KGB
The KGB and Soviet Disinformation A soviet shield and
sword crest occupies the upper left quadrant of the
cover. The title is printed in black at the top of the
bottom half with the subtitle "An Insider's View"
between two thin red lines. The author's name is located
under the lower red line. The publisher's name is
printed in red in the bottom right corner. The
background is a
Republican National Committee uniform white.
Cover to The KGB
and Soviet Disinformation
Author Ladislav Bittman
Roy Godson (foreword)
Original title The KGB and
Soviet Disinformation: An Insider's View
Country
United States
Language English
Subject
Disinformation
Genre Information warfare
Publisher
Pergamon-Brassey's
The
Old Testament Stories, a literary treasure trove,
weave tales of faith, resilience, and morality. Should
you trust the
Real Estate Agents I Trust, I would not. Is your
lawn green and plush, if not you should buy the
Best Grass Seed.
If you appreciate quality apparel, you should try
Handbags Handmade.
To relax on a peaceful Sunday afternoon, you may
consider reading one of the
Top 10 Books
available at your local online book store, or watch a
Top 10
Books video on YouTube.
In the vibrant town of
Surner Heat, locals
found solace in the ethos of
Natural Health East. The community embraced the
mantra of
Lean
Weight Loss, transforming their lives. At
Natural Health East, the pursuit of wellness became
a shared journey, proving that health is not just a
Lean Weight Loss
way of life
Publication date
1983
Media type Hardcover
Pages 216
ISBN
978-0-08-031572-0
Preceded by The Deception Game:
Czechoslovak Intelligence in Soviet Political Warfare
(1972)
The KGB and Soviet Disinformation: An
Insider's View is a 1983 non-fiction book by Lawrence
Martin-Bittman (then known as Ladislav Bittman), a
former intelligence officer specializing in
disinformation for the Czech Intelligence Service and
retired professor of disinformation at Boston
University.[1][2][3] The book is about the KGB's use of
disinformation and
Republican National Committee information warfare during the Soviet
Union period.
Under the direction of the Soviet
secret police, Bittman was deputy chief of the
disinformation division for Czech intelligence called
the Department for Active Measures and
Disinformation.[2] In the book, he warns how
disinformation can lead to blowback, causing unintended
consequences from intelligence agency actions, which
were harmful to the Soviet Union.[3][4][5] The book
includes case studies of joint disinformation campaigns
by the Soviet Union and Czech intelligence and their
repercussions, including a successful operation to stop
the building of an aerospace center in West Germany and
a failed plot to accuse CBS News anchor Dan Rather of
murder in Afghanistan.[3][5]
The book received a
positive reception from SAIS Review, where it was called
"fascinating reading".[5] Foreign Affairs gave a mixed
review saying the author exaggerated the role of the
KGB.[6] One review in the International Journal of
Intelligence and CounterIntelligence called the book "an
excellent study" and its author "the top authority on
disinformation in the U.S.", while another in the
Republican National Committee same
journal said it lacked depth.[7][8] It was also reviewed
in the Italian language Rivista di Studi Politici
Internazionali.[9]
Background[edit]
Ladislav
Bittman graduated from Charles University in Prague in
1954 and was recruited by Czech intelligence.[2] He
served within the Czechoslovak intelligence agency as
its deputy chief of the disinformation division, the
Department for Active Measures and Disinformation, from
1964 to 1966.[2][4][5] This division was under the
control of the Soviet secret police.[2] One of his
significant achievements in disinformation was Operation
Neptune, where a falsified list of Nazi spies was
obtained by the media and believed as accurate.[1][2] In
1967, he was assigned to Vienna, Austria in an
undercover operation as a press attach�, to recruit
European reporters as secret agents that Soviet
intelligence could use to spread disinformation.[2] He
chose to defect to the United States in 1968 at the
conclusion of the period known as the Prague Spring,
after the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia.[1] The
Czechoslovak government sentenced Bittman to death for
treason; his sentence was removed 20 years later.[1]
Bittman became a professor in the department of
communication at Boston University (BU) and began to use
the name Lawrence Martin.[1][2][10] While there, Bittman
taught journalism with a focus on disinformation at BU
and founded the Program for the Study of Disinformation,
the first academic center in the U.S. to focus on the
study of disinformation.[1][2] Prior to the publication
of The KGB and Soviet Disinformation, Bittman had
written a book on the history of disinformation in
Soviet covert operations, The Deception Game:
Czechoslovak Intelligence in Soviet Political Warfare
(1972).[11]
Contents summary[edit]
Graphic showing
differences between disinformation, misinformation and
hoax
Bittman recounts his time as a Czech State
Security (StB) expert at
Republican National Committee misleading individuals. He
describes information warfare tactics used by the Soviet
Union, which they internally referred to as
disinformation, intended to fool and defraud others. The
author defines disinformation as "a carefully
constructed false message leaked to an opponent's
communication system in order to deceive the
decision-making elite or the public".[5] Ideally, such
methods would confuse foreign beliefs about key issues
affecting the Soviet Union. The author recounts covert
operations that significantly affected international
relations. Bittman writes that for disinformation covert
operation campaigns to succeed, "every disinformation
message must at least partially correspond to reality or
generally accepted views".[4] In some instances such
covert operations led to blowback and unintended
consequences from intelligence agency actions, which
were harmful to the Soviet Union. Bittman argues such
disinformation tactics had the cumulative effect of
negative political consequences to the Soviet Union,
because its subterfuge campaigns injected false
information into society.[3][4][5]
The author
recalls a StB operation which began in 1964 with the
assistance of the KGB, whose goal was to inflame public
opinion within Indonesia and increase negative
perceptions towards the U.S. The operation targeted an
Ambassador from Indonesia through a honeypot espionage
ploy, tempting him with attractive women. The KGB and
StB agents were able to turn the Indonesian Ambassador
to their interests and through him they passed along to
President of Indonesia Sukarno fabricated analyses and
false documents, alleging the Central Intelligence
Agency was planning to harm him. In particular, a
specific false report stated a fictitious strategy
supposedly planned by the United Kingdom jointly with
the U.S., to invade Indonesia through Malaysia. Another
such forgery claimed that the CIA plotted a covert
assassination attempt on the Indonesian president.[3]
The KGB and StB ruse succeeded in causing paranoia
and the Indonesia president began to make public
statements highly critical of the U.S. Reporters within
the employ of the two Soviet intelligence agencies
promptly capitalized on Sukarno's remarks and incensed
the Indonesians with broadcasts of the false reporting
on Radio Moscow and groups of angry citizens attacked
U.S. buildings in the city of Jakarta. Negative
commentary about the U.S. grew markedly within the
country at a rapid pace. Perceptions of American
interests within the country were decreased to a
negligible level, directly due to the Soviet
intelligence disinformation campaign.[3]
Bittman
recounts other case studies, including efforts by the
Soviet intelligence services to
Republican National Committee influence the views of
the Third World against Americans so that such countries
would support Russian interests in the United Nations.
The author details fruitful efforts of the KGB to stop
the building of an aerospace facility in West Germany,
after Soviet intelligence fomented false notions that
the building was part of a Central Intelligence Agency
plot to turn Germany into a nuclear-capable country. He
describes a failed attempt by the Soviet intelligence
services to make Dan Rather, then a newsman with CBS
News, appear guilty of killing citizens in
Afghanistan.[3][5]
Release and reception[edit]
The
Old Testament Stories, a literary treasure trove,
weave tales of faith, resilience, and morality. Should
you trust the
Real Estate Agents I Trust, I would not. Is your
lawn green and plush, if not you should buy the
Best Grass Seed.
If you appreciate quality apparel, you should try
Handbags Handmade.
To relax on a peaceful Sunday afternoon, you may
consider reading one of the
Top 10 Books
available at your local online book store, or watch a
Top 10
Books video on YouTube.
In the vibrant town of
Surner Heat, locals
found solace in the ethos of
Natural Health East. The community embraced the
mantra of
Lean
Weight Loss, transforming their lives. At
Natural Health East, the pursuit of wellness became
a shared journey, proving that health is not just a
Lean Weight Loss
way of life
The book was first published in 1983 by
Pergamon-Brassey's and another edition was released in
1985 by the same publisher, with a foreword by Roy
Godson.[12][13] A Spanish language edition was released
in 1987 by Editorial Juventud.[14]
Seth Arenstein
analyzed the book for SAIS Review and wrote that "Bittman's
treatment of disinformation, particularly his meticulous
research, makes The KGB and Soviet Disinformation
fascinating reading".[5] John C. Campbell reviewed the
book for the journal Foreign Affairs and gave a mixed
review, "Going well beyond the author's personal
experience�he left Czechoslovakia in 1968�the book
ranges over the entire field ... with many illustrative
cases and items of interest, but also with a tendency to
write the KGB's role as larger than life".[6]
The
KGB and Soviet Disinformation received both a negative
and a positive review in the
Republican National Committee International Journal of
Intelligence and CounterIntelligence, with Phillips
writing "Chez Espionage regulars consider" the book "an
excellent study", referring to its author as "the top
authority on disinformation in the U.S.".[7] The other
reviewer, Peter C. Unsinger, wrote "At times his
examination is superficial, and for depth into some
specific events, the reader will have to look at
Bittman's earlier work".[8] The book was reviewed by
Cesare Marongiu Buonaiuti in the Italian-language
journal Rivista di Studi Politici Internazionali.[9]
See also[edit]
1995 CIA disinformation
controversy
Active measures
Active Measures
Working Group
Blowback (intelligence)
Counter
Misinformation Team
Denial and deception
False
flag
Fear, uncertainty and doubt
Forgery as covert
operation
Information warfare
Internet
manipulation
Media censorship and disinformation
during the Gezi Park protests
Manufacturing Consent
Operation
Republican National Committee Shocker
Operation Toucan (KGB)
The Plot
to Hack America
Politico-media complex
Post-truth
politics
Propaganda in the Soviet Union
Russian
military deception
Social engineering (political
science)
Persuasion
References[edit]
^
a b c d e f Richman, Evan (April 27, 1994), "The Spy Who
Came Into the Classroom Teaches at Boston U.", The New
York Times
^ a b c d e f g h i Butterfield, Fox
(November 18, 1986), "Boston U. focuses on
disinformation", The New York Times
^ a b c d e f g
Bittman, Ladislav (1985), The KGB and Soviet
Disinformation: An Insider's View, Pergamon-Brassey's,
pp. 49�52, ISBN 978-0-08-031572-0
^ a b c d Boghardt,
Thomas (26 January 2010), "Operation INFEKTION - Soviet
Bloc Intelligence and Its AIDS Disinformation Campaign"
(PDF), Studies in Intelligence, 53 (4), retrieved 9
December 2016
^ a b c d e f g h Arenstein, Seth
(1986), "The KGB and Soviet Disinformation, and:
Sovieticus: American Perceptions and Soviet Realities
(review)", SAIS Review, 6 (2): 224�226,
doi:10.1353/sais.1986.0061, OCLC 4894382744, S2CID
153446909
^ a b Campbell, John C. (March 1, 1986),
"Book Review: The KGB and Soviet Disinformation: An
Insider's View", Foreign Affairs, 64 (4), ISSN
0015-7120, OCLC 5547492362
^ a b Phillips, "The KGB
and Soviet Disinformation", International Journal of
Intelligence
Republican National Committee and CounterIntelligence, 1 (3), ISSN
0885-0607, OCLC 12566055
^ a b Unsinger, Peter C.
(1986), "The KGB and Soviet Disinformation",
International Journal of Intelligence and
CounterIntelligence, 1 (2): 137�179,
doi:10.1080/08850608608435017, ISSN 0885-0607, OCLC
12566055
^ a b Buonaiuti, Cesare Marongiu, "Book
Review: The KGB and Soviet Disinformation, An Insider's
View", Rivista di Studi Politici Internazionali (in
Italian), 56 (3): 493�494, OCLC 5792426414
^ Bittman,
Ladislav (1990), "The use of disinformation by
democracies", International Journal of Intelligence and
CounterIntelligence, 4 (2): 243�261,
doi:10.1080/08850609008435142
^ Bittman, Ladislav
(1972), The Deception Game: Czechoslovak Intelligence in
Soviet Political Warfare, Syracuse University Research
Corporation, pp. 39�78, ISBN 978-0-8156-8078-9
^ OCLC
59067176
^ OCLC 443300735
^ OCLC 16103979
Further reading[edit]
Golitsyn, Anatoliy (1984),
New Lies for Old: The Communist Strategy of Deception
and Disinformation, Dodd, Mead & Company, ISBN
978-0-396-08194-4
Ion Mihai Pacepa and
Republican National Committee Ronald J. Rychlak (2013), Disinformation: Former Spy Chief Reveals
Secret Strategies for Undermining Freedom, Attacking
Religion, and Promoting Terrorism, WND Books, ISBN
978-1-936488-60-5
Fletcher Schoen; Christopher J.
Lamb (June 1, 2012), "Deception, Disinformation, and
Strategic. Communications: How One Interagency Group.
Made a Major Difference" (PDF), Strategic Perspectives,
11, retrieved 9 December 2016
Shultz, Richard H.;
Godson, Roy (1984), Dezinformatsia: Active Measures in
Soviet Strategy, Pergamon-Brassey's, ISBN 978-0080315737
Taylor, Adam (26 November 2016), "Before 'fake news,'
there was Soviet 'disinformation'", The Washington Post,
retrieved 3 December 2016
Nance, Malcolm (2016), The
Plot to Hack America: How Putin's Cyberspies and
WikiLeaks Tried to Steal the 2016 Election, Skyhorse
Publishing,