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.  

AFD93

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.

AFD92

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.

TF11-RP07a

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.

TF11-RP07b

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.

AF1A-11-P1

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

AF1B-11-P1

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.

AF-8-B-11-HB1

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..

AF5c11L1

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.

AFG105

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.

AFG07

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.

AFG08

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.

AFG09

Leaflet AFG09 has the exact same text as the previous leaflet, but just two photographs, that of the Afghan musicians and the young female.

AFG10

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.

AFD114

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.

Leaflet AFD-101c

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 coalition forces arrest the Muslim militants blamed by Washington for the September 11 attacks on the United States. The leaflet, dropped over the former Taliban stronghold of Kandahar province and the Spinboldak area bordering Pakistan read:

You can earn millions of dollars by helping the allied forces in arresting Taliban and al-Qaida killers. The reward is so huge that it will be enough for your family, village and area for your entire life. With this money, you can buy school books, cows, sheep and pay the doctor's fee and reconstruct houses in the entire village.

150,000,000 Reward

On April 22 it was reported that U.S. aircraft dropped Afghan currency over parts of southern Afghanistan. C-130 transport aircraft dropped the 10,000-Afghani bills over areas near the Afghan border town of Spin Boldak and the nearby Pakistani town of Chaman.  One local resident claimed to have found eight 10,000-Afghani notes. Another claimed to have found a complete bundle of 800,000 Afghanis. The value of the Afghani varies, but was about 40,000 to the dollar at the time of the airdrop. It is unknown if these banknotes were genuine, or propaganda parodies nearly identical to the oversized notes mentioned above. Parodies of the 10,000 Afghanis banknote with the figure "150,000,000" added at the lower right and propaganda text on the front and back are known to exist.

Note:This article originally covered just the first six months of the war against terrorism in Afghanistan. We ended the story at that time. The Coalition dropped over 84 million leaflets in the first year of the war in Afghanistan and well over 100 different leaflets exist. Although our intention was to end the story in April of 2002, recent activity causes us to add additional information.

On March 2, 2003,  September 11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, perhaps the most senior al-Qaida member after bin Laden and his deputy, Ayman al-Zawahri, was arrested by Pakistani intelligence and CIA agents. Khalid Shaikh Mohammed is the alleged organizer of the Sept. 11 terror attacks,  a 1995 plot to bomb trans-Pacific airliners and a plan to crash a plane into CIA headquarters. He also planned the bombing of a synagogue in Tunisia, which killed 19 people.

Mohammed apparently gave Coalition interrogators information on the hiding place of Osama bin Laden. Immediately after his capture, during the first weeks of March, the task force renewed the hunt with vigor and dropped a number of PSYOP leaflets over the areas where bin Laden might be hiding. In all of these leaflets, the 25-million dollar reward for the fugitive al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden is the main theme.

 

U.S. and Pakistani forces searched for al-Qaida members on March 7 in a mountainous area near the borders with Afghanistan and Iran. They distributed a leaflet that showed bin Laden speaking at the right, and behind bars at the left. Similar leaflets appeared the same day in Islamabad, and in Eastern Afghanistan and portions of Pakistan. The leaflets offered rewards for the capture of bin Laden and other al-Qaida leaders. The leaflet appears to be a black and white version of the "bin Laden behind bars," (AFD-29n).

A second full-color leaflet had the same general appearance on the front, except that the pictures of bin Laden are smaller and there is added text at the bottom. The front is identical to AFD-130. However, instead of the banknotes pictured on AFD-130, the back of this new leaflet depicts bin Laden speaking at the top, in jail at the bottom, while in the center an Afghan greets a Coalition soldier. The Coalition dropped this leaflet about March 8 near the Pakistani border city of Chaman. The leaflet code is unknown.

Coalition forces disseminated two black and white leaflets on Spin Boldak, an Afghan border town, during the first week of March. The first is identical to the leaflet mentioned above, but without color. The second leaflet is brand new. The flags of the United States and Afghanistan appear on the front with a white dove of peace. The back shows bin Laden and some other leaders to the right of what appears to be the cloud from an explosion. This leaflet urges Afghans to join the hunt for bin Laden.

On March 7, The Associated Press reported regular leaflet drops over vast stretches of eastern Afghanistan and western Pakistan. The target areas are Pakistan's southwestern Baluchistan province and in the border regions of the North West Frontier Province, a suspected haven for terrorists.

The article mentions a bright pink leaflet with two pictures of bin Laden, one free and one behind bars, and a stack of US $20 bills in the center. The text is:

There is US $25 million for anyone providing information to the arrest of Osama bin Laden.

A second leaflet in Pashto urges ordinary Afghans to surrender terrorists. It shows an Afghan family with the inscription:

This good life is there for Afghans without the Taliban, al-Qaida and Gulbuddin Hekmatyar. Help us give you a better life.

Hekmatyar is a local warlord known as "the vampire" and famous for his cruelty to captives. One of his alleged favorite pastimes is lighting gunpowder on the eyes of his prisoners.

A third leaflet shows destroyed homes and al-Qaida in training. Some of the text is:

Help us bring them to justice. Only you can help us. Don't be deceived by them.

 

On March 9, a blue poster was distributed around Chaman, Pakistan. The poster depicted the Osama bin Laden leaflet speaking and behind bars vignette at the top, and a second such vignette with Mullah Omar speaking and behind bars below. Some of the text of this leaflet is "chase murderers."

We should stop for a moment and point out that it was not uncommon for the Partnership of nations to personally attack Osama bin Laden. He has been depicted as a skull face (AFD56b), playing chess,  walking the dog (AFD51c), and even clean shaven and in a European suit (TF11RP03).

AFD52b

It was done again in leaflet AFD52b. This leaflet pictures bin Laden as a spider, his web over a map of Afghanistan, with the heads of four Taliban members enmeshed in his trap. The text is:

Save yourself from the fire of Manjaneeq.

The meaning requires a knowledge of the Holy Koran. The manjaneeq is a 13th century catapult used to throw boulders and fire balls into enemy emplacements and strongholds, and sometimes to catapult humans into fire. In the Koran, Ibrahim nabi was placed in the manjaneeq. The Lord God (Allah) sent Jibraeel to ask Ibrahim if he needed anything. He replied that he did not. Jibraeel could not understand why Ibrahim would reply that he needed nothing from Allah. Not unlike Daniel in the Lion's den, the answer was:

If it is Allah's will that I be martyred then how can I ask that He save me? If he wishes to save me then I have no need to ask.

This is an example of qalbe saleem (the peaceful, submissive, accepting heart). Perhaps the true meaning of the text is lost on the western mind. A Muslim friend says about the leaflet text:

It tells the people to save themselves and not find themselves in the fire of manjaneeq by listening to bin Laden and his followers and their evil thoughts."

Staff Sergeant Dean Penrod releases leaflets 

Warrant Officer 4 Roger M. Gordon flew CH-47 Chinook helicopters for D Company of the 113th Aviation Regiment attached to Task Force Storm during Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan. He was stationed at Kandahar Airbase just south of the city of Kandahar. In the spring 2005 photograph above, Staff Sergeant Dean Penrod releases leaflets over a village just north of the city of Kandahar along the Argandab River valley. WO4 Gordon told me:

The purpose of the leaflet drop was to encourage the locals not to support the Taliban and warn of the consequences for those that did.  The next day, elements of the 173rd Airborne Infantry Brigade (Sky Soldiers) air assaulted into the same village as a show of force. The purpose of the demonstration was to deny the Taliban sanctuary anywhere in the Brigade's sector and to help build confidence in the locals that we were there to protect them.

AFD-C4-3678 Pashtu

This is one of the leaflets that Gordon dropped over the Argandab River valley. On the front we see a Taliban member thinking about his plight, then handing his AK-47 to a Coalition soldier. The text is:

Stop the war

On the back he pledges loyalty to the Afghan nation and in the last panel he returns home to a loving wife and children. The message is clear. Act correctly and in peace and live happily ever afterwards. The text is:

This is the United Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and it does not belong to foreigners.

AFD-C4-3838 Pashtu

In this leaflet a group of Taliban is depicted holding rifles and rocket-propelled grenades. They are in the sights of a Coalition attack helicopter. The text is:

Wherever you hide, they will find you

On the back four have been killed and are depicted as skulls, dead and burning in Hell. The message is clear. Remain in the Taliban and die. The text is:

Any attack on Afghanistan means certain death

AFD-F4-171e PashtuDari

A third leaflet dropped by Gordon is more crowded and "busy." One side shows a map of Afghanistan and three photographs of happy children. The text is:

The future of Afghanistan is in your hands.

The other side depicts four photographs; a larger one showing a Taliban and Coalition soldier shaking hands, and three smaller ones of armed Taliban and weapons systems crossed out with as red “X.”

To Report on the terrorists and help the national army is your national responsibility.

Peace Newspaper

The PSYOP units printed more than just leaflets and posters. They also published newspapers such as “Peace.” This newspaper was distributed about monthly and carried news about Afghanistan and various PSYOP themes in Dari, Pashto, and English. PSYOP teams gave it out to schools as a teaching aid since many schools had no reading material. If they had no books, at least they would have the American newspaper to read and discuss. Of course, the stories were nation-building consolidation articles so this played into the peaceful reconstruction of Afghanistan. The newspapers were also distributed to crowds, and sometimes within restaurants and shops. The main problem was the high rate of illiteracy, so we tried to target places where there was a good chance that someone could read.

American Companies Join the War on Terror

 Kwikpoint Afghanistan Visual Language Survival Guide

Although this article is about the “official” PSYOP and paper products produced by military units, it is clear that many products that were once printed by military sources, such as “pointee-talkie” cards, are now being produced by private companies. For instance, Gaia Communications of Arlington, Virginia, has prepared a number of handy cards for use in Iraq and Afghanistan that are as good as or better than anything prepared by the military to this point. The cards are highly colorful, sturdily made, fold out, and contain a wealth of information that is valuable to Allied troops. The products, sold under the name Kwikpoint, consists of such items as an Afghanistan Visual Language Survival Guide, an Iraqi Visual Language Survival Guide, a Military Police Visual Language Translator, and a Special Forces Military Translator. The Afghan booklet has 10 panels of text in Pashto, Dari and Farsi on one side and 10 panels of pictures on the other side.

According to Kwikpoint, users have forwarded positive testimonials. Almost all of them are from Iraq, but the cards have been tested in Afghanistan:

We are in the middle of Baghdad and the Kwikpoint Iraqi Visual Language Survivor Guide cards are incredibly helpful and good. They are a hot commodity. We’d like to give some to the hospitals to interface with them. The text is also helpful-our Iraqi translator says any Iraqi can understand it. CPT Arosemena, 1st Armored-2nd Brigade

In Iraq, our unit had the Kwikpoint Iraqi Visual Language Survival Guide on patrols. Using the card helped us find weapons caches by determining if information Iraqis brought to us was good enough to take it up the chain of command. Iraqis kept trying to come and tell us who was shooting at us I would have them draw pictures after showing them how Kwikpoint pictures communicate. I also used it in conjunction with a map to point things out. SGT Darin Dowdy, 3rd Infantry Division.

We, the Army/Navy Science Advisors, USASOC and Defense Language Institute have distributed around 10,000 to date. Everyone wants more, principally, the 18th Corps and Marine Expeditionary Force’s and the 30th MED from V Corps has some number as well. They are in use in both Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom. John Grills, Deputy Director, AMC Fast.

Face-to-Face Operations

Psychological warfare is not just leaflets and radios. Sometimes it can be the personal touch that changes attitudes or projects power. We hear many such stories. Here is one.

The 345th psychological Operations Company out of Dallas, Texas, is an Army Reserve Unit assigned to the 16th Psychological Operations Battalion of the 2nd Psychological Operations Group. They were deployed to Afghanistan where they supported the 3rd and 7th Special Forces Groups. Seven tactical PSYOP teams were scattered throughout the country, Team 2-3 “Gator” was operating out of Mazar-E-Sharif where it found itself in the middle of a power battle between four different factions; the Hezbi-wadat, Jumbish-i-islami, Jamiat-i-islami, and Hericot-i-islami. These groups all resisted the national authority and the team took part in a small operation that clearly told the people that the new government had power and could enforce its rulings. One of the team members told me this story:

One afternoon in May 2002, a Special Forces patrol found itself close to a firefight between two of the rival factions. They learned that two teenage boys had been taken into Jamiat-i-islami custody and sent to a local security compound run by a ruthless chief named Fadah for execution.  The father of the boys approached the members of the 345th POC and asked for help. My team chief and two unit members immediately went to the compound to discuss the fate of the two innocent boys. We were able to convince Fadah that releasing the two young men would help the ongoing effort to continue a Northern Alliance offensive against remnants of hostile Taliban and Al-Qaida and not allow factional differences to collapse into another civil war. After a talk over a chess match, the Chief came around. Meanwhile, another team member explained the meaning of the leaflets that some of the police station personnel had acquired from our team's distribution. I maintained security and monitored radio transmission with the TAC-P not far from their location.  With a peaceful resolution now in place, Team 2-3 “Gator” not only secured the boys’ freedom and the respect of the families and community, but delivered a highly successful psychological blow to the enemy. The father of the boys met a US interpreter at the safe house and dictated a letter thanking the Americans for their efforts. 

The Jamiat-i-islami was one of the groups opposed to the Taliban. It was part of an alliance called the National Islamic United Front for the Salvation of Afghanistan, commonly known as the United Front. The United Front supported the government ousted by the Taliban, the Islamic State of Afghanistan (ISA). It is clear why such a movement would be against a national authority that was not Islamic in nature.

Cash Reward for Weapons

Billboard in Afghanistan offering cash for Stinger Missles

One of the most popular PSYOP campaigns involves offering a cash reward for weapons. In every modern war the United States has offered the enemy a monetary reward for the handing in of weapons or ammunition. In Afghanistan this happened after the end of the combat phase when the new Afghan government was attempting to take control of the country. The leaflets and poster below were disseminated by Special Forces stationed at fire base Gardez and Ghecko in March of 2003.

Leaflet AFD1040A

The front of full-color leaflet AFD1040A depicts what appear to be pipes on the ground. The picture is very dark and the image is not clear. The text is:

The members of the Joint Forces keep finding weapons belonging to al-Qaida in secret places. Identify members of Taliban and Kalb Aldeen (a Religious party) and receive a gift of $2500 dollars.

The back depicts about a dozen rifles on the left and nine American $20 bills at the right. The image is clear. Turn in your weapon and receive U. S. greenbacks. The text is:

Receive cash for weapons

Leaflet CJTF180-P-AF D194

The front of full-color Leaflet CJTF180-P-AF D194 depicts a number of automatic weapons and rockets. The leaflet is smaller than the standard 6 x 3 inches and poorly registered, so it was probably made by a unit other that the regular Army PSYOP troops. The text is:

Trade your weapons for money

The back depicts a pile of Afghan currency, but the registration is so bad that it is impossible to tell the value of the various banknotes. The text is:

If you have information's about the secret locations of the members of al-Qaida and the Taliban or their weapons, tell the joint forces and we will pay a reward in the amount of 87,500,000 Afghani.

[Note: The code indicates that this leaflet was designed to be used by Combined Joint Task Force 180. The Task Force was tasked with the training of the Afghan National Army, providing civil affairs support, and disrupting, denying, and destroying terrorist and anti-government forces in order to establish a stable and secure Afghanistan].  

Poster CJTF180-P-AF C031

Poster CJTF180-P-AF C031 was obviously prepared for the same campaign as the preceding leaflet since the weapons shown at the top are almost identical to those depicted on the leaflet and the banknotes below, now very clear and easy to see, are once again the banknotes of Afghanistan.

Are these weapons reward leaflets of any value? Do they work? Apparently they do. In early 2008 for instance, it was reported that an Afghan man assisted Afghan National Security Forces and Coalition forces in uncovering more than 325 pieces of ammunition when he led them to a weapons cache in a cave in Northern Afghanistan. The cave revealed neat stacks of unburied munitions in almost pristine condition. The man received a monetary reward for the information he provided as part of the Small Rewards Program. Approximately $65,000 was paid to individuals who have provided information resulting in locating and destroying weapons caches throughout Afghanistan.  The Afghan National Army, Afghan National Police, Afghan Commandos and Coalition forces located or destroyed more than 7,000 enemy weapon systems, including rocket-propelled grenades, land mines, rifles and various types of ammunitions.

As 2005 progressed, the Taliban, once thought beaten made a gradual comeback, probably fueled by the success of the terrorist actions in Iraq. Starting in April, the insurgents pursued a campaign of bombings and assassinations in a bid to disrupt parliamentary elections scheduled for Sept. 18. The American and Afghan forces fought several battles along the Pakistani border and a number of prisoners were taken and added to those already in confinement.

Escapee leaflet

Four Arab al Qaeda militants escaped from a detention center at the main U.S. base in Afghanistan at Bagram north of Kabul 11 July 2005. They are Syrian Abdullah Hashimi, Kuwaiti Mahmoud Ahmad Mohammad, Saudi Mahoud Alfatahni and Libyan Mohammad Hassan. A leaflet handout was immediately prepared depicting each of the escapees in prison garb and offering a reward for information leading to their recapture.

Leaflet AFD48a

Leaflet AFD48a depicts a terrorist considering surrendering at the right. The picture at the left depicts two terrorists running with their entire upper body on fire, reminiscent of napalm attacks during the Vietnam War.  This is one of the most terrifying images produced by the Coalition for Afghan anti-terrorist PSYOP. The text is:

Dying - Living

PLAYING CARDS

   

“Cultural Awareness” playing cards

Psychological Warfare uses many types of media. One of the most interesting is the playing card. These cards have a long and well-respected use in the military. During the years that I was in the service I received many different types as training aides. To name just a few: “Survival Cards for South East Asia,” “Aircraft Recognition Playing Cards,” “Armored Vehicle Recognition,” “Soviet Manufactured Forward Area Aircraft,” “Free World Forward Area Aircraft,” and “Russian Words and Terminology.” At the end of the fighting phase of Operation Iraqi Freedom Coalition troops were issued the “Iraq’s Most Wanted” playing cards.

The U.S. military is now distributing “Cultural Awareness” playing cards to its troops in an attempt to teach them how to prevent inadvertent damage to archaeological sites and stop the traffic of looted artifacts. This “good neighbor” project is explored in depth in an article entitled “Army Project Teaches Cultural Awareness to Deployed troops,” by Toni Eugene in Army, March 2008. Each card has the text “ROE First” at the top, reminding the soldiers that safety and the rules of engagement have priority over saving any antiquities. Approximately 50,000 decks of the card have been shipped to troops and installations already, and more are on the way. Note that these cards are prepared for use both in Afghanistan and Iraq. The text on a few cards is:

Buying looted artifacts is forbidden. These objects will be confiscated if discovered during redeployment inspection.

The main goal of archaeology is to understand the past - your past

The Department of Defense needs your help protecting cultural heritage resources.

Ancient walls of mud brick are easily damaged.

Gummed Labels and Bumper Stickers

Two examples of gummed labels

The United States prepared a number of gummed labels and stickers to be placed on walls, tables, and anyplace the Afghan citizens might congregate. They were prepared on a water-proof plasticized paper in full color. Most of the stickers are quite attractive. Some depict an American flag next to an Afghan flag with a dove of peace in the foreground. Others show the flag of Afghanistan in an attempt to build loyalty to the nation. All of the labels have text in both Dari and Pashto.

Music PSYOP

The use of music in psychological operations is well documented. Americans first saw it in the movie Apocalypse Now when U.S. attack helicopters approached a Viet Cong-controlled village playing “The Ride of the Valkyrie.”

During the Panama invasion, the world watched on television as U.S. PSYOP troops played loud music outside the Vatican nunciature where President Manuel Noriega hid. Some of the songs were: “I fought the Law and the Law Won,” “If I Had a Rocket Launcher,” “You're Messin' with a SOB,” “Gonna Tear Your Playhouse Down,” and “Nowhere to Run.”

Apparently the same sorts of tactics were used in Afghanistan. They are discussed by Peter J. Smyczek in “Regulating the battlefield of the future: the legal limitations on the conduct of psychological operations under public international law,” Air Force Law Review, Winter 2005:

American soldiers often employ creative tactics such as using loud and aggressive American pop-culture at the tactical level to frighten or intimidate enemy fighters. During the first ground campaign in Afghanistan, American soldiers played the heavy metal song "Let the Bodies Hit the Floor" by the heavy metal band Drowning Pool as they were being deployed via helicopter.

PSYOP Problems

United States PSYOP in Afghanistan hit a “bump” in October 2005 when Australian journalist Stephen Dupont told The Associated Press that while he was embedded with the 173rd Airborne Brigade of the United States Army outside the southern village of Gonbaz, near the former Taliban stronghold of Kandahar, he saw Taliban bodies burnt by U.S. troops. Police in Shah Wali Kot district, where Gonbaz village is located, said hundreds of Taliban rebels are believed to be hiding in camps in the mountainous region.

Cremation of bodies is not part of Muslim tradition, which calls for remains to be washed, prayed over, wrapped in white cloth and buried within 24 hours. Allegedly, two soldiers broadcast taunting messages to call out the Taliban soldiers. Dupont said the soldiers responsible for the taunting messages were part of a US Army psychological operations unit. The message apparently was:

Attention Taliban, you are all cowardly dogs. You allowed your fighters to be laid down facing west and burned. You are too scared to come down and retrieve their bodies. This just proves you are the lady boys we always believed you to be. You attack and run away like women. You call yourself Taliban but you are a disgrace to the Muslim religion, and you bring shame upon your family. Come and fight like men instead of the cowardly dogs you are.

General Mohammed Zahir Azimi, spokesman for the Afghan Defense Ministry, said those responsible must be found and punished. The U.S. military said it would investigate the report of the burning of dead enemy combatant bodies under inappropriate circumstances. When questioned, the soldiers who burned the bodies said they did so for hygiene reasons. The Geneva Convention allows bodies to be cremated for imperative reasons of hygiene. The Law of Land Warfare allows the burning of remains under certain circumstances, especially sanitation reasons. The Geneva Convention also states that soldiers must ensure that the dead are honorably interred, if possible according to the rites of the religion to which they belonged. Unfortunately, these conflicting rules can lead to confusion and interpretation.

As a result of the investigation all tactical PSYOP was halted in Afghanistan in late October until commanders determined how to bridge the emerging gap between Afghanistan’s Islamic customs and what is permitted under the Geneva Convention. The problem was called an “emerging vulnerability” centered around a “disconnect” between the Geneva Conventions and Afghan traditions. Policies were rewritten and leaders from battalion commander on up were ordered to study them.

Paul G. Buchanan, a New Zealand writer adds in an article entitled, Civil Affairs, Foreign Area Expertise and Psychological Operations in US Military Force Projection:

The US troops wanted to avoid storming the village so as to limit civilian casualties and have had success with such PSYOP tactics before, so the potential breach of Geneva Convention protocols regarding the treatment of enemy dead was discounted in favor of the practical necessities at hand.  

Robert J. Kodosky adds in Psychological Operations American Style – the Joint United States Public Affairs Office, Vietnam and Beyond: Lexington Books, Lanham, MD, 2007:

An official investigation of the affair issued a report in November 2005 that found evidence of “poor decision-making and judgment, poor reporting and a lack of knowledge and respect for local Afghan customs and tradition.”

In total, four American soldiers received “administrative punishment” for what the Army identified as two separate incidents. The first case involved the individuals responsible for the act itself. The second, however, implicated two PSYOP specialists who heard about the incidence while operating in the area and decided to use it in hopes of inciting Taliban fighters.

British PSYOP

British 15th (UK) PSYOPS ISAF News

The British 15th (UK) PSYOPS Group undertook a range of tasks in Kabul and surrounding areas in support of its mission. Two of its major missions were assisting the Interim Administration in developing future security structures and assisting the Interim Administration in reconstruction. Working within the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) they helped to produce the newspaper ISAF News.

“Game of Unity” Poster

They also produced various leaflets in the form of mine awareness warnings, and posters encouraging the neighborhood watch campaign, health assistance, and the “Game of Unity” which was the first major athletic event after the fall of the Taliban. This match pitted a handpicked team of the capital's finest footballers against a squad selected from the eight-nation Afghan peacekeeping force.

In January 2007 the British commented on their PSYOP activities in Afghanistan in an article entitled “NATO Reveals Dark Art of PSYOP” in the London Sunday Times. The article stated that British Commanders believe that there are two types of Taliban insurgents in the war-ravaged south of Afghanistan. The first, called “Tier 1,” are the leaders, some of whom are foreign-born. The second, called “Tier 2,” are the rank and file. Major Kirsty McQuade, the top NATO PSYOP officer in southern Afghanistan is quoted:

Tier 1 wants to regain control of the country. Some of them have power and prestige and they like that. Some of them are just psychopaths. Tier 2 is often motivated by factors such as debt. Some are very poor and uneducated and they do as they are told. If you can clear the debt or give them an alternative way of making money they are often willing to give up.

In Operation Baaz Tsuka, in which Canadian, British and American forces routed hundreds of Taliban from two districts that they had been using as platforms for assaults on Kandahar, the PSYOP troops targeted each group with a separate message. Leaflets showing the bloody body of a dead gunman and a hooded prisoner of war warned Tier 1:

Enemies of Afghanistan leave now. Capture and death await you.

The Tier 2 foot soldiers were told:

Choose peace. Return to your homes and meet with your elders.

More than 88,000 propaganda leaflets were dropped. A day after the leaflet drops Canadian forces took control of Howz-e Madad, a former Taliban-held village, without firing a shot.

In a separate operation in Helmand province, British Royal Marines hauled a loudspeaker into battle to talk to the Taliban: McQuade adds:

We explain to Tier 2 that their commanders don’t care about them. They are just using them for their own aims.

In another January 2007 news story, David Leask mentions a second British PSYOP program in The Herald. The operation is in Lwar, a hamlet effectively in the no-man's land between the British and the Taliban in Helmand, the country's most volatile province. Corporal Phil Morrison of the Royal Marines gives a local elder leaflets and a newspaper printed by the British. The stories are designed to show what the British, and the government of Hamid Karzai are doing.

Its front page has a picture of a woman in uniform: Afghanistan's first policewoman. After years of Taliban oppression, when girls could not go to school, it is designed to show things have changed. Most girls still struggle for education. But the officer, in faraway Kabul, is even teaching policemen how to shoot.

Other themes are:

“Don't go near convoys.” A family that did was shot dead. That didn't do much to win hearts and minds. Messages, without a hint of irony, also warn Afghans away from “foreign fighters,” That refers to the Arabs and Pakistanis believed to be helping the Taliban in their holy war against British and other international troops in the country.

Since we are mentioning British and Canadian troops in Afghanistan. Perhaps we should mention the number of troops the various English speaking allies sent to Afghanistan. Great Britain deployed 25,000 troops between 2001 and 2007. Canada deployed 20,000 troops between 2002 and 2007. Australia sent 10,000 troops between 2001 and 2007 and New Zealand sent 3100 troops between 2001 and 2005.

Canadian PSYOP

Since we mention Canadian troops in the paragraph above perhaps this would be a good time to give a brief description of their part in Operation Enduring Freedom. Canadian peacekeepers were first deployed to Afghanistan in August 2003. Two contingents of 1,800 Canadian soldiers were deployed in consecutive six-month rotations. Forty-four Canadian soldiers had been killed in Operation Enduring Freedom by December 2006.

Not much has been published about the Canadian PSYOP teams in Afghanistan. Colonel Steve Bowes, commander of the Provincial Reconstruction Team in Kandahar said in September 2005 that the Canadians in Kandahar were running Canada's largest propaganda campaign since the Second World War, using a Montreal-based group of specialists known as Canadian Psychological Operations. They sent patrols to the remote town of Spin Boldak, near the Pakistani border, and to other locations around Kandahar:

The PSYOP team distributed stacks of colorful newspapers, posters, leaflets and brochures in the local languages of Dari and Pashtun. The leaflets were simple: glossy pictures of children and white doves, with the slogan, “Your votes will make your future. Congratulations for voting.” To test its product, the team pulled aside several people who couldn't read to see how well the images were understood in a country where four out of five people can't read.

Captain N.M. Johnson of the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry wrote an article entitled, “The Importance of PSYOPS in Fourth Generation Warfare.” Under “Current Canadian Capabilities" he says:

The Canadian PSYOPS Group was formed in January 2004, and currently comprises of twelve full time reservists. An extra 15 to 20 Class B reservists, typically on 18 month contracts, are hired to form the teams that train and deploy with Task Forces (TF) on operations. It is arguably meager in size when compared to the full upscale US and UK PSYOPS battalions, but yet it assures an entirely Canadian PSYOPS capability to the CF. The PSYOPS Group is composed of a Directorate (COL, LTC and CWO) located in Montreal, and three cells:

1. Operations Support: ensures Reachback capability (the “rear party” PSYOPS specialist production team that supports deployments)

2. Resources and Development: responsible for logistical and financial management, development of concepts and doctrine

3. Force Generation: responsible for recruiting, selection, personnel management, professional development, and training (now done in conjunction with the Peace Support Training Center in Kingston).

Two other organizations complete the Canadian Force PSYOP capability:

1. Tactical PSYOPS Detachment (TPD): joined to a Brigade HQ, this element provides PSYOPS support and planning to Brigade-sized units, commands the Tactical PSYOPS Teams (TPTs, described below) and controls product dissemination. There is currently one TPD (four Canadian personnel) with the HQ of the Multi-National Brigade in Kandahar. The TPD includes a Target Audience Analyst Team (TAAT), which conducts in-depth research of the target audience (different groups within local population) to identify vulnerabilities and susceptibility to PSYOPS themes and messages. The Product Coordination Team validates PSYOPS products, coordinates their production and controls their dissemination.

2. Tactical PSYOPS Team (TPT): is a specialized team, joined to a Task Force mounted in two G-Wagons (Gelaendenwagen vehicles, “G Wagon” for short, produced by Mercedes Benz in Graz, Austria), equipped with loudspeakers, cameras, portable speaker systems and C8 and C9 for close protection. They disseminate approved PSYOPS products (loudspeaker messages, handbills, leaflets, newspapers) to the target audiences. Their presence on the ground allows them to gather PSYOPS related information to identify and reduce the impact of hostile propaganda and rumors, and they are also able to assist the Task Force to respond to crowd disturbances. A TPT was deployed with the Provincial Reconstruction Team, and one is presently with Task Force 1-06.

Notice that the Canadian PSYOP organization (TPD/TPT) is almost identical to the American organization, though on a much smaller scale.

The Canadian Army website mentions PSYOP in a 7 September 2004 article entitled “Psychological Operations plays with soldiers’ minds.” The Commander of the Army, Lieutenant-General Rick Hillier, signed the order in November 2003 to develop the Army's PSYOP capability as part of Land Force Reserve Restructure. Prior to Summer 2004, officers and non-commissioned members were trained in PSYOP by the Allies, then deployed overseas in a PSYOP position and upon return to Canada their experience was lost. The Canadian and British Army arranged to have the course brought to Canada. Personnel from the 15th United Kingdom Psychological Operations Group taught the two-week UK Military Psychological Operations Course in Montreal. The article interviews PSYOP Commander Lieutenant-Colonel Bruno Vanasse and says that twenty-four Reservists underwent six weeks of PSYOP training at both civilian and military establishments in the Montreal area.

Second Lieutenant Jessica M. Davis talks about Canadian PSYOP in Afghanistan in the Canadian Military Journal, August, 2005. She says that Canadian troops from the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry took part in two Afghan operations named “Apollo” and “Athena.”  She points out that although many Afghans had television sets, TV was not exploited to send messages. There was a lack of human intelligence, and communication between agencies and organizations were poor. Worse, there was a lack of secure communications equipment. She concludes that information operations are the wave of the future and Canada needs to take the subject far more seriously than it so far has.

Sgt Larson, an interpreter, and a village
elder in conversation in front of a Canadian G-Wagon

A Sergeant Larsen of the Cameron Highlanders reports on his tour from July 2005 to July 2006. He says that he would typically leave Kandahar Air Field about once a week for anywhere from one to five days. His specialty was target audience analysis, so he would discuss the current political situation and then let the Afghans hear or see PSYOP products such as a radio message or a poster and make an evaluation. Larsen felt that he made a positive impact during his tour.

Peace Support Training Center

More recently, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation reported in 2006 that the Canadian military has contracted with the communications expert Ivana Previsic to teach soldiers how to become effective news broadcasters and get the military’s messages out to locals in Afghanistan and elsewhere. Previsic is to establish an operational newsroom in an army studio run by the Peace Support Training Centre in Kingston, Ontario. The soldiers will be taught all the skills required to prepare and broadcast a professional series of programs.

Another military contract won by Ottawa-based International Datacasting Corporation ensures that the first graduates will be broadcasting digital radio broadcasts from Kingston, Canada, into their Afghanistan area of operations by satellite. The Canadian Forces may take part in an allied effort to extend military-controlled radio broadcasting from Kabul to the rest of the country.

German PSYOP

 

German OpInfo Battalion

On 22 December 2001, the German Bundestag gave its approval for German participation in the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), based on Resolution 1386 of the United Nations Security Council. ISAF’s mission and military structure are entirely separate from Operation Enduring Freedom. Some 2,000 German soldiers served in Kabul.

PSYOPS forces were an integral part of the German contingent with approximately 15 soldiers on the ground. The most important element of PSYOP activities were the loudspeaker groups. It was their task to communicate with the population and to disseminate PSYOP products. In addition, the print group was responsible for the production of flyers and newspapers. The “ISAF News” is just one of many products. In addition to the soldiers' radio “Radio Andernach,” the PSYOP radio station Sada-e Azadi (Voice of Freedom) was established. Sada-e Azadi broadcasts in the two main languages spoken in the country, Dari and Pashtu.

In October 2003 the Bundeswehr expanded its mission beyond the city limits of Kabul. A Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) supported civil reconstruction in Kunduz. Here again, PSYOPS forces were there right from the start. They printed flyers in the national languages, drove around in loudspeaker vehicles, worked on establishing a newspaper, and broadcast locally on Radio Sada-e Azadi. There were some 250 soldiers in Kunduz, about 16 of whom were PSYOP troops.

Guns for Books Poster