The Ten Commandments of War Propaganda

The US media's cookie-cutter model for all post-1945 wars

I discovered a gem while researching World War I censorship (for a bigger project). I stumbled across this finding while researching a book written by Baron Arthur Ponsonby. In 1928, Ponsonby wrote “Falsehood in Wartime: Propaganda Lies of the First World War.” Although this book was eye-opening, it was a work that was derived from it that grabbed my attention.

Decades after “Falsehood in Wartime,” Belgian Historian Anne Morelli published her 2002 book “Principes élémentaires de propagande de guerre.” (Basic Principles of War Propaganda). Her book was based on Ponsonby’s writings. While Ponsonby never claimed these exact ideas in his writings, Morelli generalized Ponsonby’s work into ten basic principles. What is most revealing is how well they relate to every war the West has waged since 1945. Morelli’s principles are often referred to as the Ten Commandments of War Propaganda:

1. We don't want war. We are only defending ourselves!

2. Our adversary is solely responsible for this war!

3. Our adversary's leader is inherently evil and resembles the devil

4. We are defending a noble cause, not our particular interests!

5. The enemy is purposefully committing atrocities; if we are making mistakes, this happens without intention

6. The enemy makes use of illegal weapons

7. We suffer few losses; the enemy's losses are considerable

8. Recognized intellectuals and artists support our cause

9. Our cause is sacred

10. Whoever casts doubt on our propaganda helps the enemy and is a traitor

Though it is doubtful that Western leaders knowingly and explicitly act on these ten commandments, this accurately describes how the West operates. This is what makes Western propaganda so powerful and so airtight. They have a reusable framework and model that the mainstream media can inflict on its people whenever needed. It doesn’t seem to matter how often Americans have been deceived; they continue to believe that the new war is for a legitimate cause. That’s because the new war needs public consent, so the war drums beat in the shape of media-invoked hysteria.

If we look at the Ukraine war, we can see how well it matches the propaganda model that has been used for both the Iraqi wars, the war in Syria, and the war in Libya. The only difference is that the media has become increasingly more pro-war and more sensationalist over time. With the current wars, finding a dissenting opinion in the mainstream media is almost impossible. There used to be small pockets of dissent, but that time has long passed.

In all the wars listed above, there was a single evil person. That person represents all that is evil, has no redeeming values, and wants to destroy us and possibly the entire planet, if not the universe. This person can’t be reasoned with. The only hope is to have him destroyed. But don’t worry, the “Great Protector of all That is Good” will fight the noble battle until depravity is destroyed. Then the world will turn good again, and we will all be happy, prosperous, and harmonious. That lasts until war profiteers decide on the next adventure.

The truth eventually comes out years later, but the damage has already been irreversibly done. The only thing Americans are left with is to swear they won’t be fooled again. But then the same cycle repeats.

How does the media pull this off? There are numerous techniques, but the general idea is to provoke an emotional response from people. Thus, the repugnant strategy of calling enemies “Hitler.” This induces a massive emotional response from people based on the collective societal trauma of World War II.

In “The Age of Propaganda, a well-researched book on the psychological tactics used by the media, the authors show that these visceral responses serve a powerful purpose. Once someone is told that the enemy is Hitler, no more analysis is needed. The actions of the government are now justified. Any means of fighting the new Hitler is acceptable. In effect, the logical part of the brain has been turned off. People will not ask themselves essential questions such as: What has this person done that matches what Hitler did? What are the circumstances in that country? Do they match those of the late Weimar Republic? Does this leader have an ideology similar to Hitler’s? Or maybe the most important question: Hasn’t the media falsely played this card before”?

These questions would be asked in a healthy democracy. Instead, many have their brains short-circuited by cheap manipulation tactics. These methods exploit our inner humanness and subtly browbeat the nation into compliance. These manipulation tools can even get people to simultaneously believe contradictory information. For example, believing that Ukraine is beating Russia because Russia is a paper tiger while also believing that Russia is a military danger to “march through Europe.”

This explains why the media induces a steady flow of calling people Hitler: It works. The Propaganda is so effective and subtle that people believe they are coming to their own conclusions.

The noble and sacred cause is always invoked. It’s about saving some group of people and spreading our revered democracy throughout the world. But in reality, it’s not. It’s about punishing countries that refuse to bow to the US. These countries suffer destruction and death so that the US can install a new government friendly to them.

Morelli has it mostly correct, but additional commandments could be added, such as Noam Chomsky’s concept of “Worthy victims” and “Unworthy victims.” “Worthy victims” means Western sympathy towards the victims of countries that are Western enemies. These victims are of value to the West as they are used as cannon fodder for Western propaganda. They are used to vilify and create frenzy against the latest enemy.

Unworthy victims, on the other hand, are victims of the violence of the West. They serve no value, only a detriment, so they are ignored.

For example, the Kurds were worthy victims in the Iraqi wars since the Kurds were against Sadaam Hussain. In contrast, the rest of the Iraqi citizens killed by Western forces were unworthy victims. It should be noted that in Turkey, the Kurds are the unworthy victims.

#8 is focused on trying to intimidate the public into compliance by inducing them to take the words of not just mediaheads but of artists and intellectuals as well. This shows what the “intellectual” means to the propagandist. It means a pre-selected and carefully vetted “authority figure” who agrees with the status quo. Scholars and intellectuals who disagree with the establishment don’t appear on mainstream outlets. They are considered propagandists by the mainstream.

There is also a corollary principle we can derive from this age of hyper-partisanship: My news station is accurate. Yours is propaganda. Both are both half-right.

These ten commandments are an excellent tool for examining whether a war effort is propaganda. When propaganda is being promoted, highly simplistic phrases are used. If you feel emotionally set off but don’t have the urge to question further, you are probably experiencing propaganda.