US plans push for 'information war' in Afghanistan

The United States plans to devote more money and manpower to the "information war" in Afghanistan as NATO-led forces battle an aggressive media campaign by Taliban insurgents, officials said on Friday. US and NATO officials increasingly see public relations as crucial to turning the tide against the militants who have successfully spread their message through radio, the Internet and mobile phones. As part of President Barack Obama's new strategy for Afghanistan, the United States plans to fund dozens of civilian public relations advisors who will work with government ministries in Kabul and with provincial governors across the impoverished country, a Western official told AFP. On the military side, a senior US naval officer, Admiral Gregory Smith, has been assigned to oversee stepped up communications efforts under the new commander of US and NATO forces in Afghanistan, Lieutenant General Stanley McChrystal. Smith, who accompanied McChrystal on Friday to Brussels where NATO defence ministers met, has said the communications initiative may include funding for more radio transmission towers and news stations as well as guarding mobile phone towers. US Defence Secretary Robert Gates "has not been satisfied" with how communications have been handled but is confident the new commander will "devote the resources necessary" to improve how the military explains its mission, his press secretary Geoff Morrell said in Brussels. A Kabul government document outlining international civilian assistance in Afghanistan confirms a requirement for 45 communications advisors–11 working with the central government and the remainder deployed in the 34 provinces. The specialists would offer public relations advice to Afghan staff in ministries and governor's offices, including designing public information campaigns, said the document obtained by AFP. The emphasis on public relations comes amid concern among US and NATO officials about the effect of civilian casualties from US-led air strikes. Insurgents have sought to exploit public outrage over the casualties. General David Petraeus, head of US Central Command that oversees the region, said Thursday that the coalition had to be more agile in countering Taliban propaganda. "When you're dealing with the press, when you're dealing with the tribal leaders, when you're dealing with host nations, your bosses, whatever it may be, you got to beat the bad guys to the headlines," Petraeus said in a speech in Washington. "You have to be first with the truth and that requires really revamping what it is we do," he said. Petraeus and others have called for more timely communications and allowing lower-level officers close to the battlefied to take decisions on releasing information. The US Army is rewriting its "information operations manual" to reflect the new thinking. Admiral Smith said in an interview last month that securing mobile phone towers would mean "more people can have access to cell phones to communicate amongst themselves through text messaging or just voice communications." The goal of such efforts was to promote a lively debate among Afghans and not to force feed American ideas, he told the Council on Foreign Relations. In an interivew published Thursday, McChrystal said it was crucial coalition forces developed expertise in Afghan languages and do a better job of conveying its role to the Afghan people. "At the end of the day, you're going to convince people, not kill them," McChrystal told the Wall Street Journal. Apart from carrying out more ambitious media campaigns, US military and intelligence agencies are reportedly working to jam Taliban radio broadcasts in Pakistan and Afghanistan in a bid to prevent insurgents from freely issuing threats and declarations. The insurgents have sought to sow distrust of foreign troops in radio broadcasts and intimidate opponents, delivering "night letters" to villages with warnings of retribution and distributing video of bombings via the web and mobile phones.