These quotes, going back over the last century, come from the leaders and developers of government propaganda and censorship efforts within the U.S./NATO empire.
“If we understand the mechanism and motives of the group mind, is it not possible to control and regiment the masses according to our will without their knowing about it? The recent practice of propaganda has proved that it is possible, at least up to a certain point and within certain limits.”-From the marketer Edward Bernays, who helped develop the U.S. government's war propaganda techniques during World War I
“The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society. Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country. We are governed, our minds are molded, our tastes formed, and our ideas suggested, largely by men we have never heard of…. It is they who pull the wires that control the public mind.”-Also from Bernays
“If war aims are stated which seem to concern solely with Anglo-American imperialism, they will offer little to people in the rest of the world… The interests of other peoples should be stressed… This would have a better propaganda effect.”-From a 1941 private memorandum between the Council on Foreign Relations and the State Department
“'It is now clear that we are facing an implacable enemy whose avowed objective is world domination by whatever means and whatever cost. There are no rules in such a game. Hitherto acceptable norms of human conduct do not apply. If the United States is to survive, longstanding concepts of 'fair play' must be reconsidered. We must develop effective espionage and counter-espionage services, and must learn to subvert, sabotage, and destroy our enemies by more clever, more sophisticated, and more effective methods than those used against us. It may be necessary that the American people be made acquainted with, understand, and support this fundamentally repugnant philosophy."-James Doolittle, in a 1954 report to President Eisenhower about plans for covert operations
“We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false.”-From CIA director William Casey at a February 1981 White House meeting
“We live in a dirty and dangerous world. There are some things the general public does not need to know and shouldn't. I believe democracy flourishes when the government can take legitimate steps to keep its secrets and when the press can decide whether to print what it knows.”-From CFR/Trilateralist Katharine Graham, in a 1988 speech to senior CIA employees
“From a marketing point of view, you don’t introduce new products in August.”-From Bush aide Andrew Card, while explaining why the media campaign for the invasion of Iraq started in the fall of 2002
“[People like you are] in what we call the reality-based community. [You] believe that solutions emerge from your judicious study of discernible reality… That's not the way the world really works anymore. We're an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality. And while you're studying that reality—judiciously, as you will—we'll act again, creating other new realities, which you can study too, and that's how things will sort out. We're history's actors...and you, all of you, will be left to just study what we do.”-From Karl Rove, in a 2004 interview with The New York Times’ Ron Suskind
“PSYOP [Psychological Operations] are essential to the success of PRC [Population & Resources Control]. For maximum effectiveness, a strong psychological operations effort is directed toward the families of the insurgents and their popular support base. The PSYOP aspect of the PRC program tries to make the imposition of control more palatable to the people by relating the necessity of controls to their safety and well-being. PSYOP efforts also try to create a favorable national or local government image and counter the effects of the insurgent propaganda effort.”-From the 2003 US Special Forces Foreign Internal Defense Tactics Techniques and Procedures for Special Forces
“Security forces can induce individuals among the general populace to become informants. Security forces use various motives (civic-mindedness, patriotism, fear, punishment avoidance, gratitude, revenge or jealousy, financial rewards) as persuasive arguments. They use the assurance of protection from reprisal as a major inducement.”-Also from the 2003 US Special Forces document
“The character of the information campaign is critically important to its success. The credibility and perceived legitimacy of the US effort or of the cause we
support must never be put at risk by deceptive information operations. The BBC is perceived by people around the world as a fair and even-handed reporter of news, regardless of the reality, while CNN often is regarded as a mouthpiece of the US Government. The BBC is more likely to persuade than is CNN. Our information ops need to acquire a BBC-like reputation for honesty that can be used to persuade.”-From the 2006 US Multi-Service Concept for Irregular Warfare
support must never be put at risk by deceptive information operations. The BBC is perceived by people around the world as a fair and even-handed reporter of news, regardless of the reality, while CNN often is regarded as a mouthpiece of the US Government. The BBC is more likely to persuade than is CNN. Our information ops need to acquire a BBC-like reputation for honesty that can be used to persuade.”-From the 2006 US Multi-Service Concept for Irregular Warfare
“Persuadables [sic] won't care how much you know until they know how much you care. Show Empathy for BOTH sides!”-DR Frank Luntz, in a 2009 confidential playbook for how Israeli spokespeople should speak about Israel’s treatment of Palestinians and Arabs
“She [Hillary Clinton] doesn't want the people knowing about her relationships on Wall Street… She wants to achieve consistency and the best way to do that is to keep the people ignorant.”-From a 2016 email exchange between DNC operatives, as revealed by WikiLeaks
“Civil wars don’t start with gunshots, they start with words. America’s war with itself has already begun. We all must act now on the social media battlefield to quell information rebellions that can quickly lead to violent confrontations and easily transform us into the Divided States of America. Stopping the false information artillery barrage landing on social media users comes only when those outlets distributing bogus stories are silenced—silence the guns and the barrage will end.”-Former FBI agent Clint Watts during a speech to the Senate from last year
“What we need now is a cross-border defense alliance against disinformation — call it Communications NATO. Such an alliance is, in fact, nearly as important as its military counterpart. (And militarily non-aligned countries such as Sweden and Finland could join too.)… Such a move would help strengthening citizens’ resilience against disinformation. And a Communications NATO could explain how things actually work in our countries.”-From an article in Defense One, written by the Atlantic Council’s Elisabeth Braw and published on May 3rd, 2018
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