US Plans a Mission Against Taliban's Propaganda - Thom Shanker, New York Times.
The Obama administration is establishing a new unit within the State Department for countering militant propaganda in Afghanistan and Pakistan, engaging more fully than ever in a war of words and ideas that it acknowledges the United States has been losing.
Proposals are being considered to give the team up to $150 million a year to spend on local FM radio stations, to counter illegal militant broadcasting, and on expanded cellphone service across Afghanistan and Pakistan. The project would step up the training of local journalists and help produce audio and video programming, as well as pamphlets, posters and CDs denigrating militants and their messages.
Senior officials say they consider the counterpropaganda mission to be vital to the war...
More at The New York Times.
Comments
I think this is great news on a number of fronts to include the focus on:
-getting State more involved in the fight by enabling them with money and authorities
-building and protecting the information instructure
-State lead will probably facilitate greater interagency and international cooperation in the war on ideas
On the other hand, like many others I suspect, I'm left scratching my head and wondering why weren't we doing this from the start?