For those of you who haven’t been following the TV news or any other forms of mass media, a holy war is being waged from the land, air, and seas under the dominion of the United States against the mountainous, rocky terrain of Afghanistan. Yet, despite how our media has projected the view of this religious and political crusade upon the leaders of our newfound enemy, the Taliban, America too has stakes of similar proportions to lose–our nationalism and our confidence in our own impenetrability. And thus, as in most holy wars, the most powerful tool each side has is used to accomplish two things: 1) to demoralize one’s opponent, making their sacrifices not worth their goal, and 2) to empower their own people, refueling the spark that lit the feud in the first place. This tool is simple, and requires no scientists and a very limited budget–this tool is propaganda.

During the Persian Gulf War, a woman named Baghdad Betty regularly broadcast over the radio air waves and was picked up by the American troops camped throughout Iraq. Her mission from the Iraqi government was simple: to demoralize the invading troops and, by chipping away at their resolve, erode their fighting spirit. Yet Baghdad Betty’s messages were limited in their efficacy, due to certain messages that chided American men for leaving their wives in America to have sex with such people as Tom Cruise, Tom Hanks, and, to top of the hunk list, Homer Simpson. For better or for worse, the days of Baghdad Betty are receding behind us.

Today’s propaganda is a bit, though not dramatically, more advanced. Leaflets are being dropped between bombings conveying messages about American military might and the futility of Afghani resistance. Matchboxes printed with portrayals of Osama bin Laden offer monetary rewards to rural villagers for his capture and arrest. And radio broadcasts disseminate information that the citizens, not to mention the government of Afghanistan, most likely already know. "[American] forces are armed with state of the art military equipment. What are you using, obsolete and ineffective weaponry? Our helicopters will rain fire down upon your camps before you detect them on your radar. Our bombs are so accurate we can drop them right through your windows. Our infantry is trained for any climate and terrain on earth. United States soldiers fire with superior marksmanship and are armed with superior weapons."

Does America feel that any one county on this planet has the gall to be ignorant of the military might we’ve flaunted for the past half century? And more importantly, is America making a cultural mistake similar to the one made by Baghdad Betty in the early 1990s? Do we really think we can frighten the Taliban into submission, when Afghani citizens might be more susceptible to other forms of coercion in their oppressive militaristic government?

In this war, the stakes are, indeed very high. Yet America, the spin-doctor of the Western world, just might be going about their public relations in a terribly backward manner. We have to wonder, while our country expends massive amounts of resources bombing and killing thousands of people, could we not be refining our propaganda techniques, the one passive and hugely important weapon we have?

Sincerely,

Amit Thakkar

Editor-in-Chief