Keep in mind that another expression for brainwashing is “coercive persuasion”.
The military’s own documents say that psy-ops are for “disrupting, confusing, and protracting the adversary’s decision-making process and undermining command and control”.
You may call all that a “very well-crafted sales pitch”, but I’ll keep calling it brainwashing.
You should check out what Michael Hastings (who wrote the article) said about his article in this interview:
Here’s some quotes: (emphasis mine)
" … Sure. Psychological operations and information operations are essentially just ways to influence the population. Now, the key is, is that for IO and psy-ops you’re only supposed to do those on foreign populations, on the enemy. Now, there’s another branch, public affairs, which is — which you’re allowed to then use your information on the American population. The key difference is, is that in information operations and in psy-ops you’re allowed to lie, you’re allowed to mislead … "
" … And by spinning, manipulating and using whatever resources you have to convince the policymakers in Washington, be it Admiral Mullen or Al Franken, that’s where you want to devote your resources to. And that, to me, again, is very troubling. … "
And, once again… take a look at Al Franken’s “switcheroo” after being specifically targeted by psy-ops:
http://brainerddispatch.com/opinion/2013-06-13/sen-al-franken-nsa-spying-us-citizens-then-and-now
