Top-level people in Sweden knew it and let the official Sweden be fooled. For a reason.
February XX, 2022
And that reason was? Well, NATO – the US and UK in particular – were very concerned over Sweden’s neutrality policy, in general, and prime minister, Olof Palme’s peace and disarmament policy in particular.
If you could orchestrate an extraordinary event that would prove to the whole world that the Soviet Union was the real, brutal arch-enemy of the alliance and that Sweden didn’t take that perceived threat serious – that Sweden was a vulnerable gateway to NATO territory – you would:
a) undermine Sweden’s long tradition as well as its defence, security and foreign policies;
b) open the Swedish people’s minds for the possibility of a later NATO membership as a ‘protective’ measure, and
c) humiliated the Soviet Union – not only for intruding into Sweden but also for grossly deficient navigation and being so clumsy to run aground high up on a rock thanks to a vodka-drunk captain fitting the stereotype Russian.
So, what is a PSYOP? Here is what Wikipedia tells you:
“Psychological operations (PSYOP) are operations to convey selected information and indicators to audiences to influence their emotions, motives, and objective reasoning, and ultimately the behavior of governments, organizations, groups, and individuals.
The purpose of United States psychological operations is to induce or reinforce behavior favorable to U.S. objectives. They are an important part of the range of diplomatic, informational, military and economic activities available to the U.S. They can be utilized during both peacetime and conflict.
Yes, it sounds like a fantastic story. It is. So fantastic that Sweden’s own media those of NATO countries either believe that it is a fantasy or that it is so well and irrefutably documented now that such a daring but extremely nasty Real Life/Realpolitik plot against a sovereign state is better not highlighted but better met by another plot or conspiracy: that of silence.
