March 31, 2007
by Steve Hammons

All are Needed for Success in War and Peace

In trying to understand terrorism, the invasion and occupation of Iraq and the many other problems facing Americans and the international community, the study of human psychology is a useful place to start.

There are many ways to interpret human behavior and the psychology behind it. Often behavior and psychology are interpreted inaccurately. Still, it is helpful to take a good, hard look at human nature, the human mind and the human heart.

For example, it is a well-known concept in the field of psychology that victims of abuse often then go on to become abusers themselves. The victim becomes the perpetrator.

This is worth examining at many levels including interpersonal relationships among individuals as well as relationships between larger groups of people. Is this concept applicable to whole organizations, communities, peoples or even nations? Is it relevant to current international affairs, genocides and the global war on terror?

In efforts to make progress of various kinds, nations can use the "hard power" of bullets and bombs or "soft power" of persuasion, information, psychological operations (PSYOP), open-source intelligence (OSINT) information and other resources and assets.

Using these methods effectively and constructively requires insight into human behavior, human psychology and the human emotions involved.

VICTIM-PERPETRATOR AND REVENGE

The victim-becomes-perpetrator syndrome is similar to that of revenge, but not always quite the same. (Of course, one man's "revenge" is another man's "justice.")

Revenge is often somewhat intelligently targeted against persons or groups who committed the offense against the party seeking revenge. It makes sense in a way. In the victim-becomes-perpetrator pattern, really any convenient victim might do.

However, revenge can also become diffused and not precise with its target. An Iraqi may believe he must take revenge, or in his view, achieve justice, if a U.S. air strike inadvertently killed or injured innocent family members.

To facilitate this revenge, the Iraqi might just try to kill any American soldier or Marine, even if that soldier or Marine had nothing to do with the death or injury to the Iraqi family member. Patterns like this among Iraqis themselves are obviously in play as well.

These patterns can become so severe that is some cases perpetrators may look at their victims not only as "different" or "inferior," but as almost non-human. This makes it easier to minimize human empathy with another person or group of people, or even to get pleasure from their suffering.

The victim-turns-perpetrator concept and the revenge-and-payback cycle are also related to the maxim that "power corrupts." Having power over other people on whom abuse is perpetrated is another aspect of the gratification in this emotional, psychological and behavioral pattern. More power over others and taking personal power away from others has a corrupting influence.

Personal power, of course, is part of the social and psychological dynamic of marriages, families, communities, organizations, societies, nations and the world order. Power is part of the fabric of healthy relationships and unhealthy relationships. It is part of democracies as well as totalitarian or fascist societies.

The well-known "Stanford Prison Experiment," sometimes simply called "the Zimbardo study," is often cited in discussions of this kind. In 1971, Stanford University Professor Phillip Zimbardo conducted a psychological experiment using average university students to role-play being prisoners and guards in a makeshift prison.

In a short time, the "guards" started showing sadistic traits and abused the prisoners. The "prisoners" became depressed and showed extreme stress. The circumstance of one group having tremendous, and dehumanizing, power over the other powerless group had a very corrupting and damaging influence on both groups. (For more information see "The Stanford Prison Experiment" at http://www.prisonexp.org/)

AMERICA AND 9/11

Another possible example is close to home. When America was attacked on 9/11, about which many questions remain, we perceived ourselves as victims of a horrible crime, and understandably so. Heartfelt emotions about the attacks were strong.

As part of our social and military response, an element of retaliation was clearly part of the scenario. You could call it "strategic response," or some other term if you like, and that would be accurate. An element of revenge or payback certainly was also a factor.

Politicians and people behind the scenes reportedly manipulated this psychological response to justify the invasion of Iraq and other questionable activities.

It has also been debated in recent years as to whether this psychological and emotional response to the 9/11 attacks influenced our military forces in the field. Were some of them feeling a need for revenge, payback, or justice for 9/11?

Has this affected interrogation methods and the treatment of suspects and prisoners? The treatment of prisoners or "detainees," the use of torture and "almost-torture" methods may be directly related to the feeling of justified response and retaliation.

This has led to a serious discussion about prisoner treatment guidelines under U.S. law, the U.S. Uniform Code of Military Justice, international law, international treaties and the Geneva Conventions were interpreted by U.S. civilian government lawyers and military JAG attorneys. There was reportedly a significant amount of variation in these interpretations.

Then, how were these interpretations applied by our military intelligence, "other government agencies (OGAs)" and private contractors in Afghanistan and Iraq (and undoubtedly elsewhere)?

Since the invasion of Iraq, reliable reports say hundreds of thousands of innocent Iraqis, including women and children, have been killed as a result of the invasion. Did the pattern of victim-becomes-perpetrator, the cycle of revenge-and-payback come into play here too?

RECOGNIZING DANGEROUS PEOPLE

We often hear that there are bad people in charge of certain nations and organizations in the world. We are told that these people are dangerous, that they are willing to harm and kill others needlessly, including the innocent and women and children, and that they want power, war and violence rather than peace.

We are told that these leaders do not respect human decency, that they are cruel and full of their own misguided beliefs. That they are very willing to send others to their deaths. That they use fear and terrorism to accomplish their goals.

And we hear that it would be better for the world if these kinds of people were removed and brought to justice. We are told that it takes intelligence, strength and courage to identify these people accurately and then to take the necessary steps to apprehend them and implement justice.

There does seem to be much truth to these claims. The challenge for us now may be to look closely at all factors involved in many situations, then honestly face the sometimes unpleasant realities and complexities about these dangerous individuals and groups, near and far.

Some of them are overseas in distant foreign countries around the world. Some of them are here in our own nation. They may be part of a criminal enterprise interested in money. They may claim that are fighting for good or God, that God wants them to wage war and bring death and destruction. They may be inside or outside of governments. They may simply be disturbed human beings. Or, all of the above.

They may have many followers who cannot think for themselves or who are easily manipulated. Followers who prefer to be led by charismatic personalities, no matter that the leadership is flawed, dishonest, misguided and even psychologically and spiritually sick.

It seems true that we must open our eyes and clearly see these kinds of people for what they are. If we do nothing, if we choose to ignore the dangers and pretend they do not exist, we may risk terrible outcomes.

When we examine the attacks of 9/11 for example, there seems to be more to be learned about all aspects of the planning for the horrific events of that day.

In evaluating the invasion and occupation of Iraq and possible future wars, we see complicated situations and many disturbing aspects and elements involved. These are examples of the many serious ongoing challenges affecting the U.S. and the rest of the world.

It seems that recognizing dangerous people around us is sometimes simple, sometimes complex. Identifying the good guys and the bad guys can be easy at times, but it is not always as easy.

(Article Continues Below)

STRENGTH, HONOR, COMPASSION

I recently noticed these words emblazoned in gold letters on a red fire department truck in my community: "Serving with Strength - Honor - Compassion."

It dawned on me that, although we read and hear words like these often, some people are very serious about living them. I thought about the combination of these three concepts, and how these three values work together.

How can strength, honor, compassion be integrated into our intelligence operations, psychological operations (PSYOP), open-source intelligence (OSINT) and ?soft power' in dealing with the Iraq war and terrorism?

Many times, individuals, groups and nations may grab on to the idea of strength or power, but use it unwisely. Strength or power may be used to dominate others, to abuse others, to do evil things. When strength is combined with honor and compassion though, it can be a force for good. Strength and power must be grounded in a solid moral and ethical foundation, or else it can turn ugly.

Strength and power may be two somewhat different things. Strength can imply protection, strength of character, strength of spiritual and ethical principles. Power can sometimes imply power over others, abuse of others and the misuse of strength.

But with honor and compassion added to the mix, strength becomes something to be used in an ethical way, in a way that upholds the dignity of human beings, as a force for good. Compassion, too, confirms our deeper spiritual nature as humans and links us to that higher, powerful force.

Strength, honor, compassion. How do they fit into our approaches to the complex situations in our daily lives, in our larger societies, the conduct of war, the image of Americans and in the functioning of the human race on this Earth of ours?

Thousands of our troops have been killed and severely wounded. Families and loved ones have been devastated with grief and loss. Psychological and emotional scars on troops and loved ones will continue for decades.

We wonder about the morality of torture, whether by our military and intelligence officers, or by those of other countries when we "outsource" torture and turn over prisoners to other nations through the "rendition" process. Have our military and intelligence personnel and contracted civilians been encouraged to engage in sadism in the name of intelligence gathering?

These are a few of the many serious questions that many of us ask ourselves. We think about them, ponder them, try to find answers. There are other difficult questions we often face in our individual lives, in our communities and nations.

Many of these things are sometimes morally confusing, or at least they are not morally crystal clear. Most of us try to be good and responsible people, moral and ethical people as we deal with these questions.

This is when we might need to focus on strength, honor, compassion. These words might help us find answers to these difficult and complex questions. We need all the help we can get. It's not enough to ignore the questions, to let someone else make the decisions for us. Because they might make terrible decisions in our name.

To help us stay on a path that takes us in a good direction, to help keep us anchored in the storms, and to make progress in our efforts in this world, it may be worthwhile to keep in mind those words from the fire truck: Strength - Honor - Compassion.

INTELLIGENCE AGENTS

In a way, each one of us is an intelligence agent - "intelligence" in the broadest meaning of the word. Most of us have adequately intelligent minds. We have senses and common sense. We have spiritual intuition and gut instincts.

We gather open source intelligence in the form of reading newspapers, magazines, books, information on the Web and watching TV and films, as well as from life experiences and interactions with other people. And from this information we make assessments and evaluations, and we come to conclusions.

Deception, lies, and other forms of manipulation are elements we face in gathering information and trying to make sense of it. Things are not always what they seem, and sometimes we have to dig a bit deeper to find the truth of a situation.

In trying to understand what is going on in the world around us, people are often pushed and pulled by groups on this side or that side. Sometimes the individuals in groups may be sincere in their beliefs.

Yet, sometimes we may see "groupthink," a herd mentality or a cult-like belief system that can invisibly take away individuals' ability to look at things independently with a clear point of view. It can be very easy to go along with the group or the groupthink. Politics and religion are sometimes like this.

At times, we might find it easier to avoid or ignore the unpleasant and disturbing realities and the possibilities - and we could wish we didn't have the responsibility to face unpleasant truths.

But taking responsibility and being a kind of good intelligence agent is, in the end, rewarding and meaningful. In this way, we can be better prepared to face the threats of dangerous enemies from outside and from within. These are positive "psychological operations" that we can all be involved in.

OUR QUEST FOR SOLUTIONS

Increasing the use of positive human traits and virtues, while undoing and unraveling problematic and destructive patterns of individuals, groups and nations is not easy. The dynamics can be complex with patterns and habits hard to change.

However, the first step might be awareness, understanding and recognition of our all-too-human frailty, this human tendency to continue in cycles of violence, revenge, victims-becoming-perpetrators. These are human traits that we can all fall victim to - both we "good guys" and those other "bad guys."

In that sad sense at least, we have a common enemy - the darker side of human nature in all of us.

Then, maybe we could consider the severe dangers that these psychological/emotional patterns and resulting behavior may bring. During the Cold War, the U.S. and the Soviet Union came close to possibly destroying the human race and planet Earth.

Now, in this current "global war on terror," or "clash of civilizations," or "undeclared World War III," or however we might interpret it, there is again a very grave risk of things getting totally out of hand, totally out of control in destructiveness. Nuclear and biological weapons pose dangers beyond the imagination.

After recognizing and understanding these very severe dangers, maybe we could then realize that they can be a serious obstacle to the future evolution of the entire human race.

If we can overcome these human problems, humanity and this planet might have a very bright future. As dark as these days seem sometime, we may actually be on the verge of a new dawn for our children and our grandchildren. Very beautiful things may lie ahead.

To get there, to try to see past our problems with revenge, hate, victimization and abusive power, there are many uplifting sources of inspiration and guidance. They are found in writings of all kinds, in music and art, in sport, in Nature, in the beauty around us, in fellowship among people, in the faces and hearts of children.

These, too, are psychological operations and intelligence that we can cling to in these difficult times.

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Steve Hammons [send him email] has worked as a journalist, editor, counselor, juvenile probation peace officer, public safety urgent-response specialist, teacher, instructor and US Government researcher. He graduated from Ohio University with studies in communications/journalism, health education/psychology and pre-law. Hammons's two novels, Mission into Light and Light's Hand, tell the story of a US joint-service military and intelligence research team investigating emerging special topics. Visit the novels' home page at: www.navyseals.com/community/members/ohio52