Psychological Operations in Afghanistan, Operation Enduring Freedom, 2001 by SGM Herbert A. Friedman (Ret.)

This article is the history of psychological operations (PSYOP) in Afghanistan for the first seven months during the heavy combat phase of the invasion and occupation after the attack on the New York City World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. Although almost all of these leaflets are in full color, in many cases they also exist in black and white and on various grades of paper. Poorly cut specimens are common. Much of the printing work uses digital presses; so printing plates are not required. Printed leaflets are forwarded to the regional battalion in the field for dropping. When higher headquarters requests samples of such leaflets, reprints are often printed based on what data can be determined from the regional battalion. As a result, official reference leaflets may appear slightly different from those that were dropped. Know also that excellent facsimiles exist and we have already seen fake color photocopies of a dozen leaflets offered in the marketplace. Let the buyer beware! I should also point out that we show only a very small percentage of the total number of leaflets and posters printed and disseminated in Afghanistan. In general, we attempt to add a translation to every leaflet we depict, and in cases like Operation Iraqi Freedom that is not difficult since there are many Arabic speakers who are willing to translate text. In the case of Operation Enduring Freedom, the number of Pashto and Dari speakers in the United States is rather small and it is extremely difficult to translate the text on the hundreds of leaflets and posters we have accumulated. We have attempted to depict a nice mix of themes, but the reader should understand that this is just a small number of the total pieces we could show. We should mention a brief word about the terminology in this article. The attempt to win the hearts and minds of friends and enemies was first called "Propaganda" (from the Catholic Church - Congregatio de propaganda fide), and later changed to "psychological warfare" (PSYWAR) about 1920. The term was changed to "psychological operations" (PSYOP) about 1945, although it did not gain popularity until about 1960 when it became clear that many of the influence operations like asking the people to support a new national government took place during peacetime. The Army then experimented with the term "information operations" (IO) about 2003 which started to blur the lines between PSYOP, military deception, operational security, electronic warfare and computer networks operations. In 2010, the military decided on the term "military information support operations" (MISO). It is important to remember that no matter what we call the art of influencing the enemy, the methods used and the personnel involved really do not change. For the purposes of this article we will use the term PSYOP. In future articles I suspect we will be forced to use the term MISO, unless the military decides to make another change. Note: I started writing this article in 2001 and finished it shortly afterwards. In July of 2006 I came across a very concise United States Army War College research paper entitled "Information Operations" by Peter L. Burnett Jr. The "Psychological Operations" paragraph explained PSYOP in Afghanistan with such clarity that I add it here: During the initial attack against Afghanistan, the Afghan people’s views of America were negative primarily due to a lack of knowledge the people possessed regarding the attack. The Taliban government and the leadership of al-Qaida tried to convince the people of Afghanistan that America was attacking the religious faith of the Afghan nation. The Taliban government and the al-Qaida network’s goal was to gain support of the Afghan population, the political will of the people, and to promote hatred toward any American effort in Afghanistan. Using PSYOP as a tool, America was able to reach the people through leaflets, food, broadcast coordination, use of coalition forces, and good deeds to prove America was not attacking their religious faith, but was attacking terrorist activities. The PSYOP efforts cast a brighter light regarding America’s efforts in Afghanistan regardless of America’s efforts or explanation. No country wants to be attacked, but the PSYOP efforts have paid off and proven to be an effective measure in America’s efforts against terrorism. On 11 September, 2001, terrorists of the al-Qaida (the Base) group, some trained and financed by Saudi Arabian exile-in-hiding Osama bin Laden, attacked the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon in Washington DC. Bin Laden was a long-time terrorist who was known under such alias as Osama bin Muhammad bin Laden, Usama bin Laden, the Prince, the Emir, Abu Abdallah, Mjhahid Shaykh, Hajj, the Director, the Contractor, and still more names. In response to the terrorist attacks, the United States launched the Global War on Terrorism. On 12 September, the day following the attack, Tactical PSYOP Detachment (TPD) 940 began target audience analysis of Afghanistan, including the Afghan populace, the Taliban, and al Qaida. On 4 October 2001 a 95-man Joint Psychological Operations Task Force (JPOTF) was activated at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and placed under the operational control of the Central Command (CENTCOM). The 3rd Psychological Operations battalion deployed to Kuwait that same month to support Operation Enduring Freedom. The primary PSYOP objectives were to shift the debate from Islam to terrorism and to counter adversarial propaganda; to discourage interference with humanitarian affairs activities; to support objectives against state and non-state supporters and sponsors of terrorism and to disrupt support for and relationships of terrorist organizations. Leaflets and radio scripts were prepared. Just two days before the start of combat operations on 5 October 2001, EC–130 Commando Solo aircraft began to transmit radio broadcasts to Afghanistan. The first B-52 leaflets from Diego Garcia were dropped on 14 October 2001, almost a week after combat operations began. Early in the war many Americans clamored for a leaflet showing the burning World Trade Center to explain to the Afghans why the United States had attacked the terrorist al-Qaida faction and Taliban forces ruling their nation. The Central Command stated that they would not produce a leaflet showing the burning building because the "third-world" Afghans would not understand the concept of the "skyscraper," and it might cause a loss in the believe of the honesty of all Coalition leaflets. Such a leaflet was eventually produced near the end of the war. It seems clear than any people, regardless of their situation, would understand the American desire for retribution after seeing this leaflet. The text on the front and the back of this leaflet is: 20th September, 1380. World Trade Center The Coalition Forces came to arrest those responsible for the terrorism against America. They also come to arrest anyone that protects them. More than 3,000 people in the United States of America were murdered in these attacks. [Note: the date is obviously using the Persian Calendar]. A poster was produced in Pastun and Dari that depicted a similar picture of the World Trade Center attack, perhaps a few seconds later than the leaflet image, with a greater fireball. The poster is coded AFC035. The text at top is a date in the Afghanistan calendar which is very likely the equivalent of September 11. Because the image is not clear we can just read a small part of the text: Over 2,800 People were killed and 3,000 children lost their parents… Although there is no evidence that the leaflet was ever disseminated, a leaflet coded AFD22b depicted the burning World Trade Center at the left and Afghan ruins at the right. The text is: Foreign Terrorists do not believe in any borders New York – U.S.A. Harat -Afghanstan The back depicted Afghan and Coalition friends together and two hands shaking, similar to the "Friendship" leaflet AFD030b below. Notice that the Afghanistan flag incorrectly has the stripes in horizontal rather than vertical format, and this could be the reason the leaflet was not disseminated. We share food together. We regain our honor and dignity and maintain it. The United States also explained the reason for the bombings and the American invasion over their propaganda radio. One of the messages was: Dear Afghanistan, A grave crime has been committed against the United States. Four of our planes have been hijacked, several building in our economic centers destroyed and more than 6,000 innocent people, hundreds of which were Muslim were murdered by the hand of Osama bin Laden, Al Qaida, his supporters, and the Taliban. We see these actions as acts of war. We will not sit idly by and do nothing in these times. However, we do not wish to spill the blood of innocent people, as did the cowardly terrorists. We do not blame the Muslims or Afghans for these attacks. We do not hold those who follow true Islam responsible. We will hunt down and punish these terrorists. They will pay with their blood. America is not against the beliefs of Islam, nor is it against Muslims. More than 6 million Muslims live and worship Allah in peace in the United States, a number equal to almost half the population of Afghanistan. In the United States people of all religions live side by side in peace. Muslims living in America have the same rights to worship as any other citizen of any other religion. A 2005 Review of Psychological Operations Lessons learned from Recent Operational Experiences points out that there was much more supervision of leaflet themes in Afghanistan. For instance, during Operation Desert Storm there were a dozen different threatening leaflets depicting the B-52 bomber. Heavy bombers have always been a staple of American psychological warfare. It is surprising to see that no such leaflet depicting a B-52 bomber was produced for Afghanistan. Higher echelons decided that the Afghans might see it as an act of revenge for the 9/11 attack and a threat to decimate their population and misunderstand the fact that the Coalition’s war was only against terrorism. The national-level guidance that was approved and disseminated the day that operations began made clear that the U.S. response in Afghanistan would protect, not target, innocent people and that there was no cause that would justify purposeful targeting of the civilian population. In fact, at one time the Coalition had considered courting the Taliban as well as the general population, attempting to drive a wedge between the two parties by portraying al Qaida as foreign interlopers who manipulated the Taliban. However, when it became clear that the Taliban were dedicated fundamentalists that would not surrender in any number, they became a PSYOP target. President Bush immediately demanded that the ruling fundamentalist Islamic Taliban movement of Afghanistan turn over Mr. bin Laden for trial. President Bush declared a war on terrorism and stated that they would be found and attacked regardless of where they were hiding. The operation was originally named "Infinite Justice," but was altered when it was discovered that Islam reserved infinite judgment for Allah. The name was immediately changed to "Enduring Freedom." Political correctness at its best. Iran, in its usual anti-American posture remarked that the operation should be called "Infinite Imperialism." A week after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, President Bush said in an unscripted moment: This crusade, this war on terrorism, is going to take a while. There was an immediate uproar from Muslims around the word who still thought of the Crusade as a Christian attack on their faith. President Bush then went to great pains to remove all traces of a religious crusade in his comments on the war on terror. However, in 2003 Biblical sayings were placed on the Department of Defense top secret Worldwide Intelligence Update military intelligence reports. The decision to put the biblical quotations on the cover pages was allegedly taken by Major General Glen Shaffer, a director for intelligence serving both Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld and the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Some of the comments with patriotic pictures of American soldiers at war or at prayer were: Their arrows are sharp, all their bows are strung; their horses’ hoofs seem like flint, their chariot wheels are like a whirlwind. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and your plans will succeed. Pentagon officials were concerned that, if the cover sheets were ever leaked, they could be interpreted as a suggestion that the war was religiously driven, a battle against Islam. It did not help matters in 2005 when the Pentagon’s inspector general recommended "corrective action" against Lieutenant General William G. Boykin, the Deputy Under-Secretary of Defense for Intelligence who likened the war against Islamic militants to a battle against Satan. The story of Biblical quotations used by Americans was thought to be over but in February 2011, it was discovered that the same sort of quotations were being placed on some American weapons. US gun-sights were found with inscriptions with biblical references that might lead some to believe that Americans are using "Jesus weapons" against Muslims in Iraq and Afghanistan. The inscriptions apparently do not break military rules on proselytizing because the equipment is not distributed beyond the troops who are actually using them. Trijicon makes the sights and their director of sales and marketing told Associated Press: We don’t publicize this. It’s not something we make a big deal out of. But yes, it’s there. According to an American Broadcasting Corporation report, one of the citations on the gun sights, "2COR4:6," is an apparent reference to Second Corinthians 4:6 of the New Testament, which reads: For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. Other references include citations from the books of Revelation, Matthew and John dealing with Jesus as "the light of the world." John 8:12, referred to on the gun sights as JN8:12, reads, Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life This need to place Biblical quotations on American military items is very disturbing and certainly does nothing to win trust among the Muslim nations of the world. Perhaps we should stop for a moment to discuss the Taliban (sometimes spelled "Taleban"). The Taliban ("the Seekers") was formed in September of 1994 in the southern Afghan province of Kandahar by a group of graduates of Pakistani Islamic colleges on the border with Afghanistan, run by the fundamentalist Jamiat-e-Ulema. The members were mostly Pashtuns from Kandahar in Southern Afghanistan and were led by the religious leader Mullah Mohammad Omar. Their fighting ranks were mostly filled with former veterans of the war against the Soviets. They fought against the government of Afghanistan and on 27 September 1996 they captured Kabul. By June 1997, the Taliban effectively controlled two-thirds of the country. The Taliban applied a strict interpretation of Sharia, enforcement of which was administered by the "Department for Promoting Virtue and Preventing Vice." Individuals were beaten on the streets by Taliban militia for what were deemed infractions of Taliban rules concerning dress, hair length, and facial hair, as well as for restriction on women being in the company of men. For an example of how PSYOP tried to take advantage of these Taliban activities, see leaflet AFD24 below. The bombing of Afghanistan began on October 7. Along with the bombing, the United States Air Force also dropped food packets for the Afghan refugees. Aerial propaganda leaflets were not dropped the first week due to high winds. The first leaflet drop took place on October 15, coordinated with Coalition radio broadcasts. EC-130-E Command Solo aircraft from the 193rd Special Operations Wing flying out of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, broadcast to the Afghan people. The modified C-130 can broadcast radio or TV signals - AM, FM and HF. It broadcasts across the band from 45 kilohertz to 1000 megahertz. On October 15, the United States government released illustrations of the first two leaflets dropped on Afghanistan. It reported that a single B-52 Stratofortress bomber had dropped 385,000 leaflets over the eastern town of Ghazni, the northwestern town of Sheberghan, and between Sheberghan and the western city of Herat. The first leaflet depicts an American soldier shaking hands with an Afghan citizen. The photograph is in full color, the text in bright blue. The leaflet was written in Pashto (spoken by the Afghan ethnic majority Pashtun) and Dari (a Persian dialect spoken by the minority Tajiks). The leaflet states on the front: The partnership of nations is here to help. The back of the leaflets says: The partnership of nations is here to assist the people of Afghanistan. The second leaflet depicts a radio tower and two radios. Text is identical on both sides in Pashto and Dari. The leaflet states: Information radio.

0500-1000. 1700-2200 daily.

864, 1107, 8700 kilohertz. The leaflet tells the Afghan finder what radio stations to dial in order to hear the latest news from the coalition forces. Part of the PSYOP plan was to tell the Afghan people why their country was being bombed. The radio broadcasts stress that this is simply a war against terrorism and not against the people of Afghanistan. The Taliban's main Kabul radio station, Voice of Sharia, ("Islamic Law"), was taken off the air by an American cruise missile several days earlier. P.W. Singer discusses the Taliban radio station in Analysis Paper No. 5, "American’s Response to Terrorism," Winning the War of Words: Information Warfare in Afghanistan: These Taliban broadcasts continually stressed that the one rallying point in Afghan history has been for the various tribes to join to throw out invaders, from the Persians and the British, to most recently the Soviets. The Taliban's broadcasts painted US demands on their country as falling in line with this long procession of outsiders attempting to interfere in their own local matters. The dominant message was that the US was yet another imperial power targeting Afghanistan. There is a lot of published information about the production of these radio leaflets. Weapon of Choice, ARSOF in Afghanistan, Charles H. Briscoe, Richard L. Kiper, James A. Schroeder, and Kalev I Sepp, authors, Combat studies Institute Press, Fort Leavenworth, KS 2003 says: Whether it was a leaflet offering a monetary reward, providing a radio listening frequency, extolling the new government, or warning about land mines, the 30 million leaflets 2nd Platoon, A Company, 3rd POB, printed were a significant contribution to the global war on terrorism When radio broadcasts by the Air Force EC- 130 Commando Solo aircraft became possible, Donovan's [PSYOP squad leader] squad printed handbills that ground units could distribute to villages. The handbills depicted a radio tower and had various frequencies for music and news. The New York Times stated that a leaflet with a similar message had been dropped to explain to the Afghan people why they were being bombed. The leaflet said, "On September 11th, the United States was the target of terrorist attacks, leaving no choice but to seek justice for these horrible crimes." Before we leave the subject of U.S. radio messages to Afghanistan we should discuss the early history of the propaganda broadcasts. According to Richard H. Cummings, formerly of Radio Free Europe, after the Soviet Union attacked Afghanistan in 1979, Radio Free Europe (RFE) and Radio Liberty (RL), the American financed stations in Munich, Germany, expanded its broadcasting from just Eastern Europe and the USSR. On 1 October 1985, the station began broadcasting to Afghanistan in Dari, one of the major languages in Afghanistan. Radio Free Afghanistan broadcast 30-minute Dari-language programs twice weekly. In 1986, it expanded its broadcasting to one hour daily, five days a week. A Pashto-language broadcast was added in September 1987. The Soviet Union retreated from Afghanistan on 15 February 1989, with an estimated loss of 15,000 troops. With the end of the Soviet invasion, Radio Free Afghanistan broadcast its last program on 19 October 1993. Programs to Afghanistan were resumed in December 2001 as part of the post-September 11 "War on Terror." On 30 January 2002, RFE/RL, now located in Prague, Czech Republic, began broadcasting to Afghanistan in the Dari and Pashto languages. Radio Free Afghanistan ("Radio Azadi") broadcast 12 hours a day on FM radio from Kabul, Herat, Jalalabad, Mazar-e-Sharif, and Kandahar. The broadcasts can be heard on short wave, medium wave, and satellite radio and also on demand via the Internet. The United States produced a full color leaflet that told the people of Afghanistan that there were American Muslims, American mosques, and that true believers had the right to practice their religion and worship their God. The leaflet is coded AFD04. The front of the leaflet shows a mosque in the foreground with the Stars and Stripes within a map of the United States. Muslim men and women are depicted worshipping at the right. The text is: Muslims in the United States worship freely. The back of the leaflet depicts the inside of the Islamic Center of Long Island mosque at the left, and a crescent moon and text at the right. The text is: There are more than 7 million Muslims and 1200 mosques in the US. CENTCOM has issued no data on when and where this leaflet was distributed. There are an estimated seven million Muslims in America and some 1.2 billion worldwide. An October 17 report stated that leaflets had been dropped showing pictures of food parcels and explaining how the contents should be consumed. For instance, there is a drawing showing how a tube of peanut butter should be squeezed. Meanwhile, the Taliban responded by telling the Afghan people that the U.S. meals airdropped to Afghans did not meet the dietary requirements of observing Muslims. That same day, it was reported that small battery-powered portable radios were dropped to those without radios or electricity. Initially, several thousand KAITO brand portable radios were distributed by hand. The KAITO was a 220-volt AC radio that was battery, solar and crank (dynamo) powered. It was usable for people who lived in central Afghanistan with no electric power. AM and FM radio was only available in cities. In rural areas the people relied on SW radio. Cost was low for quantity purchased and the power source was the prime requirement. The sensitivity and selectivity were poor, and required a very strong signal to work. It was not successful in the mountainous countryside of Afghanistan. Under the Taliban, possession of a radio was a crime, and thus few were available. More than 7,500 small battery-powered transistor radios were distributed by airdrop and by tactical PSYOP teams operating with Special Forces detachments. A military report entitled PSYOP Radio in Afghanistan adds in part: The US military is air-dropping Freeplay wind-up radios among the Afghan people. Unlike the Freeplay Plus Radio we offer, which has the AM, FM and most of the short wave spectrum, these specially designed Freeplay radios are locked on a frequency that automatically tunes in US military broadcasts. With these radios, Afghans will know about aid facilities in their area as well as food drops. They'll also hear messages like the one below, assuring them of the US intentions in Afghanistan, and that we're there to help them. Curiously, the message seems to be the same one that we mention above dropped on a leaflet. Part of the radio message is: On September 11th, the United States was the target of terrorist attacks, leaving no choice but to seek justice for these horrible crimes. We are here to take measures against the terrorists that have rooted themselves in your country. It is not you, the honorable people of Afghanistan, who are targeted, but those who would oppress you, seek to bend you to their own will, and make you their slaves. It will take the combined efforts of the international community and you to remove these evil people from Afghanistan. Take the following action: Do not give food, shelter, or any type of aid to the Taliban or Osama bin Laden. This will be a great help in the effort. We have no wish to hurt you, the innocent people of Afghanistan. Stay away from military installations, government buildings, terrorist camps, roads, factories, or bridges. If you are near these places, then you must move away from them. Seek a safe place, and stay well away from anything that might be a target. We do not wish to harm you. There was a recommendation to use the Grundig FR220 radio. It worked well in the mountainous terrain and was battery and dynamo powered. The 10th Mountain Division psychological operations officer headed the purchase of 100,000 FR200 Grundig Emergency Radios for Coalition Joint Task Force (CJTF) 180 to be delivered to Bagram, Afghanistan, between November 2003 and February 2004. Over 30,000 Grundig radios had been distributed by the time he left Afghanistan in April 2004. In addition, before leaving Afghanistan he provided the Multi-National Corps - Iraq (MNC-I) Information Operations (IO) Cell with instructions for purchasing Grundig Radios for distribution in Iraq. The CJTF-76 (formerly CJTF-180) IO Cell has been in talks with the Eton Corporation to purchase an additional 150,000 Grundig radios. For a while the Americans dropped the WR-004 "World Receiver" AM, FM and short wave radio produced by the STL Group in the Netherlands under the brand name "Super Tech." They were dropped with the batteries already in the radio. The inability of the Afghans to replace the batteries was a liability. The British apparently dropped crank-powered radios at the same time. Broadcasts that same day told the people where to find the yellow cartons containing food dropped by American aircraft.

During a spring of 2004 visit to Fort Bragg I was able to confirm that the US Army did indeed distribute radios to the people of Afghanistan so that they could hear the latest news from the Coalition powers. I also learned that the radios now being disseminated are Worldspace model WSSR-11Digital receivers. They are battery-powered and allow the listener to access over 40 satellite radio services from around the world. Each radio comes with a directional line-of sight antenna. The service uses three satellites, AmeriStar, AfriStar, and Asia Star. These new radios were not without problems. They were given to Afghans selected as "key communicators." The problem was a lack of Pashto or Dari radio broadcasts on the satellites. The best broadcasts were still coming from the British Broadcasting Corporation, the Voice of America, or the local PSYOP radio stations. Many Afghans were happier with the cheaper Kaito radio because they could get all the local stations in their own language. If I may jump ahead for a moment, NATO distributed more than 700,000 radios in the first half of 2006. The NATO Consultation, Command and Control Agency announced that eligible firms were invited to provide bids on a Psychological Operations Radio Network for the International Security Assistance Force. Some members within the PSYOP community were shocked to see the system called a "PSYOP Radio Network." That seems to defeat the purpose of using the radio for truthful and unbiased news. It is important to remember the availability of radio stations in Afghanistan. The US military broadcasts on short wave, the U.S. Embassy uses 23 host nation stations, and of course there is the British Broadcasting Corporation and the Voice of America. The announced goal of the PSYOPS network was to create a supporting atmosphere among the Afghan leadership and population in support of the objectives of the ISAF mission. The new radio network would receive a central program from Kabul and re-broadcast it locally to Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) regions. PSYOPS transmitters located at the PRT's would extend the PSYOPS radio network to the southern and eastern region of Afghanistan. Capability would be operational within the commercial FM band from 87.5 to 107.0 MHz. The Department of Defense says about satellite radio in a May 2000 report: The Creation and Dissemination of All Forms of Information in Support of Psychological Operations (PSYOP) in Time of Military Conflict The WorldSpace system is fully digital and transmits a number of stations simultaneously in the L-band. Since the WorldSpace system is fully digital, it will convey data in addition to the audio streams. Satellite TV and radio poses two distinct problems for U.S. PSYOP. A narrow, technical problem is that U.S. forces have no available means to disseminate their PSYOP content to households that rely upon satellite services. In particular, the Commando Solo aircraft cannot provide this function for the variety reasons. First, the media encodings are digital, and sometimes proprietary, and often encrypted. Thus, they cannot be serviced by Commando Solo's current transmission suite. Second, the receivers employ satellite dishes pointed to specific slots in geosynchronous orbits. It will not be easy for a platform such as Commando Solo to transmit in such a way that it can be received in these dishes. Third, the satellite systems operate on a variety of bands (L, C, Ku) not currently supported by Commando Solo. A much wider problem, however, is that the PSYOP message now needs to compete against a very rich entertainment menu. As a result, it will become increasingly difficult for the PSYOP community to acquire "mindshare" in its target audiences. On the other hand, as satellite systems become highly subscribed in one or more regions of the world, they offer an appealing medium for PSYOP dissemination since a single system generally offers full continental coverage at relatively modest cost. The insertions of PSYOP "commercials" and "specials" into existing, branded channels could prove a highly effective, and cost-effective, means for disseminating PSYOP content. Here Department of Defense might wish to become an "anchor tenant" within new systems in order to ensure that such channels exist and are available for Department of Defense use. Elements of the 4th PSYOP Group were busy setting up radio stations in Afghanistan. One of the radio specialists from Ft. Bragg told me: The Special Operations System B (SOMS B) was the first ground-based PSYOP asset in Afghanistan. There was a SOMS B in Bagram and one in Kandahar . Initially broadcasting was done on AM and FM. Eventually, all broadcasting was migrated to shortwave (SW). The three short wave radio frequencies are 9325, 9345 and 9365 kHz.The stations broadcast from 0030 to 1830 with the heading in Pashto "Da Sola Radyo day," and in Dari "Inja Solh-e Radyoe", ("You are listening to Peace Radio."). The antenna field was very crowded in the beginning because all three (AM, FM, and SW) antennas had been set up in the same small area. The AM antenna was a discone antenna supported by four masts, which were only 50 feet off the ground at the highest point.

PSYOP soldiers had visited the Voice of Peace FM broadcast station in Jabal os Saraj a couple of times to try and improve the coverage of this station, which was supporting US efforts. The station was housed in a donated building up on the side of a tall hill. The transmitter was a 500 Watt Japanese made solid-state system that had some "repairs" done by the local welder. The civilian tech advisors working with the soldiers were able to improve the "repairs" and determine that the existing omni-directional antenna was only rated for 200 Watts, limiting the system. Replacement antennas were acquired which provided a directional coverage and increased effective radiated power to extend their coverage area. The requirements of the operation are such that the SW broadcasting is now done from three locations in Afghanistan. Each location has its own SW transmitter as the SOMS B systems have all returned to FT Bragg. The audio products are edited using a Deployable Audio Production System (DAPS) designed for PSYOP use by the civilian technical support in the Media Production Center, FT Bragg. Video products are edited using the Deployable Non-Linear Editor (DNLE) which was developed by the same resource. The SOMS-B system is discussed in depth by Scott R. Gourley in a Special Operations Technology Online Archives article. The SOMS-B system consists of two primary subsystems: the Mobile Radio Broadcast System (MRBS) and Mobile Television Broadcast System (MTBS). Each of these subsystems consists of a primary HMMWV, a cargo HMMWV, and a mission trailer carrying a 33 kW generator, environmental control unit, and Deployable Rapid Assembly Shelter (DRASH) tent system. The two subsystems can be deployed together or separately. The SOMS-B provides an AM, FM, television and short wave radio broadcast capability. Except for the very long range short wave system, the other systems have rather short ranges. It’s normally deployed around populated centers where you want to target that audience. You can have all of those means broadcasting. The shortest range system is the television system and it goes up to long range for the short wave. You can position SOMS-B in a strategic location where you can target the local populace with the shorter-range systems—television, and FM—then go further out with AM and cover even larger parts of the countryside with short wave. You can broadcast different programs on each one of them or you can broadcast the same message on all the radios. That capability goes hand in hand with the other systems. If you’re putting out the word with loudspeakers and with paper products you can also put the word out via the radio. Or you can put out information on which frequency to listen to on your own radio to get the message that’s coming from the SOMS-B broadcast system. And that is one of the things that we’ve done quite extensively in areas where there isn’t any infrastructure: the tactical units will go out with paper products and recorded messages that say, "Tune in to such and such on your dial for more information." And that information will be the SOMS-B broadcast in that area. Interim President Karzai had told the Americans very early that their broadcasts were found wanting. ARSOF in Afghanistan notes: The Pashtun leader knew that radio broadcasts in various dialects would have a greater effect than leaflets. He had listened to the programs broadcast by the Air Force EC- 130 Commando Solo aircraft and told MAJ Barstow that the music was very effective, but the BBC and VOA had better-quality programs. Karzai urged Barstow [Major, C Company, 9th Psychological Operations Battalion] to make the messages more forceful. The people needed to be told what they should do about the Taliban and al-Qaeda who were still in their midst. The radio specialists among the American psychological operations teams kept working on the problem and trying to make their product better and more palatable to the Afghans. A number of articles in the Newspaper Stars and Stripes seem to indicate that their dedication to excellence has paid off. The issue of 10 April 2002 discusses the initial PSYOP radio station. Beginning in November 2001, a modified C-130 aircraft dubbed Commando Solo began blasting U.S. messages and local music on airwaves across Afghanistan. U.S.planes also dropped tons of leaflets to market the informational radio programming to the Afghans. Tactical PSYOPS teams and nongovernmental organizations distributed nearly 5,000 radios to civilians across the country. But early in March, the military withdrew Commando Solo from the theater to refit for its next mission. On March 8, PSYOPS soldiers in Bagram and Kandahar went on the air. They literally took over their mission on the same frequencies using the Special Operations Media System. The eight-man team now broadcasts round the clock. The Afghan programming, simultaneously broadcast on both AM and short wave is presented in the country’s predominant languages, Dari and Pashto. Using hour long formats like commercial stations, news and information is broken up by blocks of Afghan music. And of course, the news is all good. Two current messages include the reopening of Kabul University and story of two bicyclists in Kandahar training for the 2004 Olympics. They also air public service announcements about things such as the need for identification cards and polio vaccinations. What locals really like is the music, and they tell the team how the Taliban kept most music on the forbidden list. From Bagram, PSYOPS radio extends about 30 miles, and begins breaking up at the outskirts of Kabul. The short wave broadcast can reach the entire country depending on weather conditions. The issue of 27 June 2002 talks about Radio Peace and American support for the local station and says in part: Tucked into a small stone compound about 50 miles north of Kabul, the fledgling station is billed as the only independent radio broadcast in Afghanistan. It first hit the airwaves on 8 October 2001 just a day after American air strikes began in the country. Radio is the most effective means of distributing information in a country such as Afghanistan, which has little infrastructure. Literacy is low, so radio rules. The equipment was smuggled into Northern Alliance-held territory through Tajikistan, donated by Droit de Parole, a French organization which also sponsored independent radio stations in Bosnia. The airwaves were shared with Commando Solo, a U.S. Air Force EC-130 that broadcasted music and information for 10 hours a day. The transmissions from Commando Solo ceased on March 8, but similar broadcasts still are being sent across the same frequencies from U.S. military stations based at Bagram and Kandahar. By late 2004, Peace Radio, channel 9.365 on short wave radio, entertained and informed residents of Paktika province with themes that benefited both coalition forces and Afghan civilians. Transmitting from Forward Operating Base Orgun-E, Peace Radio was run by three Soldiers from the U.S. Army Reserve. The broadcasts have also been heard on 9345 kHz and 6700 kHz. The Stars and Stripes issue of 31 July 2002 points out that the 8th Psychological Operations Battalion is broadcasting Afghan music from the battalion's radio station at Kandahar Airfield. They regularly broadcast the music of Naghma & Mangal, Khaliq Aziz and Ahmed Zahir, some of hottest pop artists and musicians in Afghanistan. Some of the article says: When the Taliban ruled, radios were forbidden. However, some people hid them in their house and huddled around at night to listen to the BBC or Pakistan programming. Soldiers with the 8th Psychological Operation Battalion operate the mobile 5,000-watt radio station — which has a range of about 20 miles — from a small group of tents. Ninety-percent of the programming is pure Afghan music, including some dance, contemporary and folk music. None is American. Each hour, the Army broadcasts three informational spots. The messages tell listeners such things as what to do if they come across unexploded ordnance, news about the interim government and assurances that U.S. troops are not an occupying force. A former PSYOP detachment sergeant in Kandahar and later team chief in Geresk mentioned the distribution of the radios. He said: The radios were given to all returning Hajjis, people who went on the Hajj to Mecca. This was a good way to get the radios out since each district was allotted a certain number of people to go on the Hajj. When they returned to their remote areas with the radio, it gave the radios a status symbol quality, since going on the Hajj is such a big thing. Then we would give radios to schools, key communicators and random people in our travels. We used them as an inducement to work with us. It was a good benefit for the people and everyone wanted more than we could ever give out. People who gave us directions along the road would frequently be rewarded with a radio. ARSOF in Afghanistan adds: PSYOP units working in the field distributed small transistor radios countrywide because the Taliban had made it a crime to possess a radio and few were available. Dawkins [an American PSYOP trooper] met an Afghan woman who had one of the airdropped American transistor radios. She told him that it was the first radio she had heard in seven years. Dawkins made it a point to request the delivery of more transistor radios. Broadcast media proved very effective during the PSYOP campaign. More than 7,500 small battery-powered transistor radios were distributed both by airdrop and by TPTs with Special Forces ODAS. Simple leaflets told the Afghan people which numbered channels to tune to for American PSYOP-produced programs. On October 18, the U.S. Government released several radio broadcast texts to the public. Some of the messages were as follows, "Attention Taliban! You are condemned. Did you know that? The instant the terrorists you support took over our planes, you sentenced yourselves to death…our helicopters will rain death down upon your camps before you detect them on your radar. Our bombs are so accurate we can drop them through your windows... you have only one choice, surrender now and we will give you a second chance. We will let you live." In order to entice the Afghans to listen to the radio, about three-quarters of all broadcasts consist of music. The Taliban had condemned music. On the same day, the American Forces Information Service reported two leaflet drops over northeastern Afghanistan exhorting the people to abandon, or to fight the Taliban and al-Qaida forces. The leaflet is believed to read, "Do you enjoy being ruled by the Taliban? Are you proud to live a life of fear? Are you happy to see the place your family has owned for generations a terrorist training site?" On October 19, the U.S. Government broadcast warnings of an impending ground attack, "Attention! People of Afghanistan. United States forces will be moving through your area. We are here for Osama bin Laden, al-Qaida, and those who protect them. Please, for your own safety, stay off bridges and roadways and do not interfere with our troops or military operations. If you do this you will not be harmed." At the same time, it was reported that leaflets were also dropped over the Taliban stronghold of Kandahar. The leaflets warned the people to avoid potential military targets and stay in their homes. The leaflet text is: We have no wish to hurt you, the innocent people of Afghanistan. Stay away from military installations, government buildings, terrorist camps, roads, factories or bridges. If you are near these places, then you must move away from them. Seek a safe place, and stay well away from anything that might be a target. At 1845 (Zulu Time) on 19 October, 199 elite American Rangers and four PSYOP soldiers night-assaulted Objective Rhino on Vengeance Drop Zone. This was a remote Desert Landing Strip approximately 105 miles Southwest of Kandahar. The site had already been hit with 2,000-pound bombs by a B-2 Stealth bomber and strafed by AC-130 Spectre gunships. This was the first Ranger combat drop since Operation Just Cause in Panama. The mission was to gain intelligence about the objective's airstrip and environs to determine its value as a future base. A week later, U.S. Marines established Camp Rhino at that site. Kandahar was the home of the Taliban spiritual leader, Mullah Omar. Mullah Omar was known to use a PSYOP trick or two. One is mentioned in the Commander’s Handbook for Strategic Communication and Communication Strategy, Version 3.0, US Joint Forces Command Joint Warfighting Center, 24 June 2010: Taliban leader Mullah Omar received widespread media coverage when, in 1996, he took Mohammed’s shroud out of storage in the shrine of Kharka Sharif in Kandahar, and wore it in a public rally, as a way to identify himself with the Prophet, and give himself legitimacy. The raid was a warning that America could strike when and where it chose, even at the center of the Taliban spiritual strength. The American troops carried leaflets featuring a photograph of New York City firemen raising the American flag over the ruins of the World Trade Center, with the text "Freedom Endures" in English on one side and Pashto on the other. During the successful raid the Rangers gathered intelligence and killed 25 enemy troops. Although CENTCOM never released an image of the leaflet it did appear on a Discovery Channel TV documentary entitled "Commando Solo Afghan Skies" The leaflet was attached to a soldier’s rucksack and was identified as a "Calling Card" in the documentary. This image is explained by a comment from one of the Rangers who took part in the mission: The Fireman leaflets were actually attached to the kit bags that we left behind on the drop zone for the locals to police up. To the best of my knowledge every Ranger that was on that jump had one. The size was approximately 5 x 8 inches. According to the battle damage assessment after the operation the locals did pick up the bags and clean up the area. No enemy forces got near us that night. We stuffed our chutes into kit bags so that follow-on aircraft could land without sucking up chutes into the engine intakes. There is some question as to the legality of using the image on the leaflet. The original "Flag Raising at Ground Zero" photograph was taken by Thomas E. Franklin and published in The Record of Bergen County, New Jersey. I have a large "legal" print of this photograph on my living room wall. However, the Army never attributed the photographer on the PSYOP leaflet. I suspect that Tom Franklin was rather proud when he heard about this operation, but unless they requested permission in advance, this would seem to be a PSYOP mistake. I was surprised to find the leaflet mentioned in the 2005 book One Bullet Away – the Making of a Marine Officer, by Nathaniel Fick, Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston, MA. Young Second Lieutenant Fick tells of landing at Camp Rhino well after the battle. His weapons platoon was part of the perimeter defense. As he walked up a small hill to get a better look at the camp he notices a small piece of paper stuck against a desert bush. He picks up the paper and says that it was note paper, about the size of a "thank you" card. It depicted the three firemen raising the flag at the World Trade center and had the words, "Freedom Endures" in both English and Pashto. It was a calling card left by Task Force Sword. Later, as his platoon leaves the site on foot carrying all their weapons and ammo he passes a truck that was destroyed in an ambush. He leaves the leaflet on the truck as a warning to the Taliban. The mission is explored in greater detail in the book ARSOF in Afghanistan. It tells of Tactical PSYOP Detachment (TPD) 940, B Company, 9th Psychological Operations Battalion (POB) training and rehearsing with the Rangers for five days prior to the operation against the objective they called "Rhino." Four of the Psywarriors jumped from MC-130 Combat Talon aircraft into combat with the Rangers. Some of the text is: TPD 940 conducted final planning, underwent several inspections, and participated in detailed rehearsals of actions at the objective. Inspections included personnel, weapons, ammunition, and combat equipment as well as PSYOP product scripts and mini-disk copies of the scripts in Urdu, Pashto, and Arabic that would be used during the operation. The 6th Product Development Detachment (PDD) had also prepared leaflets that were to be left on the objective. They were to communicate America’s resolve to stop terrorism and let the enemy know that it had been there. The four PSYOP specialists split up into two Tactical PSYOP Teams, TPT 941 and TPT 943. One team began broadcasting from a loudspeaker: It told anyone in the area that U.S. forces were present and that they needed to exit the buildings, stay away from the airfield, drop any weapons, and get down on the ground if they wanted to survive. We played the message for about 5 minutes. The broadcast resounded across the valley floor into the compound. There was no doubt that, anyone in the area had fair warning. This done, we bounded forward to join the rest of the Ranger element at building #1, secured a room, and awaited orders. We were told to assist in searching the building for any intelligence and weapons, and to be watchful for booby traps. We found a Soviet RPK machine gun with a belt of ammo in the feed tray, expended shell casings, belt links on the ground, a [rocket-propelled grenade] (RPG) launcher with 10 to 12 rounds nearby, and two AK-47 assault rifles. The rooms had articles of clothing strewn about, mattresses and bedding, and other personal effects. After collecting the weapons, we distributed about 400 leaflets in and around the building. Since we mention TPTs above, perhaps I should take a moment to discuss the U.S. Army PSYOP Organization. The reader should understand that the organization changes over time as new doctrine and equipment is authorized and fielded. At the time this article was written the system was the following: The 4th PSYOP Group consists of six active Duty PSYOP battalions: 1st PSYOP Battalion – Southern Command

3rd PSYOP Battalion – Dissemination

5th PSYOP Battalion – Pacific Command

6th PSYOP Battalion – European Command

8th PSYOP Battalion – Central Command

9th PSYOP Battalion – Tactical There are two Army Reserve PSYOP Groups. The 2nd PSYOP Group consists of four PSYOP battalions and 15 PSYOP companies. The 7th PSYOP Group consists of four PSYOP battalions and 13 PSYOP companies. Each PSYOP Battalion can support a corps. Within the PSYOP battalions are Tactical PSYOP Companies (TPC), each of which can support a division. The Companies are made up of Tactical PSYOP Detachments (TPD), each of which can support a brigade. The team is idyllically made up of a Detachment Commander (CPT), Detachment NCOIC (SSG) and two PSYOP specialists (SPC) equipped with two M1025 High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicles (HMMWVs) and both an AEM450/900 (1000-1800 meters range) vehicle loudspeaker and LSB-40B (700-1000 meters range) dismounted loudspeaker. The family of loudspeaker systems incorporates the latest advances in portable audio technology. Along with controls for audio source and adjustable output levels, the system contains a digital voice recorder function to provide three minutes of audio recording capabilities. The system can broadcast live or prerecorded messages from a cassette player, minidisk, internal digital voice recorder or wireless microphone. It also can support new commercial devices, like MP3 players. The highest power version, with even greater range, is mounted on the Black Hawk helicopter. The maritime version of the loudspeaker system is mounted on the special operations Mark V patrol craft where it can be used for detaining or instructing suspicious watercraft. The detachments can be broken up into Tactical PSYOP Teams (TPT), each of which can support a battalion. The team is idyllically made up of a team leader (SSG), Assistant team leader (SGT) and a PSYOP specialist (SPC) equipped with two HMMWVs and both a vehicle and dismounted loudspeaker. In a Special Operations Technology Online Archives article written by Scott R. Gourley, print capabilities are discussed. He says that the Deployable Print Production Center (DPPC) is configured inside an S-250 shelter carried on a HMMWV. The rapidly deployable system allows for local production of leaflets, flyers, newsletters and other information products in forward areas. One graphics artist/illustrator and one printer operate a hardware suite featuring dual Pentium Pro 200 MHz processors, 128 MB of RAM, a scanner, a 600 dpi color laser printer, a Risograph high speed digital duplicator, and an electronic paper cutter. The system is capable of producing up to 93,000 single-color leaflets in 24 hours. The Modular Print System (MPS) represents the "next step up" in print products. It has heavier Heidelburg presses in it that can produce larger quantity print products at much higher quality. It is used for leaflets that need to be fancier with multiple colors. The MPS contains three modules: A, B, and C. Module A contains printing equipment that is no longer used. Module B consists of two expandable shelters, each containing Heidelberg offset presses that can print two colors at one time or one color, front and back. Module C is an expandable shelter that contains a large paper cutter. These shelters also contain a press plate maker and a small light table. Modules B and C both contain limited paper storage space when expanded. The MPS requires a 26-Soldier team for 24-hour operations. Setup of the MPS with 26 Soldiers requires 6 hours. The Sunday Times of October 21 stated that what appeared to be genuine 100-afghanis banknotes had been overprinted and airdropped with the message "Our goals will be achieved, if not willingly, then by overwhelming force." On October 23, the Taliban showed that the leaflets and radio messages were having a result. A senior militia official announced from Kabul that the Afghan people in the eastern city of Jalalabad were burning the propaganda leaflets and radios being dropped by U.S. planes to turn the population against the Taliban. The leaflets were also reportedly dropped on the western neighborhoods of Kabul. Some Afghans said that they were afraid to pick up the leaflets and risk punishment by the Taliban. The leaflet dropped on Jalalabad shows al-Qaida terrorists at the left and right targeted by a sniper's crosshairs in red. Text at the center in Pashto and Dari read: Drive out the foreign terrorists. The Taliban is made up of non-Afghans, particularly Pakistanis. It is believed that the Afghans fear and dislike them, and thus the leaflet tries to drive a wedge between the two groups. The back of the leaflet shows a member of the Taliban religious police whipping a woman in a burqa at the left. Text at the right reads: Is this the future you want for your women and children? The Religious Police will whip women on the street that they feel are not dressing in accordance with a strict interpretation of the Koran. The American propaganda radio reinforced the "divide and conquer" message to separate the Taliban from the Afghan people: Do you enjoy being ruled by the Taliban? Are you proud to live a life of fear? Are you happy to see the place your family has owned for generations a terrorist training site? Are you proud to live under a government that harbors terrorists? Are you proud to live in a nation ruled by extreme fundamentalists? The Taliban have robbed your country of your heritage. They have destroyed your national monuments, and cultural artifacts. They rule by force, violence, and fear. They insist that their form of Islam is the one and only form, the true form, the divine form. They see themselves as religious experts. They seek to rob you and your nation of its past. That which has brought you together as a nation over the past thousands of years is being slowly torn apart. They destroy your national treasures. They also harbor terrorists. On October 29, the U.S. Government released another leaflet image. This leaflet had four cartoons in full color. The first shows an American aircraft dropping humanitarian daily rations (HDR) food packets. The second shows an Afghan picking up one of the packets. When turned over, the leaflet shows the Afghan tearing open the packet. The word "Halal" is at the upper right. This term shows that the food was prepared in accordance with the Koran. The final illustration shows the Afghan sitting with his entire family and enjoying the feast sent by the Americans. The leaflet is clearly designed for illiterate Afghans and shows them what to do with the yellow packets found on the ground. This leaflet is found with and without the code AFD16g. There seems to be a number of variations of this same leaflet with slight changes. In one I noticed that the leaflet depicts the entire food crate dropping in the first cartoon box. There was a problem when the United States realized that the color of the food packets and the cluster bomblets were both yellow and children might pick up the explosive. In order to preserve lives, the humanitarian daily ration (HDR) color was changed. In the picture above, we show an exhibit from the JFK Special Warfare Museum at Ft. Bragg where the new orange-colored packet was displayed, along with a poster, leaflets and the PSYOP radio given to the Afghans. In Bosnia there were deaths when hungry people rushed into the drop zones and were crushed by the falling food crates. The United States warned the people of Somalia when they dropped food there, and again in Afghanistan. The American radio told the Afghans: Attention, people of Afghanistan! Aid is being dropped by plane at a very high altitude using large parachutes. These parachutes slow their descent. Despite the parachutes, the bundles will still fall very fast. These bundles will drift and shift directions due to wind. These bundles may appear small, but they are in fact very large and heavy. Do not stand directly below them. Let the bundles land and settle before you approach them. If you follow these instructions you will not be injured. The bundles are filled with food, water, and medical supplies. The bundles will not contain any military related supplies or equipment. These have been given to you by the United States in an effort to show our support for the fair people of Afghanistan. The United States does not want you, the innocent people of Afghanistan, to suffer for the deeds of Al Qaida and its leader Osama bin laden. That is why the United States has prepared and delivered these aid bundles. On November 2, the Pentagon announced that they had dropped a new aerial propaganda leaflet. The oversized leaflet depicted three photographs of the face of Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar targeted by the crosshairs of a gun scope at the far right. The Mullah had earlier forbidden any photographs of himself. To the left of the photographs were three photographs of the license plate of one of Omar's vehicles, again covered by the crosshairs. This second photo was probably taken during an earlier operation when an American Predator unmanned surveillance aircraft fitted with two "Hellfire" anti-tank missiles had targeted the car but was not allowed to fire due to a rules of engagement dispute. To the left are three pairs of eyes alternated with the text "We are watching!" The leaflet is identical on both sides except for the text, which is in Pashto or Dari. The Pentagon announced that 16 million leaflets have been produced and would be dropped in batches at intervals. On the same day, the Pentagon stated that leaflets had been dropped warning the Afghans not to pick up the yellow cluster bombs that were similar in color to the HDR food packets. Human rights groups had criticized the use of the cluster bombs because it was thought that children might be attracted to the bright yellow color. The Pentagon reported that the color of the humanitarian Daily Rations would be blue in the future. The warning leaflet is AFD39. The leaflet depicts a hand reaching toward a food packet on one side and a short message explaining that this is safe. The back of the leaflet depicts a hand reaching for a bomblet, and shows bomblets in several forms on the ground. There is a skull and crossed bones at the center of the leaflet warning finders of the danger. On November 8, the Pentagon announced that 16 million propaganda leaflets had been dropped on Afghanistan. The previous day the 4th PSYOP Group at Ft. Bragg had printed 800,000 new leaflets and packed them inside 15 propaganda bombs to be shipped to Afghanistan. The PSYOP troops were placed on a war footing at the start of the operation and regularly worked 12-hour shifts, 24 hours a day. The text is short and sweet: Clean and safe food / Halal Bomb/Danger On November 8, the Pentagon announced that 16 million propaganda leaflets had been dropped on Afghanistan. The previous day the 4th PSYOP Group at Ft. Bragg had printed 800,000 new leaflets and packed them inside 15 propaganda bombs to be shipped to Afghanistan. The PSYOP troops were placed on a war footing at the start of the operation and regularly worked 12-hour shifts, 24 hours a day. Curiously, we know that after 16 million leaflets had been dropped, on the very same day, 8 November, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld had a sudden revelation and asked Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in a short memorandum on PSYOP that he called a "snowflake": Who in the government is in charge of psychological warfare, public relations and the influence campaign? This is an interesting question because not only is it rather late in the game to be determining who is in charge, it also implies that someone should be in charge. These are quite different areas of expertise. PSYWAR is the planned use of propaganda and other psychological actions having the primary purpose of influencing the opinions, emotions, attitudes, and behavior of hostile foreign groups in such a way as to support the achievement of national objectives. It is aimed at the enemy. Public Relations are much more difficult to define and there are literally hundreds of definitions. It is used in so many different ways that it is difficult to generalize, but we might say something like "communications often in the form of news distributed in a form which may include newspaper, magazine, radio, television, Internet or other forms of media in an attempt to influence a favorable image of a government." The fact is, public relations really have more to do with business and the public than government operations. I have not found a good definition for influence operations although we all know what they entail. Perhaps the latest PSYOP manuals define it. I did find one disparaging comment about the US operation in Afghanistan in The Princeton Project on National Security report Non-Military Strategies for Countering Islamist Terrorism that says: The most comprehensive assessment of the current U.S. strategic influence campaign found that initial efforts after 9/11 to win the "battle of ideas" lacked a clear organizational structure, an agreed national strategy, and adequate financial and especially human resources. To improve interagency coordination among the multiple executive branch bodies involved in U.S. strategic influence campaigns, it created the new position of deputy national security adviser for strategic communication and outreach So, perhaps Rumsfeld had a point. Who was in charge of all these operations? And, should any one person or organization be in charge of operations that are so different? The Taliban showed signs of collapse on November 14. They had threatened to fight to the death, but they surprised everyone by fleeing the Afghan capital of Kabul in the dark of the night. The war now entered a new phase as American Special Forces hunted bin Laden and his terrorist group in the mountains and caves of southeastern Afghanistan. They set up roadblocks along the refugee-filled roads. That same day the United States broadcast radio messages and dropped 1.5 million leaflets offering 25 million dollars to anyone willing to betray bin Laden.

The front of the leaflet pictured Aiman al-Zawahiri at the left and Osama bin Laden at the right. Al-Zawahiri is an Egyptian doctor turned militant, leader of Jamaat-ul-Jihad, and suspect in the bombing of two U.S. Embassies in East Africa that killed over 220 people. He is considered a top aide to bin Laden. The text "Up to $25,000,000 reward" is at the center of the leaflet between the photographs. The back of the leaflets has the same text in Pashto and Dari at left and right that reads, "Up to $25,000,000 reward for information leading to the whereabouts or capture of these two men." Osama bin laden is shown at the top center, and Aiman al-Zawahiri at bottom center. On November 19, the Army Times reported a new leaflet dropped in Afghanistan. This leaflet displays an American family on the left and an Afghan family on the right. Beneath the American family, a map of the United States is in the form of a flag in red, white and blue. Beneath the Afghan family, a map of Afghanistan is in the black, red and green colors of their national flag. Light-skinned and dark-skinned hands are clasped together at the center of the leaflet beneath the word "Friendship." The back of the leaflet has the following text: No one should tell you how to live. The Partnership of Nations will help rescue the Afghan people from the Taliban criminals and foreign terrorists. There is no code on the "Friendship" leaflet, but we know from Army documentation that a leaflet AFD30a exists. 2,540,000 were disseminated by M129 leaflet bombs up until September 2002.That first "Friendship" leaflet may have a significant error. Notice that the map of Afghanistan is covered by a three-color flag in a horizontal format. The actual Afghan flag has the three colors in a vertical format. A second almost identical leaflet with the same text was printed and coded AFD30b. This leaflet depicts the flag of Afghanistan over the map in the proper vertical format. A third variety coded AFD030c exists and is identical to AFD30b except that the frame around the vignette on the front and the back is a thick black line. On November 20, The United States Central Command (Centcom) released another leaflet to the public. This leaflet showed the strength of the Partnership forces and threatened the Taliban with death if they did not flee. The leaflet has four drawn illustrations, two on each side. On the front, an armed Taliban truck is shown. The second picture shows a large bomb under a parachute dropping on three of the vehicles. This is the BLU-82, the Volkswagen-sized 15,000-pound bomb that is dropped from the back of a C-130 Combat Talon aircraft. The blast radius of this super bomb is about 600 yards. Text at the bottom states: Taliban: we know where you are. The pictures on the back show two Taliban soldiers, identified by their black turbans, throwing down their weapons and fleeing the scene. The final picture shows a large burning crater. Text at the bottom says: Stop fighting for the Taliban and live. There is a second variety of this leaflet. The vignettes are identical, although the color is slightly different by a few shades. The second version has text at the top and bottom of the leaflet and the font is slightly smaller in size. We should mention that the Blu-82 might have been used in another PSYOP campaign. I first heard of this when a reporter embedded in Kandahar Province told me a story of a discussion about PSYOP with a Canadian Army captain: One of the Canadian officers cited the example in Mazar-i-Sharif in late 2001 where the US Rangers were preparing to storm a Taliban stronghold and expected to take heavy casualties. Someone from PSYOP managed to get a postponement and arranged to have leaflets saying "Look West tomorrow." The next day a huge bomb was dropped west of the position, then more leaflets saying "Tomorrow that is you". The next day the Taliban had fled and the position was taken without a shot. I asked some friends in Special Operations if they had heard of such an operation. There answer was: Three BLU-82s have been dropped in Afghanistan. Two were enough to break the defenses of Mazar-I-Sharif and the third broke the back of Taliban resistance at Kandahar. In Vietnam the BLU-82 bomb was called "Command Vault." The picture above might be the first BLU-82 dropped in Vietnam to make a landing zone. An article by the St. Petersburg Times of 28 December 1971 says in part: Americans are blasting Indochina with a bomb that kills most living things within a square mile in order to create an instant helicopter landing pad. So, it appears that the very sight of the American super-bomb is still enough to cause some enemy to withdraw from the field of combat. No further leaflets were released to the public until December 8. That day three leaflets were partially illustrated in an article published in the London Daily Telegraph. The article was entitled "Hippy who Waged War with Music and Posters," and was written by Toby Harnden. The first leaflet shows four members of al-Qaida or the Taliban. The individual at the far left is identified as "Muttawakil," and is believed to represent the Taliban Foreign Minister Mullah Abdul Wakil Muttawakil. The next figure is Osama bin Laden. The third figure is identified as "Haggani," and would appear to be Jalaluddin Haggani, a senior Taliban commander who was quoted as saying "We are eagerly awaiting the American troops to land on our soil, where we will deal with them in our own way." The fourth individual wears the black Taliban turban, but is otherwise unidentified. Three Afghans are seen hanging from a gallows in the background. The text on the leaflet is: The Taliban reign of fear... At the left and right of the leaflet, we can just make out the fearful face of snarling Jinn. The Koran identifies the jinn as creatures created from a smokeless fire. They lie and practice deceit to fulfill their own desire for evil. Showing them with the Taliban implies that the leaders have been deceived and turned toward evil by the supernatural creatures. When turned over, the back of the leaflet shows the four faces altered slightly to resemble skulls, an American bit of trickery that was practiced during WWII when Adolf Hitler's face was changed to a skull-like countenance in an attempt to say that he represented death. In place of the gallows, an explosion is shown with debris thrown into the air. The text goes on to say: ...is about to end! The second leaflet is in a vertical format and shows bin Laden playing chess and moving Taliban figures around the board. It should be noted that the Taliban had banned chess in Afghanistan. The text on this leaflet is: Expel the foreign rulers and live in peace. The back of this same leaflet shows a figure identified as bin Laden holding a chain to the collar of a "kuchi," a dog of nomads. The dog the head of Mullah Omar. The text asks: Who really runs the Taliban? It had been reported earlier that this leaflet was dropped over Kandahar. David Champagne, civilian analyst for the 4th PSYOP Group at Fort Bragg, NC. Said about this leaflet in a 2001 WNYC Radio interview: In Afghanistan, Kuchi dogs guard all the camps, sort of like the American "yellow dog." You know the one, the Southern "yellow dog?" They keep them outside because dogs are not allowed inside people’s homes. And of course, Osama bin Laden is dressed in an Arab outfit. He is not dressed in native Afghan clothes, and what we are saying is that Mullah Omar is his dog. I was told an interesting anecdote about this leaflet by U. S. Army Specialist Four Marshall D., 8th PSYOP Battalion, Product Development Center, Fort Bragg, NC. According to the Specialist, the designers of the vignette did not know what kind of dog to depict on the leaflet. One of the Fort Bragg PSYOP officers had a dog, so the staff took a photograph of the animal and placed Mullah Omar’s head on it using a Corel program. The dog's name was Duke. Later, when CNN discovered the leaflet they went into great detail analyzing the meaning of the beast with human head. The PSYOP team found it humorous because it was just a propaganda image and not so great an amount of thought and philosophy had gone into the selection. The right side of the third leaflet shows Osama bin Laden giving a speech. There is an arrow drawn across a heap of United States $20 bills pointing to a vignette at the left. On the left side of the leaflet a saddened bin Laden is shown in prison dress behind bars. Text on the front says: Osama bin Laden / $25,000,000 reward. The back of the leaflet is all text and says: $25,000,000 reward for information leading to the whereabouts or capture of Osama bin Laden. Contact Coalition authorities. A final item is mentioned but not shown. The article states that Ft. Bragg had printed a "greeting card" type leaflet depicting a date palm and a bowl of dates - a traditional food for celebrating the end of Eid al-Fitr, the month-long fasting period of Ramadan. The text is: People of Afghanistan - Eid Mabaruk - We wish that God will accept your prayers and fast. People of America. It is worth noting that the American translation misspells one Arabic word, which should be "Mubarak." The translation of "Eid Mubarak" is "Have a blessed holiday." The Pentagon finally released the leaflet illustration to the public in February of 2002. At that time it was also reported that California dates had been dropped along with the leaflets. Dates are a fruit that the Muslims traditionally use to break the fast of Ramadan. By including dates in the air drop bundles, the United States showed respect for this significant Muslim holiday. The leaflet code number is AFD89. The use of the religious holiday Eid as part of a psychological campaign is discussed by M. E. Roberts in Villages of the Moon, Psychological Operations in Southern Afghanistan, Publish America, Baltimore, 2005. The author says: Tonight we did one of the best psychological operations since arriving. About dark, we drove out with a Special Forces "A" team on a roadblock mission. We had not gone out at dark like this before, and we stopped at, and went places we had never gone before. We passed out "Happy Eid" cards on the road to provide cover…then we drove back through town handing out cards to people…we did a few more check points then went home. This sent messages all over town on many levels. The Happy Eid cards showed a sensibility to Islam which undercuts enemy propaganda. Richard Leiby, reporting in the Washington Post of December 10 updated the PSYOP leaflet count when he stated that "In Afghanistan, with a population of 26 million, some 18 million leaflets have been distributed - often via fiberglass M129 leaflet bombs that explode in midair." On December 13 Centcom released several more leaflets to the public. A second variety of the reward leaflet similar to one mentioned earlier was shown. This leaflet depicts Ayman al-Zawahiri at the left and Osama bin Laden at the right. The text is: $25,000,000 reward. The back has al-Zawahiri above bin Laden in the center, and text at right and left that says: Any information leading to the whereabouts of these men contact Coalition authorities. The leaflet also exists in a black and white version coded AFD29o. Another leaflet shows hungry children at the left and Afghan men unloading sacks of food labeled "USA" at the center. The text at right is: America has provided over $170 million in aid to Afghanistan. The back shows images of destroyed buildings, wounded Afghans, and an execution. The text is: This is what the Taliban has done? There was no news on the propaganda front for almost a month as the shooting war slowed and the military priority became the search for the fleeing Osama bin Laden and Mullah Omar. Then, on January 4, the Pentagon released 11 new leaflets and one poster being distributed in Afghanistan. The leaflets can be broken down into four general categories. The first category is the "threat" leaflet with a warning of the forces arrayed against the Taliban and predictions of their imminent death. Four such leaflets are shown. The first leaflet shows a dead al-Qaida soldier. The text is: Osama bin Laden the murderer and coward has abandoned al-Qaida. He has abandoned you and run away. Give yourself up and do not die needlessly. You mean nothing to him. Save your families the grief and pain of your death. These illustrations of dead or mangled fighters were dropped in great numbers in Vietnam. During Desert Storm the Arab states in the Coalition warned against using them against Iraq, as it was believed that they were counter-productive. There are no Saudi Arabian officials making recommendations to the United States in Afghanistan, and apparently the American propagandists have fallen back into their old ways. The back of the leaflet shows a young bin Laden, shaved except for his mustache, in a western style suit and tie. It was hoped that this altered image would offend the fundamentalist Muslims. The text is: Osama bin Laden the murderer and coward has abandoned you. This leaflet implies that bin Laden has abandoned his fundamentalist ways and is hiding in the west. This leaflet was apparently popular among Coalition forces because it was dropped again in November of 2002. The United States military has been tasked with locating and destroying buried mines in the many nations that it aids. Since 1993, the U.S. has sent forces into dozens of countries to help identify and safely dismantle mines. In 1997 the President of the United States supported a plan to eliminate all land mines that endanger civilians by the year 2010. During the recent wars in Somalia, Kuwait, Bosnia, and Kosovo millions of leaflets, coloring books, and comic books were distributed to warn civilians of the danger of approaching and handling mines and other explosives. The mine awareness leaflet is a standard PSYOP product of American Special Operations. One of the first American soldiers severely wounded in Afghanistan lost a foot to a hidden landmine. The United States searches out and destroys mines and other explosives to protect the civilian population. One dropped leaflet pictures seven types of dangerous mines and grenades with a skull and crossed bones in the background. The leaflet also appears as a small poster. The text is: ATTENTION! Partnership of Nations forces are destroying unexploded ordinance and weapons to keep the citizens of this region safe. There is no reason to be alarmed. For your own safety, stay away! STAY AWAY. A similar leaflet poster is coded AFD-DG2. It shows the seven explosives and the skull and crossed bones. The leaflet text is: Danger! Unexploded ordanance (sic) can kill! Do not touch! Help us keep you safe. Another mine leaflet that was found more recently is in bright red to attract attention and shows a skull and crossed bones at the left and six mines at the right. The text is: Stop and turn away. Stay out! Mines. Help us keep you safe! The second leaflet shows a group of mines in the desert. The text is: Al Qaida, your escape routes are mined. The back shows two burning trucks with the text: You are trapped. Other mine leaflets were distributed to Afghan refugees who were returning home from Pakistan. One such item showed 10 different types of explosives in full color on a standard leaflet (about 3 x 6 inches) in a vertical format. A mine clearing conference was held at MacDill Air Force Base on February 13, 2002. At that time it was estimated that a minimum of 2-million mines were still buried in Afghanistan. That number is probably low. ARSOF in Afghanistan adds: Particularly gratifying... was the work the PSYOP soldiers did to make the people aware of mines. Identified minefield boundaries were marked by rocks painted red on the side facing the minefield and white on the "safe" side… focused their efforts on more prominently identifying minefields and distributing leaflets to warn the Afghan people about their presence. Another leaflet shows five Taliban fighters in a cave about to eat a meal laid out on a rug. In the background a "smart bomb" is seen falling near the cave entrance. The text is: Al-Qaida do you think you are safe... The back of the leaflet shows three Taliban soldiers with their eyes wide open in fear, the cave entrance blocked with rubble. The text is: ...in your tomb? The final threat leaflet shows an AC130U "Spectre" gunship above the clouds with guns firing downward. These gunships are armed with a 25mm GAU-12 Gatling gun, one 40mm Bofors cannon, and one 105mm M102 howitzer. The text is: Taliban and Al Qaida Fighters - We know where you are hiding. The back of the leaflet depicts three Taliban fighters with crosshairs over their faces and the text: Taliban/Al Qaida fighters: you are our targets. Previous gunship call signs were "Puff the Magic Dragon" and "Spooky." There are three versions of this leaflet that are almost identical. They are AFD-40, AFD-40e and AFD-40f. AFD40e depicts the AC130U "Spectre" gunship but in a quite different setting. It is now more distant, less visible and firing tracers downward through the night sky. The intention was certainly to warn the Taliban and al Qaida fighters that they were not safe even in the pitch-black of a starless night. The back of the leaflet has also been changed. The faces of Osama bin Laden and Mullah Omar have been added to the targeted terrorists, which now number five. One of the new leaflets is a reward leaflet. Similar to the earlier bin Laden reward leaflet, an unnamed Taliban member is shown at the right in profile, and again at the left behind bars. U.S. $20 bills are pictured at the center of the leaflet. The text is: Taliban and al Qaida leadership - Reward. The back of the leaflet is all text: Reward for information leading to the whereabouts or capture of Taliban and al Qaida leadership. Another handbill coded AFG06 depicts the same Afghan, but with the picture reversed. Although the individual portrayed is not named, he was thought to be Mullah Omar, the leader of the former Taliban government. Mullah Omar shunned having his photo taken, and this shrewdness on his part allegedly led to a photograph of the wrong man appearing on thousands of U.S. reward leaflets. Doubt was first raised in the 14 October 2002 issue of Newsweek. In an article entitled "Trouble: Mistaken for the Mullah" author Sami Yousafzai says: Mulvi Hafizullah is hiding in the remote Afghan countryside in fear of his life. ...Mullah Omar was rarely photographed during his time in power, and in a case of mistaken identity, Hafizullah says it’s his picture - not Omar's - on the hundreds of thousands of leaflets that have been dropped all over Afghanistan offering $25 million for the capture of Omar and Osama bin Laden. Hafizullah fears that thousands of Afghan soldiers and villagers - not to mention U.S. troops - are looking for him. "I'm afraid to leave my house," he told Newsweek. ...His troubles began early this year when he fled to his village in Maidan province after the Taliban’s collapse. An elderly neighbor approached him, showed him the leaflet and asked if he was in fact Mullah Omar. "I looked at the photo and it was me," says Hafizullah. "Now we are even more proud to know you. It must be noted that it is only the opinion of the Afghan peasant that his picture appears on the leaflet. CENTCOM has made no statement and the photograph could well be Mullah Omar. These leaflets were popular and dropped on numerous occasions. A Reuters report of September 6 stated that they had been scattered over Southern Afghanistan again, eight months after their first appearance. The Consolidation Campaign What makes this story possibly true is that the U. S. Government then prepared and disseminated a new leaflet coded AFD130c. This leaflet is almost identical to the previous reward leaflets (AFD130 and AFD130b) in the series depicting Osama bin Laden and Aiman al-Zawahiri, except that a different pose was used, one that shows the "new" Mullah Omar looking upwards at the right, and behind bars at the left with an arrow pointing through $20 bills. The back depicts a heap of $1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100-dollar greenbacks. The individual appears to be different than the subject featured on the earlier leaflets. This would seem to verify the fact that the wrong individual was pictured on the earlier leaflets. The different pose would imply that this is the only Mullah Omar photograph the U. S. government has found. We should mention that these leaflets continue to be printed and disseminated long after the shooting war is over and all through the consolidation and government-building period. For instance, a photograph was released to the press that depicts a Pakistani child holding leaflet AFD130 in the western border city of Chaman , Pakistan, 20 February 2005. This leaflet offers a multi-million dollar reward for information on Osama bin Laden and other al-Qaida leaders. U.S. government officials believe that elements of the al-Qiada terrorist network are hiding in Pakistan and that unless the flow of recruits into militant groups across the border in Afghanistan is stopped, the war on terror cannot be won. The reward leaflets appeared in many different guises. Handout AFG-12a depicts and American destroyer closing on two small Afghan boats. A portrait of bin Laden is at the right to depict the connection between the terrorist leader and those who help his al-Qaida network. The message is textbook carrot and stick: Up to 25 million will be paid for information leading to the capture of al-Qaida terrorists or Osama bin Laden. Your ship may be sunk if you support or assist al-Qaida terrorists or Osama bin Laden. Another leaflet that depicts Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaida cohorts is AFD-103. This is a very handsome leaflet in full color. Bin Laden is depicted on both the front and the back with two terrorists, al-Qaida members on one side and Taliban members on the other. In both pictures the background is black smoke, implying that wherever he goes, the terrorist leader will bring death and destruction. The text is: Terrorist are the people who do not care about your family or your life, they are traitors Why do you let these people take your brothers away to fight when they do not know why they are fighting or what they are fighting for. After the fall of the Taliban government and the escape of the leaders of the old government and al-Qaida, a number of military units searched for bin Laden and Mohammed Omar through in western Afghanistan and Eastern Pakistan. The most notable might be Task Force 11, later renamed Task Force Sword. This task force consisted of American Special Forces, Delta Force, Navy Seals and British Special Forces. You will note that a large number of leaflets have a "TF11" preface. In all, over a dozen leaflets were prepared for the use of TF11 during the search for the enemy leaders. Another reward leaflet released in February of 2002 showed a beautiful city at the left and an Afghan elder at the right. The text on the front is: Get wealth and power beyond your dreams – help the anti-Taliban force to rid Afghanistan of murderers and terrorists. Text on the back is: You can receive millions of dollars for helping the anti-Taliban force catch al-Qaida and Taliban murderers. This is enough money to take care of your family, your village, your tribe for the rest of your life – pay for livestock and doctors and school books and housing for all your people. The third category might be called a "morale" leaflet. It is aimed at destroying the confidence and morale of the Taliban and al Qaida troops. A serious Osama bin Laden is shown on the front with the text: Osama bin Laden sends his murderers into the world to kill for his cause. The back of the leaflet shows a smiling bin Laden and the text: Osama bin Laden laughs at you because you don't know he has sent you to your death. This leaflet is in regard to the captured bin Laden video tape where he jokes that many of the terrorists on the hijacked aircraft sent to destroy the World Trade Center and the Pentagon were not aware that it was a suicide mission. The final category consists of five "consolidation" leaflets. These might best be described as leaflets directed toward populations of either liberated or occupied areas to facilitate military operations and promote maximum cooperation with the liberating or occupying power. They are also used to build confidence and loyalty to the new government. All of these leaflets attempt to bring the various ethnic tribes and clans of Afghanistan together into one cohesive people. The first leaflet show three Afghans building a house together with the text: Brick by brick... The back shows seven hands holding a map of Afghanistan with the text: Together you can make one Afghanistan. The second leaflet shows eight spools of thread and a rug with text: Many threads make one rug. The back shows the same seven hands and map as the previous leaflet. The final three leaflets are very similar. They are all in black and white and of a more "cartoonish" nature. Each has the exact same illustration and text on front and back, with the only difference being the language, one side in Pashto, the other in Dari. The first shows two Afghans, one with a white turban, one with a black turban shaking hands. The text is: The time has come for all Afghans to make peace. Curiously, this consolidation leaflet was still in use long after the formal cessation of fighting. They were dropped once again in early February 2002 after a flare-up of tribal violence in Gardez, capital of Paktia province in eastern Afghanistan. United Nations and Afghan government envoys entered the city to negotiate a peace plan after Pastun tribal factions killed at least 61 people in a local power struggle. The next leaflet shows bin Laden sitting cross-legged on a pile of dead Afghans. The text is: Osama bin Laden sacrifices the Afghan people for his own pride. He used the Taliban to exterminate whole communities opposed to his fanaticism. It should be noted that during Desert Storm Saddam Hussein sometimes was shown sitting on a throne of skulls. The final leaflet shows three heavily armed Taliban fighters. The text is: Osama bin Laden and his foreign henchmen do not want Afghans to live in peace with each other. Afghans need to rid themselves of these fanatics. Another leaflet that is very similar to this group was released in February of 2002 and shows Mullah Omar feasting while bin Laden sits on the pile of dead Afghans. The text is: Mullah Omar is a murderer and a coward and a traitor. Text on the back is: Mullah Omar is a murderer, a coward and a traitor to the freedom-loving Pashtun people - he let Osama bin Laden’s foreign murderers come to Afghanistan to hide – now Omar the coward and traitor to the Pashtun people hides in safety and comfort while his people suffer.

A fancier leaflet shows Mullah Omar feasting at the left, and two Afghans making a drug deal at the right. The text on the front is: Mullah Omar is a murderer and a coward and a traitor. Text on the back reads: Mullah Omar is a murderer, a coward and a traitor to the freedom-loving Pashtun people - he made millions of dollars selling evil drugs to Muslims – he did not use his fortune to help the Pashtun people – he used his fortune to help Osama bin Laden murder innocent civilians – now Omar the coward and traitor hides in safety and comfort while Pashtuns suffer. The single poster shows al-Qaida terrorist Mohammed Atta, and offers rewards to people who report suspicious activities to the U.S. State Department. The title text is: He was spotted in Hamburg, Prague, Florida and Maine. And if someone had called us, his picture wouldn't be spotted in this ad. The poster offers rewards of up to $25 million. The poster contains numerous errors and some details were actually borrowed from other terrorist acts. An unidentified State Department spokesman said that the poster's creators "took some liberties with some of the content". On January 8 the Pakistan-based Islamic Press Agency reported that U.S. planes had dropped leaflets in Eastern Afghanistan urging civilians not to give fleeing al-Qaida fugitives refuge, warning that they could be the victims of aerial bombing. On February 9 the United States Centcom site showed two new leaflets regarding the occupation of Kandahar Airport. United States Marines from the 15th and 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations Capable) secured the airport December 15, 2001 during Operation Swift Freedom. Two leaflet-posters are known. The first pictures a Marine in silhouette with jet fighters in the background. The text is: WARNING! The Partnership of Nations has secured the Kandahar Airport to insure that humanitarian aid will reach the people of this area. For your own safety please stay away. STAY AWAY The second leaflet poster depicts a number of helicopters and a C17 Globemaster aircraft. The text is: STOP! TURN AWAY NOW! The Partnership of Nations has secured the Kandahar Airport to insure that humanitarian aid will reach the people of this area. For your own safety please stay away. HELP US KEEP YOU SAFE! Centcom released over a dozen leaflets to the public on February 18, 2002. Many of these were obviously from previous series that we have already mentioned. Most were consolidation and nation-building types, but there were some variations of the morale and reward leaflets we have seen in the past. In February a number of armed skirmishes took place among the various ethnic and religious factions of Afghanistan. It became clear that interim leader Hamid Kamil did not have the full support of his people. Local warlords were consolidating their power and dividing Afghanistan into private fiefdoms. The United States had no interest in sending a large occupying force to that nation, so every effort was made to bring the people under control of the new government through the use of propaganda and the occasional implied threat of bombing. A series of bright green and black leaflets supporting the government were prepared and dropped. The first shows a white dove of peace over a map of Afghanistan and clasped hands with the text: A United Afghanistan offers peace and prosperity... A second similar leaflet shows a map of Afghanistan at the left, clasped hands in the center, and the planet Earth at the right. The text is: Afghanistan – The partnership of nations is here to assist the people of Afghanistan. This same leaflet also exists with the code AF5c11L1. A fourth leaflet shows the exact same illustration and text as leaflet AF-8-B-11-HB1 on the front. The back shows Afghan musicians at the left and a young girl at the right. The text is: A new government offers new freedoms. The future of Afghanistan depends on your support of the new government. A PSYOP officer told me an interesting anecdote about the white dove of peace depicted on the above leaflet. There is a funny story in regard to the Peace Dove depicted on some of our leaflets. Many of the Afghans believed the symbol to be some type of chicken and they assumed that the leaflet could be used as a coupon that entitled them to a free bird or meal provided by the Partnership of Nations. A second series of four similar leaflets were coded AFG7-AFG10. The first shows a young girl at the left, a group on smiling children below, and two boys at the right. One of the boys has some cash showing prominently from his pocket. The text is: Help bring back happiness to Afghanistan. Supporting your new government offers a brighter future for you and your children. The next leaflet shows a photograph of a young female, an older male in turban, an Afghan family, and a group of musicians. The text is: A united Afghanistan = peace prosperity. The future of Afghanistan depends on your support of the new government. A new government offers new freedoms. Leaflet AFG09 has the exact same text as the previous leaflet, but just two photographs, that of the Afghan musicians and the young female. The final leaflet of this series shows the four photographs of the young female, the older male in turban, the Afghan family, and the group of musicians over a map of Afghanistan with the text: A new government working for all Afghans. The future of Afghanistan depends on your support. In February, U.S. aircraft dropped envelopes adorned with an image of President George W. Bush and containing two $100 bills. It is assumed that there was a message included in the envelope, but it is unknown at present. Although the major fighting portion of the war was thought to be over, a vicious battle erupted once again on March 2. A group of from 400 to 2000 Taliban and al-Qaida fighters was found to be regrouping near Gardez in the Paktia Province of eastern Afghanistan. Over 1000 American troops were deployed along with other Special Forces members of the coalition and Afghan government forces in "Operation Anaconda." The fight took place at altitudes between 10,000 and 12,000 feet. During the first ten days of this battle the Coalition forces dropped 4,200,000 leaflets. One of the leaflets dropped during the operation shows seven Taliban or al-Qaida troops sitting in the back of a Toyota pick-up truck. The text is: Report Taliban and al-Qaida to Partnership of Nations forces. The back of the leaflet shows seven armed Taliban or al-Qaida in a cave. The text is: Taliban and al-Qaida use innocent women and children as shields for protection. The first propaganda leaflet in the form of a banknote was used during this battle. Members of the Paktia Province Intelligence Unit distributed them. On March 6 local Afghans were given what appeared to be an enlarged copy of a 10,000 Afghanis banknote. On the front the figure "150,000,000" was emblazoned. The reward, about $4,285, would be paid to any citizen who aided in the capture of Taliban or al-Qaida fighters. The notes were circulated around the Shah-i-Kot Valley and Gardez in Paktia Province. Text on the back of the imitation banknote is: Dear countrymen: The al-Qaida terrorists are our enemy. They are the enemy of your independence and freedom. Come on. Let us find their most secret hiding places. Search them out and inform the intelligence service of the province and get the big prize. By mid-March another dozen Coalition leaflets had surfaced. Several depicted Hamid Karzai, interim leader of Afghanistan and a Pashtun tribal leader from Kandahar. These leaflets pictured Karzai either alone or with other government officials and a map of Afghanistan. Black and white leaflet AFD-101c depicts Hamid Karzai with three politicians around a map of Afghanistan. Other similar leaflets are full-color versions and coded AFD-117 (Karzai alone) and AFD-118 (Karzai with the same three politicians). Leaflet AFD-119 depicts Karzai to the left of a flag of Afghanistan. The text on leaflet AFD-101c is: Different Tribes, but one Afghanistan On the left: Dr. Sima Samar, Hamid Karzai On the right: Sayed Hussein Onery, Abdullah Abdullah Dr. Seema Samar is the Deputy Prime Minister and Chairperson of the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission. Dr. Abdullah Abdullah is Afghanistan’s Foreign Minister. The leaflet points out that the two at left are Pastun, the upper right person is Uzbek, and the lower right member is a Tajik. Coalition helicopters flew overhead dropping leaflets celebrating the Afghan New Year, at the Khartesahki Shrine in Kabul, Afghanistan, on March 21, 2002. U.S. military aircraft scattered leaflets over southern Afghanistan on March 23 offering rewards for help in arresting Taliban and al-Qaida fighters. The leaflets urged people to help U.S.-led coal