COMOPS Journal picks up on ridicule as counterterrorism weapon

COMOPS Journal has picked up on the theme of using ridicule as a weapon against our terrorist and extremist enemies. The idea has been slow to take root, but it is gradually doing so in certain parts of the US government.

Kristin Fleischer writes in her COMOPS Journal article, titled "Ridicule as Strategic Communication":

"Although the suggestion that ridicule and satire are legitimate tools of strategic communication might receive some – dare I say it – ridicule, Waller’s argument is a good one. Ridicule and satire have a long history in warfare, and they have been deployed both offensively and defensively. In the U.S., ridicule was used in the Revolutionary War, both to mock the British troops and to raise the morale of the American fighters. In WWII, domestic use of ridicule targeted Hitler, Mussolini and Hirohito."

Fleischer quotes from my 2007 monograph, Fighting the War of Ideas like a Real War and from this PoliticalWarfare.org blog, and also highlights the creative work of blogger Jarret Brachman who coined the term "jihobbyists" as a way of ridiculing armchair terrorists who do naughty things online.

COMOPS Journal is an online publication of the Consortium for Strategic Communication, an initiative of the Hugh Downs School of Human Communication at Arizona State University.