Pick up the dictionary and you'll find "propaganda" defined as 'the spreading of ideas, information, or rumor for the purpose of helping or injuring an institution, a cause, or a person.' PsyOps are an essential part of the Art of War. Even as American bombs drop in Afghanistan, so do star-spangled food parcels and anti-Osama leaflets. And the U.S. is locked in a sattelite skirmish as well, scrambling to improve its image while the al-Quaeda network fires shots of its own, in televised messages promising more terror, striving to recruit Muslims for a Holy War.
On both sides, the objectives of the Propaganda Wars are clear: frame the issues, then get the world to buy in, but victory here may be more elusive than on the battlefield.
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John R. MacArthur, publisher of Harper's and author of "Second Front: Censorship and Propaganda in the Gulf War"
William Nash, Senior Fellow and Director, Center for Preventive Action, Council on Foreign Relations
Abdel Bari-Atwan, editor of the London-based Arabic language newspaper al-Quds.
