Psy Ops

It's a little frustrating to be a State Dept public affairs person when listening to a military representative explain his viewpoint on "public affairs," which really doesn't mean the same thing in the two bureaucratic worlds. First there's the beauty of the phrase "psychological operations," which doesn't sound like persuading people you're friendly and that your policy is right/reasonable. Then there was the moment when the presenter discussed identifying the people who, in public diplomacy parlance, would be called the "audience," perhaps the "target audience." We describe figuring out who these people are as "identifying influential audiences." Maybe we'll say "influence multipliers." Rarely, however, do we call this process "non-lethal targeting," as the presenter termed it. It sounds like we're only going to shoot him in the crotch or something. It might hurt like hell, but it won't kill him.