It is an old axiom that once a war begins, the truth is the first casualty. In operation “Iraqi Freedom” this certainly seems to be the case. Both coalition and Iraqi forces are engaged in an all-out psychological war. The media – both Western and Arab – is playing a key role in this struggle.
Psychological warfare is not a newcomer on the battlefield. It is enough to open the Bible on Chapter Seven of Judges to see how Gideon employed psychological warfare tactics against the Midianites. The objective is nearly always the same: demoralizing the enemy. Here a clear distinction should be made – Psychological warfare is not deception (or “Intelligence Warfare” as it is sometimes referred to). Deception aims to distort the enemy’s picture of the battlefield, to lead him into believing that the fatal attack will come from the east instead of the west, and so on. Deception wishes to influence military leaderships or local commanders. Psychological warfare, on the other hand, aims at the common soldier and if the commanders are also affected it is considered a bonus. Psychologists are often consulted in the preparation of psychological warfare messages. When the opponent doesn’t have any alternative sources of information, psychological warfare can become quite a powerful tool.
American forces employed means of psychological warfare during the first Gulf war, twelve years ago. They used radio and television broadcasts, leaflets, and loudspeakers to induce large numbers of enemy soldiers to desert. Over a seven-week period, some 29 million leaflets in at least 14 varieties were dropped behind Iraqi lines. This form of operation was deemed very effective.
The Iraqis decided not to leave the entire field to the Americans and tried to fight back. They began to broadcast in English for the “benefit” of the American and British troops stationed in Saudi Arabia. Their aim was to demoralize the soldiers by utilizing the fact that they were thousands of miles from home. In 1991, however, Iraqi psychological warfare was not very well researched. In consequence, Baghdad radio told Allied soldiers that while they were in the desert of Saudi Arabia, their wives and girlfriends were sleeping with Tom Cruise, Tom Selleck and… Bart Simpson!
In the current conflict, psychological warfare has been stepped up. The breaking of the opponent’s morale has turned from a tactic goal into a strategic one. Coalition forces wish to induce the Iraqi people to turn against their leader or at least to desert from him. This is the very concept of “Shock and Awe.” The Iraqis are trying to utilize pictures of allied captives and civilian casualties in order to stir up opposition in the West to such an extent that governments will be forced to halt the campaign.
“Everybody’s lying all the time and it’s hard to say what’s going on. I stopped listening,” said Prof. Martin van Crefeld, a military historian from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, to Haaretz newspaper. It seems that there are plenty of examples. Both sides are providing unchecked, and probably inflated, numbers of enemy casualties. On March 26th, a British officer announced that the Iraqis had suffered 750 casualties in A-Najaf. That was the same day in which sand storms nearly paralyzed coalition forces. How was this number obtained? The Iraqis, on the other hand, give a daily report of planes they have shot down, tanks they have destroyed and allied troops they have killed. Coalition forces very rarely corroborate these figures. The aim of these awesome numbers is to strike fear into the heart of the enemy.
Ideally, the “watch-dog” of truth should be the media. In the previous Gulf War, the media relied heavily on briefings and data provided by the military. Reporters were barely allowed to visit the actual battlefield. In operation “Iraqi Freedom,” some 600 western reporters are “embedded” in coalition forces. One might even say too embedded. The “embedding” system has reporters relying on the soldiers for their safety and it seems that they completely sympathize with their protectors. It is not unusual to hear a reporter saying: “we” captured; or “we” are firing, etc. This is Second World War style journalism – mobilized and patriotic. This sort of reporting may be moving, perhaps even thrilling, but does it convey the true picture of how the war is coming along?
Having the media participate in the war effort to such an extent creates a new dimension of psychological warfare: one that is aimed homeward and not only outward. The “embedded” reporters help to boost morale back in Washington, New York and London. On the Iraqi side, pictures of armed falkhins dancing around a fallen Apache helicopter help to build up strength in the hearts of the bewildered Iraqis. For this reason, Iraqi television has turned into a legitimate military target. Getting it off the air would deprive Saddam Hussein of one of his most valuable tools. As long as he is able to broadcast, he can prove that he is still alive, encourage his people to fight on and remind them that they still have someone to fear and answer to.
It doesn’t matter which media you follow – the Western or the Arab. If you want to understand what really happened on the battlefield, it would be best to wait until the war and the psychological campaign are over.
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NIR ARIELLI is a senior analyst with The Media Line Ltd., Jerusalem Bureau.
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