Return-Path: <sentto-279987-3390-1003973184-fc=all.net@returns.onelist.com> Delivered-To: fc@all.net Received: from 204.181.12.215 [204.181.12.215] by localhost with POP3 (fetchmail-5.7.4) for fc@localhost (single-drop); Wed, 24 Oct 2001 18:27:08 -0700 (PDT) Received: (qmail 2638 invoked by uid 510); 25 Oct 2001 01:25:50 -0000 Received: from n25.groups.yahoo.com (216.115.96.75) by 204.181.12.215 with SMTP; 25 Oct 2001 01:25:50 -0000 X-eGroups-Return: sentto-279987-3390-1003973184-fc=all.net@returns.onelist.com Received: from [10.1.1.223] by n25.groups.yahoo.com with NNFMP; 25 Oct 2001 01:26:20 -0000 X-Sender: fc@red.all.net X-Apparently-To: iwar@onelist.com Received: (EGP: mail-8_0_0_1); 25 Oct 2001 01:26:24 -0000 Received: (qmail 76920 invoked from network); 25 Oct 2001 01:26:11 -0000 Received: from unknown (10.1.10.142) by 10.1.1.223 with QMQP; 25 Oct 2001 01:26:11 -0000 Received: from unknown (HELO red.all.net) (65.0.156.78) by mta3 with SMTP; 25 Oct 2001 01:26:11 -0000 Received: (from fc@localhost) by red.all.net (8.11.2/8.11.2) id f9P1QBg10739 for iwar@onelist.com; Wed, 24 Oct 2001 18:26:11 -0700 Message-Id: <200110250126.f9P1QBg10739@red.all.net> To: iwar@onelist.com (Information Warfare Mailing List) Organization: I'm not allowed to say X-Mailer: don't even ask X-Mailer: ELM [version 2.5 PL3] From: Fred Cohen <fc@all.net> X-Yahoo-Profile: fcallnet Mailing-List: list iwar@yahoogroups.com; contact iwar-owner@yahoogroups.com Delivered-To: mailing list iwar@yahoogroups.com Precedence: bulk List-Unsubscribe: <mailto:iwar-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com> Date: Wed, 24 Oct 2001 18:26:11 -0700 (PDT) Reply-To: iwar@yahoogroups.com Subject: [iwar] [fc:With.the.ground.offensive.underway,.the.'Propaganda.War'.heats.up] Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Office of Research Issue Focus Foreign Media Reaction October 24, 2001 With the ground offensive underway, the 'Propaganda War' heats up As the U As the U.S. military campaign in Afghanistan moved into the ground offensive phase, overseas media reaction has indicated that the U.S. was facing another battle: an information and propaganda war. Observers around the globe held various interpretations as to how the U.S., the Taliban and Usama bin Laden were using or "controlling" the media to capture public opinion. And charges that U.S. "censorship" was "eroding" the very democratic values it was trying to defend, punctuated the commentary. While many in the European press saw worrisome signs of the U.S. losing ground on the "front lines of publicity," most Arab and Muslim outlets suggested that the Western media--notably CNN and BBC--were colluding with the U.S. in a "vilification campaign" against the Muslim world. That said, a pair of editorials in a semi-independent Bahraini paper instead gave American journalists credit for presenting an "honest and objective" analysis and blamed the "weakness" and "arrogance" of the Arab media for propagating cultural misunderstanding. Salient themes follow: Freedom of Speech As 'A Casualty Of War': Perceptions that the American government was attempting to "restrict" the media raised both the hackles and suspicions of observers. This view played out most negatively in Europe, Australia, Latin America and Africa, where a majority saw "lack of information" and "secrecy" as anathema to democracy. According to European analysts, U.S. efforts to control information, media access and publication of post-bombing imagery could undermine its "credibility" and end up "weakening" the coalition. Skeptics warned that perceived efforts on the part of the Bush administration to keep tabs on media coverage could "smack of a cover up," and thus constitute a "victory" for the terrorists. Accusing the U.S. of a "media witch hunt," a Tunisian daily derided U.S. attempts to "pressure" Al Jazeera and to limit the airing of Taliban interviews. Media As Conduit For Disinformation And Negative Imagery: Throughout the Arab and Muslim media, negative assessments of America were rampant. These ranged from charges that the U.S. had seized assets of the Al Rasheed organization because, in the words of a Taliban spokesman, "it was feeding the hungry people of Afghanistan" to spurious reports that the U.S. was using biological and chemical weapons and killing innocents to "protect its oil interests." Disinformation was not confined to the Muslim media, however, as some of the same themes and negative U.S. image peddling also played out in the East Asian and Latam press. U.S. Image Vs. Taliban's 'Verbal Artillery' And Usama's 'Malign Gift Of Public Relations' While a Canadian daily focused on UBL's "clever" mastery of the media to create and sell his image, European papers warned that the U.S. image problem was "only going to get worse" if civilian casualties increase. A Pakistani daily predicted that "world opinion will turn against U.S. "war madness." Cambodian, Filipino, and Thai commentary suggested that the U.S.' efforts to portray its actions in Afghanistan as a noble cause--fighting terrorism--were "falling on deaf ears," with some suggesting that UBL was "coming out ahead" in the propaganda war. EDITOR: Irene Marr EDITOR'S NOTE: This survey is based on 62 editorials from 31 countries, October 15-24. Editorial excerpts from each country are listed from the most recent date. ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~--> Pinpoint the right security solution for your company- Learn how to add 128- bit encryption and to authenticate your web site with VeriSign's FREE guide! http://us.click.yahoo.com/yQix2C/33_CAA/yigFAA/kgFolB/TM ---------------------------------------------------------------------~-> ------------------ http://all.net/ Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.2 : 2001-12-31 20:59:57 PST