October 17, 2001
U.S. Steps Up Leaflets to Sway Afghans
By CHRISTOPHER MARQUIS
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| (Agence France-Presse) |
| This leaflet is being dropped by air by U.S. forces flying over Afghanistan. |
WASHINGTON, Oct. 15 — An American bomber on Sunday delivered Washington's latest weapon against the Taliban leadership in Afghanistan — leaflets. "The Partnership of Nations is here to help," declared one of the 385,000 slips of paper dropped from a B-52 over locations in the northwestern and southeastern regions.
One leaflet, roughly the size of a dollar bill, is available in English, Pashto and Dari. It shows a picture of an American soldier extending his hand to a man in traditional Afghan dress.
A second leaflet depicts a radio tower and advises listeners when to tune to American broadcasts. The Defense Department released tonight a transcript of radio messages beamed into Afghanistan.
"We have no wish to hurt you, the innocent people of Afghanistan," the broadcast said. "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. With your help, this conflict can be over soon. And once again, Afghanistan will belong to you, and not to tyrants or outsiders."
The information barrage is heating up as American officials voice concern that they are losing ground in the propaganda war in Afghanistan and other Muslim nations. Loyalists to Osama bin Laden portray the bombing as an assault on Islam.
"They are trying to manipulate world opinion in a way this is advantageous to them and disadvantageous to us," Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said today in a briefing. "And we need to do everything we can to make sure the truth gets out."
Condoleezza Rice, the national security adviser, reached out to an Arab audience in an interview with Al Jazeera, the television channel in Qatar that infuriated the White House by showing a tape by Mr. bin Laden.
"The president of the United States has said that our war on terrorism is not a war against Islam," she said in a statement at interview's end. "It is not a war against the Arab people. It is a war against evil people who would hijack the Palestinian cause."
"Look, " she said in a briefing to reporters, "there is a lot of propaganda about America and America's goals that is out there. And we recognize that we have to do a better job of countering that propaganda."
Copyright 2001 The New York Times Company
