Much of life in military operations is based on deception. We all like to think of war and fighting as tanks and bombers and battleships and ranks of guys in spiffy uniforms, or wearing camo digging foxholes. But it is far more than that, but  because we can’t see it, and it is often confusing and filled with lies, we do our best to ignore it.

From 1921 to ’26, the Soviet Union launched “Operation Trust,”  a counterintelligence operation of the State Political Directorate (GPU) of the Soviet Union. The operation set up a fake anti-Bolshevik resistance organization, “Monarchist Union of Central Russia”  in order to help the OGPU identify real monarchists and anti-Bolsheviks.

In 1956, Communist China launched the Hundred Flowers Campaign, during which the Communist Party of China (CPC) encouraged its citizens to openly express their opinions of the communist regime. Differing views and solutions to national policy were encouraged based on the famous expression by Communist Party Chairman Mao Zedong: “The policy of letting a hundred flowers bloom and a hundred schools of thought contend is designed to promote the flourishing of the arts and the progress of science.” After this brief period of liberalization, Mao used this to press those who challenged the communist regime by using force. Those targeted were publicly criticized and condemned to prison labor camps.

The US military is now the latest participant in the Woke Olympics, with anti-extremist training that is being eagerly embraced by some in the military, but is a serious WTF to most members of the armed forces.

Hmmmmm…..