Another mythological creature is depicted on leaflet 2092. This leaflet depicts an
angry Buddhist devil with the text:
The back of the leaflet is a list of alleged crimes committed by Japanese military
leaders:
The OSS in the China-Burma-India Theater of War also tried to use superstition against
the Japanese. We find the following in Ann Todd’s book: OSS Operation Black Mail
– One woman’s covert War against the Imperial Japanese Army, Naval Institute
Press, Annapolis, MD, 2017:
The leaflets were dropped on the Japanese in several locations. A New Delhi
newspaper commented:
The color of the leaflet is an autumn brown and the text is in a black or a white
tablet surrounded by a green border in the center of the leaf. Text on the front of the
leaflet is:
The data sheet for the leaflet’s distribution in the China-Burma-India Theater of
Operations verifies all of what we have said and even goes into greater detail in some
areas:
Because Communists officials continue to stall at the Armistice talks – YOURS
WILL BE THE EMPTY PLACE AT YOUR FAMILY’S NEW YEAR REUNION. Because Communist leaders
compel you to continue this hopeless war – IN THE HEARTS OF YOUR FAMILY THERE IS
GREAT EMPTINESS.
When Communist Chinese prisoners of war were interviewed they said that the leaflet was
confusing. Who was the person with the bones showing through? This was not a traditional
way to show a ghost in China.
The American propagandists knew exactly what they wanted to show and say in this
leaflet, but the illustration completely confused and baffled the target audience.
We should also mention that the Communist Chinese were working very hard to end
superstition among their population. For instance, in Gino Nebiolo’s book The
People’s Comic Book, Anchor Press Edition, 1973 we find:
In Shanghai…There are puppet shows, feature and documentary films, and an
exhibition hall (with free admission to children) dedicated to the combat against
superstition. Here an explanation is given to the origin of dreams, to prove that they
have no influence over reality; priests, witches, astrologers, diviners and taboos are
mocked; the cosmos is described and a display of the human embryo at various stages,
accompanied by recordings, reveals the mysteries of birth, conception and pregnancy.
So, even as the West attempts to use superstition and spirits against the Chinese,
their government works to make the propaganda symbols and messages meaningless.
Africa
Magic spells and amulets have often been used in the wars of Africa. For centuries, a
belief in magic has pervaded the continent of Africa, despite the tragic consequences of
magical thinking. Warfare has been waged by soldiers trusting the supernatural protection
bestowed on them by sorcerers and self-appointed prophets. In Zaire, dead corpses were
identified as warriors who had their ears to the ground listening to the talk of the
enemy. These dead tribesmen would return to their comrades with secrets from their enemy.
They were protected by “Allah Water.” This water, sometimes called “Yakan
Water,” was laced with a hallucinogen from the daffodil species which gave many
African warriors feelings of elation, excitement, invincibility, and false courage.
In Uganda, an army of six thousand, called the Holy Spirit Movement smeared themselves
with an ointment to grant them protection from bullets. The poorly armed warriors attacked
well-armed militia and were killed by the thousands. The holy warriors believed that their
rocks and sticks, when thrown at the enemy, would explode like grenades.
During the insurgency in Rhodesia, both sides used magic to further their causes. The
Rhodesian Selous Scouts placed false spoor of hyena and lion, while the sounds of a
laughing hyena and roaring lion were broadcast by loudspeaker. Both animals are highly
esteemed in spiritual matters and purported to have magical charms. Leaflets were
subsequently distributed stating that the spirits were offended at the insurgent presence.
At the same time, African spirit mediums were moving across the north-eastern border with
the insurgents. The government retaliated with leaflets purporting to come from local
spirit mediums advising the local population against aid to insurgents. The text of one
such leaflet is:
Mhondoro, your tribal spirit, has sent a message to say that your ancestral spirits
are very dissatisfied with you. Besides, Chiwawa (an important spirit) has abandoned the
man whom he used as his medium because this man has helped the terrorists.
As a result of this, there has been no rain, your crops have died and there could be
great famine. It is only the Government which can help you, but you have to realize your
obligation to help the Government also.
The Rhodesian 1st Psychological Operations Unit used a girl claiming to be possessed by
the “head” of Nehanda (the high God of the Shona tribe) together with a medium
claiming to be possessed by the spirit of Chaminuka (known as “the Prophet of
Zimbabwe).
Kikuyu Witch Doctor, Kenya, East Africa
The Mau Mau insurgents in Kenya were forced to take a “blood oath.” To the
Kikuyu, the oath was magical and had the power to kill. When two Kikuyus had a dispute
they were brought before a witch doctor who had them both take an oath that they were
telling the truth. It was understood that if you lied while repeating the oath you would
die.
The colonial secretary, Oliver Lyttelton, wrote in part:
The Mau Mau oath is the most bestial, filthy and nauseating incantation which
perverted minds can ever have brewed. I have never felt the forces of evil to be so near
and as strong as in Mau Mau. As I wrote memoranda or instruction, I would suddenly see a
shadow fall across the page – the horned shadow of the Devil himself.
Other writers have stated that there were at least seven stages of oath-taking,
which might take several days or weeks to complete and which could include the drinking of
blood, eating portions of human flesh, cohabiting with animals, and ingesting bits of
brains from disinterred corpses. After the seventh stage of the oath-taking had been
reached, the members had to repeat the cycle and reinforce their vows by beginning again.
There may be some truth to the use of sex and perversion in the oath. Some experts
believe it was a form of psychological warfare used by the leaders to assure that the
soldiers could not fall under the control of their village elders and chiefs. Sexual
perversion is taboo in all contexts so far as the Kikuyu tribe is concerned. By forcing
the members of the Mau Mau to perform such sexual activities, they were filled with guilt
and self-loathing and ashamed to return to their village. It tied the fighters to the
insurgency forever.
The British realized that once the Mau Mau oath was taken, the terrorist would not
willingly leave the group. Therefore, they used their own witch doctors to invent a
counter-oath that would free the individual from membership in the group. The British oath
when properly administered would protect the terrorist from the death decreed by his
breaking the Mau Mau oath.
Magic was used to turn German bullets into water during the 1905 Maji-Maji rebellion
in Tanganyika. The natives turned to magic to drive out the German colonizers. A spirit
medium named Kinjikitile Ngwale claimed to be possessed by a snake spirit called Hongo.
Ngwale began calling himself Bokero and developed a belief that the people of German East
Africa had been called upon to eliminate the Germans. He gave his followers war medicine
that would turn German bullets into water. This medicine was actually water mixed with
castor oil and millet seeds. As might be expected, it did not work as promised.
The United States also looked carefully at the use of magic in Africa. In 1964, the
United States Army commissioned an unusual classified paper titled Witchcraft,
Sorcery, Magic, and Other Psychological Phenomena, and Their Implications on Military and
Paramilitary Operations in the Congo. Authored by James R. Price and Paul Jureidini,
the report is a treatise on paranormal combat, discussing “counter-magic”
tactics to suppress rebels who are backed by witch doctors, charms, and magic potions.
After Blaming the Belgians for leaving the Congo unprepared for independence, the
authors state that western civilization is to blame for many of the current witchcraft
problems. For instance, they point out that in the old days the witches could be tested by
the best method of tribal witch control, “the poison ordeal.” In addition,
because execution is often prohibited in the western-style governments, the convicted
witches and sorcerers are simply jailed for a few years and then released. As a result,
the common African feels more in jeopardy from witches than ever before. We should point
out that sorcery and witchcraft are quite different. Anyone can be taught to be a sorcerer
and use charms and spells. Witches are born with the power to harm. The sorcerer needs
charms and medicines, the witches can kill with a thought.
The authors warn the American military that charms and curses differ from tribe to
tribe so one man’s charm might be another man’s poison. As a result American
magical operations would be tactical (limited) rather than strategic (nation-wide). The
military must be able to recognize tribes by various markings and body scarification, but
with 200 tribes in the Congo that could be difficult. It would also be difficult to tell
what magic works since most of the tribes magical beliefs are secret. There is also a
danger that changing the beliefs of some of the tribes might be helpful in the short-term,
but cause long-term political problems. The authors warn that if a movement can be brought
down by magic, then legitimate governments could be brought down the same way in the
future. The authors conclude that what are needed are competent officers, disciplined
elite troops, modern weapons and marksmanship. This will defeat any insurgency that relies
on magical amulets. The authors do not fall into the trap of playing the magical game by
the insurgent’s rules. They say:
Unit morale and the confidence engendered by good training, knowledge of
weaponry, and above all, dynamic and competent leadership, can go far to counteract
superstitious fears.
Decades after I first wrote this story, there were further examples of this
belief among African soldiers. On 2 May 2021, Sam Mednick wrote an article
titled “Fighters put Faith in Spiritual Rituals, in the Orlando Sentinel.
Some of his comments were:
Antoine Ouedraogo did not run when Islamic extremist fighters killed his
colleague…he simply recited a secret work and became invisible.
Fighters in Burkina Faso were reluctant to divulge too much about the
process…saying these are kept secret even from family members…One way to
become bulletproof is to mix 13 plants, making a paste and eating it out of
a hole in the ground. The meal is prepared with water used to soak a metal
arrowhead for 72 hours. The arrowhead is metal so the person will be
protected from a metal bullet.
Soumaila, a 19-year-old fighter has survived 10 clashes with Jihadis, and he
attributes that to a custom made $90 jacket that repels bullets. The cotton
jacket is made by a local tailor who studied the Koran in Mecca. It was
soaked in water prepared with special leaves and has Arabic phrases from the
Koran written on animal hide sewn into the material.
The “Troubles” - Ireland
The British rule in
Ireland began with the Anglo-Norman invasion of Ireland in 1169. Most of
Ireland (the South) seceded from Britain following the Anglo-Irish War and
became a fully independent republic following the passage of the Republic of
Ireland Act in 1949. Northern Ireland remains part of the United Kingdom.
Liberation movements like the Irish Republican Army have fought to unite
Ireland for hundreds of years. For instance, The Easter Rising, also known
as the Easter Rebellion, was an armed insurrection in Ireland during Easter
Week in April 1916. That resulted in victory for the British and the
unconditional surrender of the Irish rebel forces. The IRA never gave up and
today is considered a terrorist organization by the British. The British
have used various forms of psychological warfare in their battle against the
Irish. In one case it was a claim of devil worship among the Guerrillas.
In the 1970s, stories
about black masses and Devil-worship by the Irish paramilitary forces were
leaked to the press. British military intelligence agents in Northern
Ireland used fears about demonic possessions, black masses, and witchcraft
as part of a psychological war against emerging the IRA in the “Troubles.”
Captain Colin
Wallace, a military intelligence officer and head of the British Army’s
“black operations” in Northern Ireland, spoke to Prof Richard Jenkins, from
Sheffield University. Wallace told Jenkins that they deliberately stoked up
a satanic panic from 1972 to 1974, even placing black candles and
upside-down crucifixes in derelict buildings in some of Belfast’s war zones.
Then, army press officers leaked stories to newspapers about black masses
and satanic rituals taking place from republican Ardoyne in north Belfast to
the loyalist-dominated east of the city.
In
Jenkins’s book, Black Magic and Bogeymen, Wallace admitted that the PSYOP branch of military
intelligence exploited public fear of satanism stoked by films such as The
Exorcist and The Devil Rides Out. Wallace told Jenkins that by
whipping up devil-worshipping paranoia, they created the idea that the
emerging paramilitary movements and the murder campaigns they were engaged
in had unleashed evil forces across Northern Irish society. Wallace added
that his Information Policy Group hit upon the idea of summoning the
devil to discredit paramilitary organizations:
It was quite
clear that the church, both the Roman Catholic church and the Protestant
church, even for the paramilitaries, held a fair degree of influence and we
were looking for something that would be regarded with abhorrence by the two
communities, and at the same time would be something that paramilitaries
couldn’t justify, and would be in many ways seen as a reason why some of the
outrages were taking place.
India – Pakistan
In the United States there was the operation depicted in the movie The Men Who
Stare at Goats. Apparently the same battle erupted between India and Pakistan as
mentioned by M. Aamer Sarfraz in an article titled “Psychological Operations” in
the Daily Times, 8 April 2019:
PSYOP can take weird forms when they arrive in the subcontinent. India has been
so jittery that they harass genuine tourists, captures stray pigeons, and even incarcerate
very young children for being spies. They decided to take matters to a different level of
absurdity by sending a few magicians into Pakistan to cast spells on leading government
and military figures a few years ago. We would think that Pakistan authorities had laughed
at this prank, and closed the file. However, we often underestimate how widespread
ignorance and fool hardiness can be, and how they get frantically pursued in the name of
national interest.
Our wise-guys apparently pondered over the matter endlessly, and then decided to
counteract by producing our own set of Sufi warriors. The urgency of this undertaking was
enhanced due to the perceived successful spells cast on some members of the ex-ruling
family. What happened from there onwards reads like a badly written thriller or watching a
horribly directed Bollywood film because the paranormal wars between both countries were
then fought on different unseen fronts only to be evaluated by the commanders with
suitable qualifications. The current word on this spooky-street is that Pakistan did not
win the recent battle-in-the-sky because of superior skills and war-readiness, but due to
the squadrons of Jinns fighting alongside them.
Vietnam
A Pocket Guide to Vietnam
This small guide, Department of the Army Pamphlet 360-411, was issued to American
troops assigned to Vietnam. It briefly tried to explain Vietnam, its policies and
philosophies to new troops with no experience in that country. On the subject of
superstition among the mountain tribes it says:
Despite many differences, some basic characteristics are shared by almost all the
tribespeople.
First of all, superstitions and fear play a heavy role in their lives. Although
Christian missionary efforts have made some changes, the great majority of tribespeople
are animists or spirit believers. Followers of this ancient Southeast Asian religion
believe that practically everything has its own spirit – a rock, for example, or a
tree. Most of the spirits are unfriendly, and tribespeople take elaborate precautions to
avoid antagonizing them.
Casting one’s shadow on a particular rock, for instance, may offend the
spirit of the rock and cause it to take vengeance on the careless human. On the advice of
a witch doctor, a tribesman will sacrifice a pig or even a water buffalo to appease an
angry spirit. On a single day one Koho village near the town of Di Linh in Lam Dong
Province sacrificed 42 water buffalo to make peace with the spirits.
There were a number of American PSYOP campaigns using the perceived
superstitions of the Vietnamese people. Probably the most effective official campaign was
the various forms of “Wandering Soul” leaflets and broadcasts that played on the
need of the Vietnamese to be buried close to his ancestral home. Another unofficial
campaign, the use of the infamous “death card,” was less effective, mainly
because the symbol had no meaning to the average Vietnamese.
Is this a grave?
The leaflet asks, “Is this a grave?” Text on the back is:
Unfortunately, it is not. But it is the final resting place, many, many kilometers
from the graves of his ancestors. His body cannot be identified, his grave cannot be
marked, and his soul will never find rest...
One of the more interesting superstitions of Vietnam is the belief in the wandering
soul. It is the Vietnamese belief that the dead must be buried in their homeland, or their
soul will wander aimlessly in pain and suffering. Vietnamese feel that if a person is
improperly buried, then their soul wanders constantly. They can sometimes be contacted on
the anniversary of their death and near where they died. Vietnamese honor these dead souls
on a holiday when they return to the site where they passed away.
Ann Crawford says in Customs and Culture of Vietnam, Charles E. Tuttle, Rutland,
Vt., 1966:
Wandering Souls' Day is the second largest festival of the year. (Tet is the
first.) Though it falls on the 15th day of the seventh month, it may be celebrated at any
convenient time during the latter half of the month. It is not just a Buddhist holiday but
also celebrated by all Vietnamese who believe in the existence of God, good and evil. They
believe that sinful souls can be absolved of their punishment and delivered from hell
through prayers said by the living on the first and 15th of every month. Wandering Soul's
Day, however, is believed to be the best time for priests and relatives to secure general
amnesty for all souls. On this day, the gates of hell are said to open at sunset and the
souls fly out unclothed and hungry. Thus plenty of food is left at family altars.
During the American involvement in Vietnam, an attempt was made to use this belief
against the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong. Since it was clear that they would die far
from home, their bodies probably never found or never properly buried, it was certain that
they would become a wandering soul after death.
The operation was code-named "Wandering Soul." Engineers spent weeks
recording eerie sounds. They were similar to the sounds employed during a scary radio show
or movie. Very creepy and designed to send shivers down the back. These cries and wails
were intended to represent souls of the enemy dead who had failed to find the peace of a
proper burial. The wailing soul cannot be put to rest until this proper burial takes
place. The purpose of these sounds was to panic and disrupt the enemy and cause him to
flee his position. Helicopters were used to broadcast Vietnamese voices pretending to be
from beyond the grave. They called on their descendants in the Vietcong to defect, to
cease fighting. This campaign played the sounds and messages all night in order to spook
the superstitious enemy. Despite eventually realizing that they were hearing a recording
beamed from a helicopter, the enemy gunners could not help but fear that their souls would
someday end up moaning and wailing in a similar fashion after death.
Both the 6th PSYOP Battalion of the United States Army and some units of the United
States Navy broadcast the messages.
In general, the messages were as follows:
Girl's voice:
Daddy, daddy, come home with me, come home. Daddy! Daddy!
Man's voice:
Ha! (his daughter's name). Who is that? Who is calling me? Oh, my
daughter? My wife? Daddy is back home with you, my daughter! I am back home with you, my
wife. But my body is gone. I am dead, my family.
I…..Tragic, how tragic.
My friends, I come back to let you know that I am dead! I am dead! It's Hell, Hell!
It is a senseless death! How senseless! Senseless! But when I realized the truth, it was
too late. Too late. Friends, while you are still alive, there is still a chance you will
be reunited with your love ones. Do you hear what I say? Go home! Go home, my friends!
Hurry! Hurry! If not, you will end up like me. Go home my friends before it is too late.
Go home! Go home my friends!
Duane Yeager mentioned the operation is an article entitled “Winning Vietnamese
minds was what the U.S. Army’s 4th Psychological Operations Group was all
about,” in Vietnam Magazine, December 1990. He says:
As with the leaflet catalog, PSYOP units also produced and maintained a library of
audiotape propaganda messages for support of tactical operations. As one Viet Cong
commander complained, these audio messages were hard to ignore, for the sound even
penetrated through the earth to VC hidden in underground tunnels. One of the most
effective such tapes was ‘The Wandering Soul,’ an eerie tape, played mostly at
night, that constantly reminded NVA soldiers of the hardships they were enduring, home,
and the loved ones they had left behind.
This use of propaganda and the afterlife as a theme is known in many cultures. I
have heard of several similar cases. One veteran of the wars in Angola told me:
When I was in the army in South West Africa and Angola in the late 1970's, the
air force used to drop leaflets which went along the lines of “You will be killed and
a hyena will eat your bones.” They had a picture of a bat on them as well. Culturally
upsetting to the Ovambos [a number of kindred Bantu ethnic groups] who made up most
of the South West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO) ranks to have their bones eaten by
a hyena as they believe if their bones are buried by the family they will become ancestors
(most African cultures practice some form of ancestor worship) so to have their bones
eaten by a hyena meant they would go to their version of hell. In most African cultures a
hyena is a "bad" animal. Traditionally, the Ovambo people lived a life that was
highly influenced by a combination of magic and religion. They believed in good and evil
spirits.
So why was the ace of spades so popular that some individuals or units actually ordered
them from playing card manufacturers to place on the bodies of dead Viet Cong and NVA? The
answer seems to be, because the American troops just loved them. Although the cards were
allegedly anti-Communist PSYOP, in fact they were really pro-American PSYOP. U.S. troops
got a kick out of them and loved the idea of leaving them on bodies. Like wolves, it was a
way to mark their territory. It proclaimed them the biggest and “baddest”
varmints in the valley of death. The cards motivated and encouraged American troops far
more than they terrified the enemy. Unfortunately, the cards were meaningless to the
Vietnamese. It was as if we had placed aces and eights on them. Americans know that this
is the hand held by Wild Bill Hickok when he was shot dead in a saloon in Deadwood, Dakota
Territory on 2 August 1876. The Vietnamese would have been mystified.
The Evil Eye
Lennea Mueller wrote an article titled Integrating Cultural Geography with
Psychological Operations: Islamic Superstitions, in which she mentions the EVIL EYE.
The Koran tells Muslims:
The influence of an evil eye is a fact, if anything would precede the destiny it
would be the influence of the evil eye.
The evil eye can be source of bad luck, disease, envy, and jealously. Many Muslims
believe that if it is used against them, they must remove the alleged effects of the evil
eye by, for instance, gargling with water, then washing their body with that same water,
and then finally tossing that same water behind their back.
In Africa some regions are famous for their scorpion bead-work, worn not only to
ward off scorpion bites but also to offer protection from the evil eye.
The Kabbalah tells the Jews that the evil eye can badly affect their health and the
health of their loved ones, deter success, create distress in relationships and cause
prolonged strips of bad luck. These processes can be found and stopped by the right amulet
or a sequence of ritual activities targeted to bring evil eye protection. Both practices
are directed at the bearer’s soul and cleanse it by bringing it closer to their
Creator.
Vietnam War
Leaflet 4-123-69
Most of these Vietnamese “Evil Eye” leaflets use red to terrify the
finder. This one is green and perhaps not quite as scary, though if you are going to imply
that the jungle has eyes, perhaps they should be green.
The text on the front is:
THE DEEP JUNGLE IS NO LONGER YOUR SAFE HIDING PLACE!
The text on the back is:
TO THE CADRES AND SOLDIERS IN THE COMMUNIST RANKS!
While hiding in the deep jungle you are being watched every second!
Sooner or later the path to your hiding place will be discovered. The deep jungle
has true eyes to observe you regardless of when and where.
The deep jungle is no longer your safe hiding place. Your life is as fragile as a
thin needle hanging a bell. You cannot escape danger and hopelessness.
Don't let yourself die in the deep jungle. Abandon your ranks in the night while
you still have time and still can!
Leaflet 4-124-69
This leaflet that features eyes was aimed at the North Vietnamese Army troops coming
down the Ho Chi Minh Trail to fight the armed forces of the Republic of Vietnam. This
leaflet is coded from the 4th PSYOP Group but we know it was actually printed for them by
the 7th PSYOP Group on Okinawa. The text on the front is:
THE DEEP JUNGLE IS WATCHING YOU!
The text on the back is:
THE FACE OF THE GREEN JUNGLE IS WATCHING YOU.
To friends in the rank and file of the North Vietnamese troops.
In the dark thick jungle, the jungle eyes are watching you. You were watched
since your first steps down your infiltration path. Your prayers became hopeless. No place
is so impenetrable that you can hide in it. The green jungle eyes are watching you.
Heaven's net casts wide. Though its meshes are coarse, nothing slips through.
There will be more bombs and artillery rounds coming to you.
Go back! Return to the North while you still can!
Note: Note: The "Heaven's net" quotation is from Lao Tsu's Tao Te Ching,
chapter 73.
One Vietnamese whose grandfather had been a Viet Cong guerrilla told me:
My grandpa told me that he felt much safer being in the jungle. At least the
jungle could hide them from bombardments, except from the B-52s. Talking about
superstition, he told me that he often hoped if the jungle Gods had to choose who lived or
died, they would choose to protect the locals rather than those strange white foreigners.
Thus the proverb: JUNGLE COVERS US, JUNGLE SURROUNDS THE ENEMIES.
Another Vietnamese replied:
I am not sure that the Laotian and Cambodian jungle Gods would protect either
side in the war, since both were foreign to the land. Remember, the Ho Chi Minh Trail lies
mainly in Laos and Cambodia.
Leaflet 4-19-70
The 4th PSYOP Group in Vietnam printed a number of leaflets designed to use
superstition to frighten the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army troops. The leaflet above
uses the image of an all-seeing eye that watches every move the troops make as they march
south. This same use of a watching pair of eyes is found again and again in later wars.
The leaflet depicts a blood red pair of eyes watching the North Vietnamese troops and is
designed to reinforce his fear of the unknown. The text is:
YOU CANNOT ESCAPE THE EYES OF THE JUNGLE
Text on the back is in part:
YOU WERE WARNED THAT YOU ARE BEING WATCHED
Cadre and troops in the North Vietnamese Army ranks:
We told you that you cannot escape the celestial net of the jungle. The jungle
eyes see every move you make and will eventually destroy you…
The PSYOP/POLWAR Newsletter of December 1969
mentions the concept of the “you are being watched” leaflets.
The 4th Group has developed a series of leaflets supporting the message,
“You are being watched.” This series is directed toward the Viet Cong and
North Vietnamese Army troops to impress on them the fact that they are
constantly subject to attack by the Government of Vietnam forces and that
the jungle is no longer a safe hiding place.
Hanoi Fights back
The North Vietnamese knew they had a problem and tried to eliminate it.
Their newspaper Nhan Dan of 19 January 1974 printed an article titled
"Hanoi, Haiphong, and Hai Hung Eradicate Superstition."
The paper claimed that in 1958 Hanoi eradicated superstition and basically
eliminated the
disease from among the people. So, none of the American and South Vietnamese
PSYOP plans using superstition should have had any effect. But according to
the newspaper, Hanoi failed in its first attempt to end superstition and was
working on the problem again:
But recently, several people who deal in gods and spirits have begun to
operate secretly again, kindling anew superstition to the detriment of both
the property and labor time of the people. To halt this depraved custom,
Hanoi's culture, and information sector, with various groups and authorities
of various echelons, is campaigning among the people to eradicate
superstition everywhere in urban and rural Hanoi. Many fortune tellers,
spirit mediums, people who sell golden votive paper and so forth have
admitted their shortcomings before the authorities, voluntarily requested to
give up their profession of superstition, switched. to a profession of
social value, and so forth.
Nam Sach District is one of the districts in Hai Hung Province which has
done well in eradicating superstition. The entire district had 52
soothsayers and rites masters. Some of them have given up their profession
in the past, but others continued to work secretly, adversely affecting both
the wealth and labor time of the people. The authorities and mass
organizations in the townships, on the one hand explained and pointed out
the dangers of superstition before crowds of people and on the
other hand went from family to family of those who had a member engaged in a
superstitious profession, persuading them to give up their profession and
helping them to find an appropriate job.
Dowsing
Dousing for VC tunnels at Khe Sahn
This picture claims
to show a Marine with devining sticks at Khe Sahn. In 1968, the Chicago
Tribune carried a colorful account of Lance Corporal D. E. Isgris
successfully dowsing for Viet Cong tunnels in Khe Sanh using a pair of brass
rods. This picture might show Isgris.
This section on dowsing may not belong in this story because first
it is not PSYOP, and second, it may not be superstition The people that
believe in this, absolutely believe it works and some sort of science, even
if unknown. I only add it because I have found it used in several military
operations although I am certain we will not find it in any military
manuals.
It is known that for centuries some dowsers have been used to find
water deep underground. Some farmers will not dig a well without having the
ground dowsed first. The dowser walks across the ground holding two
“devining” sticks and can read their movement when they indicate that water
is present below. To me, it makes no sense at all, but if it finds water
somewhere out on the plains I am not going to argue with the result.
One prospector told me that he douses for gold. He says he has had
some luck using that method.
General George Patton is said to have used dowsing to find fresh
water for his advancing troops in North Africa during World War II. The
Germans had blown up the water wells when they retreated to prevent the
American troops from having water to sustain the army in the desert terrain.
After Mussolini was overthrown and arrested on 24 July 1943, Adolf
Hitler demanded that he be found and rescued. One plan, devised by Himmler
and called “Operation Mars”, was based on an occult mixture of seers,
soothsayers, fortune-tellers, astrologers, mediums, clairvoyants
and pendulum diviners taken from concentration camps to foretell Mussolini's
location. One of Heinrich Himmler's pendulum diviners was given
official credit and a reward for finding Mussolini.
It has been stated that some Marines surrounded by the Viet Cong at
Khe Sahn used dowsing sticks to try and find VC tunnels that might have been
dug under their fortress. The website Medium.com said that
“Continually frustrated by the underground networks, the Pentagon made
locating and destroying the subterranean passages a main goal in 1967.” The
U.S. Army had failed to build a machine that could reliably detect the
tunnels. A year later, defense contractor HRB Singer told the Office of
Naval Research that dowsing might hold the answer. In 1968 some scientists
reported told the Army:
Undoubtedly, any system that offers some promise of improving the
odds above pure chance of discovering and locating the enemy is worth a try
— if nothing else is available.
The Marine Corps Development and Educational Command put the
leathernecks through a four-hour course in the practice. In March 1968,
Associated Press reporters spotted the troops near their base at Khe Sanh
using bent brass rods to find their subterranean foes.
Popular Mechanics adds:
In 1966, Louis Matacia, an operations analyst at the Marine Corps Schools at
Quantico, Virginia, suggested that dowsing would be useful for finding booby
traps and Viet Cong tunnels.
The Canadian Society of Dowsers says:
In 1967, 1967, U.S. Marine engineers used dowsing to help save
American lives in Viet Nam. The Marines dowsed to locate tunnels, hidden
ammunition, booby traps, and enemy food caches. American Society of Dowsers
trustee, Louis Maticia, was the dowser who ran the program and taught the
Marines to dowse.
A Korean said that Republic of Korea forces used dowsers trying to
find North Korean tunnels under the DMZ in his country.
Lots of other armies used dowsers; the British Army Engineers
relied on dowsing to locate water up until WWII, after which it was replaced
by more scientific methods. The practice also appeared in Russian Army
manuals during the 1930s as a method for finding water in uninhabited areas.
In some places, dowsing for bombs has never gone out of fashion. When George
W. Bush visited Estonia in 2006, the local security forces checked his route
for bombs by dowsing.
If true, one would think the military would have a dowsing school
at some base to teach this method of enemy detection. The Marines apparently
concluded there was no “scientific basis” for the practice. I am a skeptic.
Operation Iraqi Freedom
Soldier posting "Evil Eye" leaflet
During Operation Iraqi Freedom the Coalition printed an entire series of leaflets
showing two eyes on the front and various text or scenes on the back. As the war went on,
the eyes became more sinister. These leaflets were meant to terrify the insurgents and
show them that they were under surveillance all the time by agents, snipers and
satellites. According to a Rand National Defense Research Institute study entitled
Enlisting Madison Avenue - The Marketing Approach to Earning Popular Support in
Theaters of Operation, this leaflet might have offended the general population more
than it frightened the insurgents:
…A message that offended its recipients shows a coalition PSYOP leaflet
dropped to intimidate insurgents in Iraq. However, this airdropped leaflet did not just
reach insurgents; it also reached noncombatants. And, while its message implies that
insurgents deserve to be brought to justice, in cultural fact, it gave everyone who picked
it up the “Evil Eye.”
In the late consolidation stage of Operation Iraqi Freedom, the use of the eyes as a
PSYOP theme became very popular. I have seen SEVEN such leafletsl, many in a rather stark red
or green and black, many with different short messages on the front and various vignettes
on the back such as the photograph of a wanted Iraqi terrorist, a cartoon depicting
skeletons, and a group of 10 terrorists along with the reward for each. We depict
several
versions of the “evil eye” leaflets. The eyes appear in both red and green and
sometimes the back is blank with cross-hatching. Some of the known code numbers are
IZD-7525 and IZD-7527.
The leaflets come in various sides like 5.5 x 3.5, 5.5 x 4, and 8.5 x
5.5-inches, and many have no code number at all.
Version 1
This leaflet has at least two varieties and depicts Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and
on the back of one and Abu Ayyub al-Masri on the back of the other. The text
on the front is:
We will chase you and show you no mercy
The back of this variety depicts Abu Ayyub al-Masri, who became the head of
Al Qaeda in Iraq after its former leader, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, was killed
in June of 2006, and says:
Abu Ayyub al-Masri
You will be the next Takfir [unbeliever] leader coming to death
You will join al-Zarqawi in Hell
On 19 April 2010, the New York Times announced that Abu Ayyub al-Masri, the
leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq, was killed in a joint raid between Iraqi and
United States forces in Tikrit, near Saddam Hussein's hometown. He was found
hiding in a hole in the ground. The security forces surrounded the hole, a
gunfight ensued, and he was killed.
The back of this second variation depicts Sami Kareem and the same text as
the leaflet above.
Sami Kareem
You will be the next Takfir [unbeliever] leader coming to death
You will join al-Zarqawi in Hell
Version 2
This version of the “eye” leaflet exists in various sizes and
at least two varieties.
One
variety depicts a cartoon of three skeletons holding rifles and standing over
the bodies of dead children holding a black flag. A second variety bears the
picture of a wanted Iraqi. The text
on the front is:
Takferi there is no place to hide
“Takferi” indicates a person who believes that he is always correct and
will go to Heaven while all the rest will rot in Hell.
The skeleton image is also found on regular leaflets without the eyes. The
text on this “evil eye” leaflet is:
The True Arm Behind al-Qaida
The skeletons are labeled with the names, code-names, or nicknames of
terrorists. They are:
Sanazan
The Egyptian
Sheikh Hamed Rasheed
Version 3
This leaflet depicts in at least two varieties, each showing a different
wanted Iraqi and the text on the front:
He speaks on your behalf
The Coalition is saying that when you passively accept the actions of the
terrorists it is as if you have accepted their leadership and allowed them
to speak for you. This leaflet depicts the captured Baath Party chairman
Rasheed Taan Khazim on the back
with the text:
We arrested Rasheed Taan Khazim Al Azawi
Version 4
This version is a bit different with the background almost being a gold
color. The text is:He is talking about you
The Coalition implies that although the terrorist is hiding and thinks he is
protected by his people, others know about him and will talk about him and
the Coalition has microphones and listening devices and agents everywhere
and hear everything. This handout has 10 wanted Iraqis on the back along
with the reward paid for their capture.
Version 5 - IZD7527
In this case the leaflet is green instead of red. The
back is blank and bears cross-hatching so the insurgents cannot use it. The text on the
front is:
No matter where you run, no matter where you hide,
Coalition Special Operations Forces will find you and bring you to justice.
IZG7527
This also appears as a larger Task Force 20 handout coded IZG7527. The
handout as the face in a natural color rather than in green as is the
leaflet. The text is identical
No matter where you run, no matter where you hide,
Coalition Special Operations Forces will find you and bring you to
justice.
Afghanistan
Leaflet EF3C14L1
Once again this leaflet depicts two eyes staring out at the viewer. The Taliban
leader Mullah Omar and a close-up of his automobile license plate are on the back, both in
the sights of a rifle. The message is that we not only see you, we can identify your car
from anywhere.The text is so obvious that I almost did not bother to have it translated,
but I did use an Army translator just in case and as I suspected it is:
WE ARE WATCHING YOU!
Nguyen Binh Khiem called Trang Trinh
Nguyen Binh Khiem (1491-1585), usually called Trang Trinh, was a Vietnamese
administrator, educator, poet, sage and is a saint of the Cao Dai religion as well as a
poet and prophet who published collections of prophecies in Viet Nam. He is best known for
his book Sam Trang (predicts of Trang), written about 1564. Trang Trinh used Thai
At Astrology, an ancient book from India. His reputation for prediction spread to
China where many scholars considered him as the greatest master of ly hoc (the
science of fortune telling and other mystical arts).
His predictions were the Vietnamese equivalent of the Nostradamus quatrains. They
are suggestive, believed to predict future events, and very mysterious. The Vietnamese
people extol Trang Trinh as the Number One Oracle of Vietnam because he made a series of
predictions which were referred to as “Divinations of Trang.”
A Vietnamese friend told me:
His prophecies were somewhat correct vis-a-vis the events. He predicted the start
of the WWII and its aftermath. Every Vietnamese understands the phrase Sam Tr?ng Trình
(Trang Trình's prophecy) when you say it. During the partition of Vietnam, Trang Trình's
prophecy was well utilized by Saigon Military Mission in 1954-1955 by Edward Lansdale and
Lou Conein.
Is it any wonder that during the Vietnam War, the Americans, knowing the great
regard of the Vietnamese people for the respected prophet, used Trang Trinh on many
propaganda leaflets having him predict the fall of North Vietnam and the Victory of the
Republic of Vietnam.
So far I have seen 4th PSYOP Group leaflets mentioning the prophet Trang Trinh with
the code numbers: 4-22-70, 4-23-70, 4-24-70, 4-39-70, and 4-40-70
Leaflet 4-23-70
The 4th PSYOP continued with a series of Trang Trinh prophecy leaflets, all of which
warned of death and disaster about to befall the troops from the North.
Leaflet 4-22-70 tells of an alleged prophecy of Trang Trinh. The leaflet
depicts an incense burner and an open book and some of the following text:
According to Trang Trinh’s prophecy, “God did not entrust Ho Chi Minh
with founding a nation.”
Being against God and the people, Communism will be destroyed.
Trang Trinh foresaw it in the following prophecies: “Never were there such
extraordinary things. People are suddenly the victims of accusations. To have security why
not encourage people to plough and till? Alas, the destiny of the country has not yet come
true. The South gate is not shut, but the North gate is opened [to China].
Leaflet 4-23-70 depicts a sign of the Zodiac and the text in
part:
THE FUTURE OF THE WAR HAS BEEN DECIDED
Trang Trinh (16th Century) gained supernatural power after he received a book
from a great Chinese man. It interpreted the evolution of the Earth so he knew what was to
take place in coming years. Trang Trinh’s prophecy states that peace will begin to
return in 1970. The day of peace will appear in the stars as foretold by Trang Trinh about
1970. There is no reason for you or your comrades to die in battle. Find a way to return
home to your family.
The PSYOP Group followed with another leaflet coded 4-24-70 that depicted a symbol
of harmony between positive and negative. Some of the text is:
YOU CANNOT GO AGAINST DESTINY
…When will the road from North to South be cleared?
The whales [warships] float in a bloody sea.
When the cock crows, the tree of pearls [Ho Chi Minh]
falls in the North...
This poem is one of several hundred prophecies of Trang Trinh; a North Vietnamese
native well known for his talents in astrology for over 400 years…Trang Trinh also
predicted many things about Vietnam, especially the beginning of the collapse of the North
Vietnamese regime after Ho’s death in the year of the rooster (1969).
Leaflet 4-39-70
The 4th PSYOP Group next mentioned Trang Trinh in a leaflet coded 4-39-70
that featured two Vietnamese looking at the stars on one side and a bowl of rice an
tablets on the other. Some of the text is:
TRANG TRINH’S PROPHECIES FORETOLD THE FUTURE OF VIETNAM
The following of his prophecies have been fulfilled:
The defeat of the French in 1954.
The death of Ho Chi Minh in 1969.
The North has been divided internally sine Ho’s death and will fall.
Leaflet 4-40-79 also used the prophecies of Trang Trinh. It says in part:
THE COMMUNISTS CANNOT CHANGE DESTINY
…Ho hides in the mountains, Mao sees white
The whale rises to the surface of the bloody waters
The cock crows in the pearl tree
And the sky inclines to the North…
In the poem above he said that after the death of Ho Chi Minh the Northern regime
would begin to collapse in the year of the rooster [1969].
In almost every war we find that fortune telling is used as a form of superstition
propaganda. Allen B. Clark mentions such an operations in Valor in Vietnam: Chronicles
of Honor, Courage, and Sacrifice: 1963-1977, Casemate Publishers, Kindle Edition. He
mentions Ron Humphries (USIA psychological operations advisor) and a woman named Kim who
was used to gather information from Viet Cong members who had gone over to the Vietnamese
government:
There was a Chieu Hoi center in the province where Humphrey took his teams to
perform as a part of the reeducation program to indoctrinate the defectors. The center was
so successful that in 1969 and through much of 1970 his province led South Vietnam in
defections. Ron felt good about the part he played in helping to win the hearts and minds
of the local population. The very talented Kim was a fortune-teller in the ancient
Vietnamese tradition and she began a rather unusual activity at the Chieu Hoi center that
proved to be invaluable in gathering intelligence for the province. She would play cards
with the former VC and then pull out her fortune-telling kit; it was much like a
child’s Pick-Up-Sticks game in America. Kim would shake the can and then spill the
sticks into a pile. Each stick had a special marking. She would start at the top and
carefully remove each stick, explaining the meaning to the defector. Soon, she would reach
a solid black Death Stick, which suggested grave difficulties or even death were on the
horizon for the man. Then she would note that the stick immediately below the Death Stick
would cancel it out, but it required the man to provide worthwhile information to the
government in order to be effective. The ploy worked! Defectors who had resisted trained
government interrogators were soon telling everything they knew about VC activities in the
province, all because of Kim’s trick Death Stick.
SP-2249
200,400 copies of this leaflet were produced by the Joint U.S. Public Affairs Office
in November 1967 as part of the Tet (New Year’s) and the Chieu Hoi (Open Arms)
campaigns. It is not an attractive leaflet, both sides are full text. Still, some of the
comments are interesting. The leaflet says in part:
THE TET FORTUNE-TELLER
You might be unlucky in the near future. We suggest you consult the Tet
Fortune-Teller.
The “Fortune-Teller Card” has nine items that are important to you.
Mark X to the right of the items that are true or you believe to be true. If you have the
right number of marks you might have good luck for Tet.
1. I want to enjoy Tet with my family
2. I would like to have better food.
3. The VC will be defeated.
4. I am sorry that I joined the VC.
5. Chieu Hoi is a way to be reunited with one's family.
6. I would like to have better medical treatment.
7. ARVN and Allied Forces have better weapons than the VC.
8. I would like to be free from air and artillery attacks.
9. The people of Vietnam have selected a new government.
If you have more than 4 X's you are urged to turn the leaflet over.
The back of the card lists 11 lucky benefits you will receive if you come back to
the government of Vietnam. Some of them are: Good treatment; Full citizenship in the
RVN; Medical treatment in the Chieu Hoi Center and Permanent reunion with your
family.
Max Boot mentions the use of the fortunetellers in The Road Not Taken: Edward
Lansdale and the American Tragedy in Vietnam, Liverright Publishing Corporation, New
York, 2018:
The Saigon Military Mission even hired a soothsayer to produce an almanac that
predicted good fortune for the South and calamitous tidings for the North. So popular did
this eight-page publication become that the CIA made a profit on it that was used to fund
refugee resettlement… Lansdale produced a series of lengthy memoranda.
One memo on “Vietnamese Soothsaying” included a classified annex with the names
of “certain soothsayers,” which had been omitted from the main report, “in
case there is ever a desire for some clandestine operational use of these persons.”
Who but Ed Lansdale would ever think to make “operational use” of soothsayers?
Palm Readers
Harry Wagner mentions Vietnamese superstition in The Headless Snake,
self-published, 2018. Wagner was involved in PSYOP in Vietnam from 1966 to 1968 as the
Director of Psychological Operations in II Corps. He tells of visiting Gia Nghia on the
Cambodian border. The Vietnamese Province Chief’s fiancée was a palm reader and
fortune teller. She forecast that due to the very long lifeline on his left hand he was
almost immortal. It would be practically impossible for him to die. This quickly got
around to all the Vietnamese upper crust that now saw Wagner as a lucky charm. It gave him
introduction into their homes and allowed him to make contacts with top officials and
military.
Not long afterwards the town got overrun by a Viet Cong battalion. The Province
chief asked Harry to stop by his house and they were soon in a jeep with two bodyguards.
The chief drove into the town past 60 of the Viet Cong guerrillas who were performing a
political lecture and then out again. Wagner was very uncomfortable but the province chief
firmly believed that with Wagner in the jeep no harm could come to him.
The Shadow of Death
Before we leave Vietnam we should mention that the Australian 1st Psychological
Operations Unit printed a leaflet coded ATF-074-71 and entitled “Ghosts” on 25
January 1971. The leaflet depicted a ghost standing over a Viet Cong sleeping on a grave
site on the front with the names of eight of his dead comrades floating over his body,
and text and a Chieu Hoi (Open Arms) symbol on the back. The leaflet is aimed at the North
Vietnamese D445 Battalion. This leaflet was taped down in a file in the Australian War
Memorial and that is the reason that the left side is discolored. The text on the front
is:
The shadow of death continues to seek more of your brave
compatriots.
The shadow of death is looking for you.
Text on the back is:
The shadow of death is searching for more members of D445. Many of your brave
compatriots have been killed by the Government of Vietnam forces recently. You have been
told that such missing people have been given other tasks. This is not true. These people
are dead. Each day the task of getting enough food and supplies becomes more difficult.
You labor hard to achieve victory but the Government of Vietnam forces destroy your
effort. Chieu Hoi before the shadow of death reaches out for you.
The ghosts of Vietnam are mentioned in Vietnamese Beliefs in Spirits and Trees,
Fact Sheet Number 7, United States Military Assistance Command Vietnam - Saigon, dated 1
December 1969:
The supernatural beings most commonly discussed among the villagers are the ma,
phantoms or ghosts, and they command fear, although their degree of wickedness varies.
Among the least malevolent are those, which once were living animals – ma heo (pig
ghost), ma cho (dog ghost), and ma meo (cat ghost). Villagers believe they swarm over
fields after sunset, often getting tangled in the legs of those who tarry too long on the
paths. Ma dung is the collective term for ghosts associated with horses, oxen, and
buffalo, but unlike the other animal ma, they are harmful, and strange occurrences in a
village are often attributed to the ma dung. Ma Than Vong is a specific ghost, the
‘tightening- knot ghost’ which goads people into suicide by muttering ‘co
co’ (neck, neck) into their ears. Ma A Phien is the opium ghost, related to addiction
and eventual ‘death in the pleasures’. Yeu and quy are capricious, often wicked
supernatural beings, capable of doing unguarded humans great harm. Of all these beings,
however, none is so malevolent as the tinh who villagers claim use a variety of tricks to
induce their intended victims to open their mouths, whereupon the tinh draw out their
souls, leaving them insane. Villagers believe that the yeu and tinh inhabit great trees,
often appearing as human shadows.
Operation Enduring Freedom
On 11 September 2001, terrorists of the al-Qaida (the Base) group, some trained and
financed by Saudi Arabian exile-in-hiding Osama bin Laden, attacked the World Trade Center
in New York City and the Pentagon in Washington DC. President Bush immediately demanded
that the ruling fundamentalist Islamic Taliban movement of Afghanistan turn over Mr. bin
Laden for trial. They refused. The bombing of Afghanistan began on 7 October. Aerial
propaganda leaflets were not dropped the first week due to high winds. The first leaflet
drop took place on October 15. Although the great majority of leaflets had to do with
surrender and the overwhelming might of the Coalition forces, at least one leaflet played
on the perceived superstitious fear of the Afghan people. It was dropped on 8 December
2001 and featured the magical Jinn.
Leaflet AFD56b
This leaflet shows four members of al-Qaida or the Taliban. The individual at the
far left is identified as “Muttawakil,” and is believed to represent the Taliban
Foreign Minister Mullah Abdul Wakil Muttawakil. The next figure is Osama bin Laden.
The third figure is identified as “Haggani,” and would appear to be Jalaluddin
Haggani, a senior Taliban commander who was quoted as saying “We are eagerly awaiting
the American troops to land on our soil, where we will deal with them in our own
way.” The fourth individual wears the black Taliban turban, but is otherwise
unidentified. Three Afghans are seen hanging from a gallows in the background. The text on
the leaflet is “The Taliban reign of fear...” At the left and right of the
leaflet, we can just make out the fearful face of snarling Jinn. The Koran identifies the
jinn as creatures created from a smokeless fire. They lie and practice deceit to fulfill
their own desire for evil. Showing them with the Taliban implies that the
leaders have been deceived and turned toward evil by the supernatural creatures.
When turned over, the back of the leaflet shows the four faces altered
slightly to resemble skulls, an American bit of trickery that was
practiced during WWII when Adolf Hitler’s face was changed to
a skull-like countenance in an attempt to say that he represented death. In
place of the gallows, an explosion is shown with debris thrown into the air. The text goes
on to say “...is about to end!”
Almost two decades later a group of PSYOP troops talked about how
the superstitions of the Afghan people could cause interesting problems for
PSYOP specialists. One trooper said that he got a call asking for an EOD
specialist to come to a house because there was a landmine out in the field.
When the team got there, the homeowner pointed at a vase of the mantle and
told his interpreter that he made up the story of a landmine just to get the
Americans to come and rid his house of an evil spirit that was haunting the
place. The ashes of his dead father were in the vase and his ghost was
cursing his house and his fields. The Afghan believed that the Americans
with all their cell phones, iPads and science and technology could rid the
house of the ghost, a scientific and military exorcism. The troops asked the
homeowner how important that vase was to him? “Not important at all.” They
then took the “haunted” vase outside into the field, placed a 40-pound
cratering charge next to it, and blew the Hell out of it. They went back to
the house, gave the homeowner a Mountain Dew, some Halal jerky, a glow
stick, and a little pin depicting the flags of the U.S. and Afghanistan, and
told him that the ghost has been forever exorcized
Another PSYOP specialist said that he was assigned to Paktika
province in Afghanistan. He was part of a team sent to a local house with
two people inside. He first saw an AK-47 against the wall, and when his
Afghan National Army team members shook the blankets and pillows two
grenades onto the floor. Five Americans immediately ran out of the room
expecting an explosion. There was no explosion. The Afghan residents
explained that the rifle and grenades were for their personal protection
because the prayer room in the compound was haunted by “Jinn’s” (an
intelligent spirit able to appear in human or animal forms and to possess
humans). The two Afghans were terrorized by them. They said they had been
haunted by those Jinn’s for years.
A third PSYOP soldier thought that this could be an impact
indicator for how superstitious the Afghans are, particularly in rural
regions. He said that most of the Americans that lived among them knew that.
He thought that at some point the PSYOP experts should have tried something
along the line of the Vietnam War “Wandering Soul” campaign where the
Americans played eerie music and the voice of dead Vietnamese Communist
troops who would walk the Earth forever because they had been buried in an
unmarked grave instead of in their home ground.
On the website Afghanistan Online, Abdullah Qazi wrote a report
titled "Superstitions and Popular Myths." He mentioned 33 popular beliefs.
Some of the more interesting ones are:
It’s not good to let someone compliment your child or other loved one too
much, because they may become jinxed and bad luck may fall on them. For example, if you say a child is beautiful, the child may become
sick. You can ward this off by either saying “Nazar Nakona”, or by reciting
a surah from the Quran.
Water is thrown on the floor where the person just walked, when a person
leaves the front door (While also walking under the Quran) to go on a long
trip. This is done so the person
will have a safe and pleasant trip and return unharmed.
After praying, you should fold a side of the prayer mat or the devil will
come and pray on it.
After reading the Quran, you should close it immediately, or the devil will
come and read from it.
Do not look in the mirror at night, because someone will tell a lie about
you.
The smoke from burning incense will keep bad luck and bad spirits away.
When a newborn is brought into the house and placed into his or her bed,
hanging something (jewelry etc..) with the name of Allah on it will help
keep the baby safe from harm when they sleep.
Strange and Exotic Psychological Operations
During the history of warfare there have been some extremely strange psychological
operations. These have been passed down through word of mouth and may or may not be true.
These stories are the kind that I would normally exclude in an academic report, but since
this is a very informal look at all the areas of Superstition PSYOP, I elect to add them.
These stories are anecdotes that are entertaining and none, some, or the entire story
might be true.
The Battle for Pelusium
The Reverence of the early Egyptians for Cats
In Ancient Egypt it was believed that cats captured the glow of the setting sun in
their eyes and kept it safe until morning. This made it unlawful for cats to be killed
except in ritual sacrifice by priests. When Cambyses II led the Persian Army against the
Egyptians in the battle of Pelusium they tied cats to their shields and won a staggering
victory.
In 525 B.C. the Persian and Egyptian armies were engaged in a fierce battle for the
city of Pelusium. It is said that the inhabitants of Pelusium worshiped cats as gods.
Their enemy knew of this belief and took advantage of it. The Persians deployed their
forces to the villages and towns of the surrounding countryside, capturing as many cats as
they could lay their hands upon. Once satisfied with the number of animals they'd
collected, the Persian army returned to the city of Pelusium. The Egyptians immediately
attacked, but were frozen in their tracks as hundreds of panic-stricken cats were released
onto the battlefield. Confusion spread through the Egyptian ranks. The Persian forces then
advanced, each of the Persian soldiers holding a cat. The Egyptian soldiers dared not
engage the enemy or shoot their arrows, fearing that to do so might endanger the lives of
the cats. The Persians quickly scattered their enemy and their city defenses as Cambyses
hurled cats over the walls of the city. After the taking of the city Cambyses showed his
contempt of the Egyptians by carrying a cage of cats in front of him upon his horse, and
hurling them with insulting taunts and laughter, into the faces of his foes.
Holographic Projection of God or Demons
Perhaps the most exotic of all the Superstition PSYOP campaigns is the alleged use
of holographic projection to place images of Gods and Demons before an enemy to terrify
them and bend them to the will of the propagandist. In fact, there is so much rumor and
silliness surrounding this entire subject that it is difficult to take any of it
seriously. I will discuss some of what is known but the reader must understand that the
entire story could be a hoax.
The story first broke about the time of Operation Desert Storm in late 1990.
Allegedly there was discussion of an Operation Blue Beam that would project a
holographic image of Allah floating over Baghdad urging the Iraqi people and Army to
revolt against Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein. The scientists studied the project and stated
that they probably could project large, three-dimensional objects that appeared to float
in the air. But, to project such a hologram over Baghdad several hundred feet high would
take a mirror more than a mile square in space, as well as huge projectors and power
sources. And besides, the scientists asked, what does Allah look like? Furthermore, since
such divine portrayals of any kind are strictly forbidden in Islam, the hologram would
more likely infuriate the Iraqis than terrify them.
The story reappears in 1994 when allegedly a secret program was established to
pursue the technology for PSYOPS applications. The holographic projector now supposedly
described in a classified Air Force document as a system to project information power from
space and for Special Operations deception missions. Various unverified reports claim that
the Pentagon listed the holographic projections as part of its non-lethal weapons program.
It is claimed that Defense Week wrote that the Army's John F. Kennedy Special Warfare
Center and School was looking to develop a PSYOPS Hologram System with a capability to
project persuasive messages and three-dimensional pictures. Airborne Holographic Projector data even
appears on the Internet:
Displays a three-dimensional visual image in a desired location, removed from the
display generator. The projector can be used for psychological operations and strategic
perception management. It is also useful for optical deception and cloaking, providing a
momentary distraction when engaging an unsophisticated adversary.
Do I believe any of this? No. I don’t doubt that the U.S. Government looked
into holographs for PSYOP applications, but I suspect that the expense and uncertainty of
such an operation would quickly make it untenable.
Why do I suspect that the government looked into this concept? Lee Richards of
Psywar.org told me of a WWII Foreign Office document entitled:
DEPARTMENT FOR PUBLICITY IN ENEMY COUNTRIES
CONSULTATIVE COMMITTEE
8TH MEETING, 6TH MARCH 1940.
RUSES DE GUERRE: Projection of Messages and images by searchlights on clouds.
Mr. Shaw reported…that in regard to the suggestion of an apparatus for
projecting messages and images on clouds Brigadier Penney had kindly put him in touch with
the principal producers of apparatus of this kind. It had not been possible to provide a
comprehensive technical report for this meeting but he could state that it was possible
with a special projector to throw messages or images on to clouds, though the messages
must be short and the image simple. The cloud conditions required are cumulous at 2,000 to
3,000 feet and the visibility from one to four miles according to weather conditions. With
these conditions operations can start half-an-hour after sunset at a distance of
half-a-mile from the front line, when the letters of images would be projected on to the
clouds over the enemy lines the right way up for the enemy troops to read or see. One five
foot projector costing £2,500 - £3,000 can throw up to twenty letters. It would take
three months to produce a projector. Trials could be arranged. If the Committee considered
that the idea was practicable its possibilities could be further investigated and
information supplied to the D.M.I. France.
It was agreed that the suggestion for apparatus to project messages and images on
clouds should be pursued. Trials should be arranged by Sir Campbell Stuart’s
Department, and, if successful, the suggestion should be taken up through Colonel Brooks
with the D.M.I. at G.H.Q. France.
There is no record of this operation ever taking place, so perhaps the cost of the
projectors or the inability to project a clear picture was the downfall of the plan.
Searchlight message projection in Vietnam
There were experiments in Vietnam in 1968 where C-47 aircraft were used to project
messages on the underside of clouds. Bill Tyner, former S3 (Operations) Air Liaison
officer of the 10th PSYOP Battalion in Vietnam told me:
Everyone remembers the old Batman TV show from around the mid-1960s. Someone in
our Propaganda Development Center thought that the idea of a
“bat signal” was a good one that could be used in psychological operations. He
thought that we might be able to take a transparency and place it into a projector, turn
on the intense illumination and manipulate the focusing lens, and then project an image
out great distances. He envisioned using such symbols as “Chieu Hoi” (open Arms)
or the flag of the Republic of Vietnam.
Once the projector and transparencies were prepared and ready I had to obtain a
power source to run to run the high-wattage projector lamp. An Army 3.5 kilowatt generator
set was obtained and placed in our loudspeaker (Gabby) C-47 aircraft. The commander of the
5th Special Operations Squadron was unhappy about that extra power source in his aircraft,
but eventually he went along with the experiment.
The ideal clouds would be a low-hanging “mattress” blanket cloud cover,
but in the Delta they were not all that common. On a less than ideal night Gabby took off
and flew a mission provided by our S3 shop. We usually targeted large Viet Cong formations
and I believe this was a suspected VC battalion. The illumination unit worked and the
image was projected, but there was no way of determining how well it was seen without a
prisoner to interview.
The next mission was over Vinh Long and our field team witnessed the projection
and reported that it was blurry and not very effective. The problem was the transparency
of the cloud cover. It was not dense enough, and on that particular mission the cloud
cover was so low that it was extremely dangerous for the aircraft and the safety of the
crew. “Angels 3” was considered the nominal altitude for safe operation and the
low cloud cover would bring Gabby within 1500 feet of the Viet Cong muzzles. That was
simply not going to happen.
Still, even under those poor conditions there was an image. We had proven that
the system should work under perfect conditions and had proven that messages could be
projected onto low-floating clouds with the use of a projector and portable generator.
The operation itself proved a failure. After the second mission, some
members of our staunch allies, the Army of Vietnam (ARVN's) were seen running off with our
generator set from what had once been a locked storage shed at Binh Thuy Vietnamese
Air Force Base. Without the power source all further missions were cancelled. Those
spotlight missions were innovative and showed a great deal of originality and
imagination, but unfortunately it would take a lot more to defeat the Viet
Cong insurgency.
It seems that there were attempts at placing propaganda images in the skies over
Laos too. The plan was to show Buddha and various religious images and warn the Pathet Lao
that they had angered Buddha and the spirits. As far as I know this plan was never
put into action.
The Phi Kasu, with its floating head and viscera.
Speaking of Laos, Retired PSYOP Major Ray Ambrozak told me about his 1961 leaflet
missions in Laos. On one occasion experts from the United States Information Service and
Central Intelligence Agency determined that there were evil spirits that the Lao people
called Phi that might be used for propaganda purposes. There are hundreds, if not
thousands of different types of these phi documented in Lao folktales and other sources.
Some of the more common ones include the Phi Ban who are the village spirits. The Phi
Taihong are spirits of the violently killed and very dangerous. The Phi Borisat
are nameless evil spirits. Ray told me about an operation he was involved with:
The Phi were invisible mystical spirits that were revered and feared by the Lao. We
stuffed leaflets into bottles which when dropped from an aircraft would make the strange
whistling sound of the Phi. The pilot would throttle back the engine and glide almost
silently over a village as the bottles were thrown out. The bottles would break open upon
hitting the ground and the leaflets would scatter over the ground. The leaflets told the
Lao to break away from the Pathet Lao as the Phi imprisoned in the bottles had done.\
Loudspeakers were also used, calling the communists as atheistic and godless, one of
the few messages hard to refute. For ethnic groups practicing animistic and spiritual
beliefs, the use of phi (spirits) and ghosts of ancestors was prevalent in loudspeaker
operations when these “ghosts” and “spirits” talked from the sky.
It appears that the Americans might have tried a little bit of Psychological magic
in Thailand. During WWII, Thailand collaborated with the Japanese, probably as a way of
keeping its independence. Many of the Thais worked in factories that supported the
Japanese armed forces. I do not have a time or place or even a code number, but a
miniature cardboard leaflet was dropped that featured an American B-17 Flying Fortress
dropping bombs on one side, and folded in such a way (accordion style) to make a small
square with a hole punched in so that a string could be placed through it and it could be
worn as an amulet. The colors were red, white and blue; colors used by both the flag of
the United States and Thailand. If the leaflet is fully opens the following four messages
appear:
HAPPINESS – GOOD LUCK
If you don’t want to lose your good luck then
Leave this industrial area before it is bombed
If you die you will lose everything
Leave this factory
As always, this is just a quick look at the subject. There are certainly many more
cases of psychological operations featuring superstition as a theme. You are invited to
write the author at Sgmbert@hotmail.com with
additional suggestions.
