PROPAGANDA WAR
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In the first days of the war against the Taliban, there were suggestion about a propaganda war. The suggestion came at a right time when military leaders, observers and the press corps admitted that the war against the terrorists would lead the U.S. forces into unprecedented battle grounds. Allied soldiers would have to fight the elusive enemies who are extremely fanatic and brutal and operating in small groups on rough terrain and harsh weather.
The American government has been working hard to convince the world that the war would be launched only against the terrorists, while the Muslims are always Americans' good friends. The United States has received strong support from many nations that include the European Union, NATO members, Japan, and moderate endorsement from most of the other countries including China.
Meanwhile, America is facing adverse sentiment from inside and outside, especially from Muslims in the Middle-East countries. Realities prove that winning supports from governments is much easier than from their people.
The Allies, now headed by the U.S. and Great Britain, are required to have another effort at the same time with their military operations. That is the so-called propaganda war. First shots of the propaganda front were heard when President Bush announced the relief operation, sending emergency food packs to the hungry Afghans. He also called on each of the American school children to contribute a dollar to the fund for assisting the Afghan children. According to latest news, the Pentagon is hiring the Rendon Group, a public-relations firm to help explain the American-led anti-terrorism military campaign in Afghanistan.
From the other side, a counter-attack shot was delivered by Omar bin Laden's speech broadcast over Arabic TV channel Al-Jazeera. His fiery and fanatic speech drew many millions of the Muslims to his side. Later, on the same channel, U.S. national security advisor Condoleeza Rice appeared in an interview concerning the American position. So both sides are really fighting the propaganda war, or to be more accurate, the psychological warfare, or psywar.
The American Armed Forces handled this type of warfare in a large scale for the first time in the Vietnam War. It could be possible to use experiences in Vietnam for coming psywar activities in Afghanistan or elsewhere.
When reading news reporting that food packs were delivered by parachutes along with propaganda leaflets containing messages to the poor people of Afghanistan, some Vietnamese might be smiling in retrospect of similar operations in the Vietnam War.
Psywar activities had been conducted by South Vietnamese government long before the first American combat units landed on Chu Lai beach in March 1965. When the war expanded afterward, the American government allowed increasing supports to psywar front in that the US Information Service was participating with a key role.
However, Washington has never considered psywar a major front as the Communists do. In the Vietnam War, psywar became an art and a science that required smartest minds in planning and executing the tasks. But such requirements were not always met.
There are good examples of failures and successes. Many leaflets with messages to Communist soldiers were written by some Americans or translated by inexperienced Vietnamese from English versions that were not the ways the abecedarian Vietnamese think and write. Sometimes the message was too long or too complicated.
Later on, leaflet writers learned the experiences. They should be good Vietnamese speakers having basic knowledge on Communist soldiers' psychology and mentality. Drafts were tested before printing by asking common people and Communist POWs and chieu-hoi (defectors) to read and to give ideas for better rewording.
The American warplanes also dropped pocket radios over North Vietnam delta areas. Local authorities immediately seized them. People did not have chances to listen to the radios. A few years later, after having erased labels, logos on their covers and replaced them with new ones, Hanoi was selling them to people in other areas. But nothing can be hidden forever. People knew the trick, and that was the time the psywar scheme really worked.
Radio broadcast produced better results. North Vietnamese who listened to Saigon and American-sponsored Voice of Freedom were increasing as the war continued. The most effective program broadcast information of North Vietnamese Communist soldiers taken prisoner to tell their families that they were safe in South Vietnam POW Camps.
Psywar also includes acts of goodwill such as the "civic actions," one of which was donation of foodstuffs under US Public Law 480. Flour was fine. However, some as rolled wheat, powder milk were not appreciated by most Vietnamese peasants because of taste and digestion. The two were sold by recipients as feed to raise pigs at approximately 1/4 the price sold in the USA. About 15 years later, their Vietnamese consumers increased significantly but distribution of the foods scaled down. It's unknown if American authorities related with the war in Afghanistan are aware of similar experiences from Vietnam.
One of the most effective psywar operations has been the Chieu Hoi Program. With financial supports from American aids for propaganda broadcast and rewards for weapons and intelligence information, the RVN government attracted 159,000 Communist soldiers who changed side to serve the RVN cause.
The total budget spent on leaflets, food and basic allowances, training and rehabilitation was much lower compared to military spending to eliminate the equal number of Communist troops by all kinds of weapons. Moreover, thousands of those chieu-hoi had contributed their considerable parts to the war effort while fighting the Communist soldiers, their former comrades, in Kit Carson Scout teams of American combat units, or serving the South Vietnam infantry and reconnaissance companies in most battles around 44 provinces of the South.
The program is applicable, at least a part of it, in the current campaign in Afghanistan. According to reports since last week, a thousand and more Taliban troops have defected to the side or the Northern Alliance. If proper psywar campaigns are conducted, many more Taliban troops might be defecting.
One thing that policy makers should always remember from painful lessons in Vietnam: Results from an action of psywar, or propaganda war, can be noticed only after a long time due to slow but stable process. When the Americans first involved in Vietnam in the late 1950s, the majority of Vietnamese people didn't like them. Aids given by the Americans were received without thanks.
Nearly 20 years later, most of the average Vietnamese in South Vietnam turned out to be American supporters. Unfortunately, it was when Washington abandoned them. What the Americans left also influence the North Vietnamese opinions about the Southj, the USA and the war. Many Vietnamese believe that if Washington had continued its supports to South Vietnam one or two more years in 1975, the course of history would be much different in favor of the South Vietnam side.
America could have to confront many serious problems such as the anthrax threats and other possible terrorist attacks and their unpleasant consequences on the American economy as well as the American way of life. But the most serious ones could be the public opinion of the very American people.
Usually, time is in favor of the weaker side. The most serious weakness of the American public is impatience. Psywar effort directed at the American people should be as strong as one aimed at people in the Middle-East. A saying during the Vietnam War, "No one can defeat the Americans but the Americans themselves," is still true in the war against international terrorism.
Apparently with sentiment and experiences from their lost war, the Vietnamese exiles in the United States have contributed a huge amount of money (from their humble income) - more than one million dollars - to the relief fund to help the victims of the September 11 attacks. There were many of those who were attending all the three consecutive fundraising events recently held in Northern and Southern California and contributed from $50 to $100 to each of them.
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