Taliban Out-Surging Us in Information War

Helle Dale / December 03, 2009

A glaring omission in President Obama’s speech Tuesday was any attempt to address the propaganda war that is currently being waged with increasing sophistication and success by the Taliban again the U.S. efforts in Afghanistan. Information operations are a critical aspect of warfare and will help determine the outcome in Afghanistan, being focused on the hearts and minds of the Afghan population. Unless the Afghan people and their tribal leaders reject the extremist, violent Islamism of the Taliban and al-Qaeda and the grim vision of the future they represent, military and political victories by the United States and its allies will be short lived.

Regrettably, strategic information and public diplomacy campaigns to reach the Afghan people have taken a hit since the arrival of the Obama administration. One of the first troubling decisions of the new administration was to close the Office of Support for Public Diplomacy within the Department of Defense, reflecting an attitude of suspicion of psychological operations as undertaken in a military context. Yet, no one has more at stake than the military commanders on the ground in theaters like Afghanistan or Iraq, where the friendly or unfriendly attitude of the local population can mean life or death for the troops. (more…)