Pentagon weighs keeping Trump-era change to ‘psychological operations’
The policy change highlights tension between military leaders and diplomats about how the U.S. handles gray-area operations that fall short of all-out war.
By BETSY WOODRUFF SWAN and LARA SELIGMAN
05/17/2021 06:05 PM EDT
In the final months of the Trump administration, then-Defense Secretary Mark Esper quietly moved to let the military run influence campaigns — often called “psyops” — more quickly and with less time for input from the State Department.
The policy change, which eight people described to POLITICO, highlights tension between military leaders and diplomats about how the U.S. handles gray-area operations that fall short of all-out war.
And now, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is weighing whether to maintain the change in policy, according to a senior defense official.
https://www.politico.com/news/2021/05/17/pentagon-weighs-trump-change-489109
