya Rossiya [Soviet Russia], 26 October 1996, pp. 1-2.
390 Lewis MacKenzie, Peacekeeper, Harper Collins Publishers Ltd, 1994, p. 275.
391 Ibid., p. 500.
215