PsyOps: The Other Middle East Air War

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"Cell phones and land lines across Lebanon have been ringing with automated, recorded messages -- part of a propaganda war being waged along with Israel's assault on Lebanon," reports Associated Press. "The Israeli army has refused to confirm that is is behind the phone calls. But few Lebanese have any doubts." One call asks, "Who is using you as human shields?" Similar messages appear on leaflets dropped by Israeli planes and in Israeli radio broadcasts into south Lebanon. The Los Angeles Times reports that "during three recent TV broadcasts, Israel has hacked into Hezbollah's Al Manar channel. ... The Israel Defense Forces had confirmed that the hacking was the work of the army's intelligence corps." Professor Charles Harb at the American University of Beirut called the approaches "a classic psychological ploy" meant to make Lebanese civilians feel closer to their government and more distant from Hezbollah.