Phil Taylor's papers
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BACK TO : PROPAGANDA AND THE GLOBAL 'WAR' ON TERROR (GWOT) Years 1 and 2, ie 9/11-2003
Bin Laden winning the propaganda war by The Guardian 
The dark star of Islam Bin Laden is winning the propaganda war Leader Tuesday October 9, 2001 The Guardian The United States and Britain have not merely begun a war with Afghanistan's regime. Despite their predictions of a lengthy struggle, they have also begun a deadly race against time. In military terms, the primary objective now appears to be the overthrow of the country's present rulers as quickly as possible. By initially focusing their bombers and missiles on the Taliban, the allies seem temporarily to have put the capture of Osama bin Laden and the September 11 suspects to one side. This may be a tacit admission of the continuing difficulty of locating him, let alone catching him. But it also suggests that the world's "most wanted man" is likely to remain at large at least until the government changes in Kabul, at which point the chances of arresting him may improve significantly. That makes speed essential. So, too, does the onset of winter. Admiral Sir Michael Boyce, chief of the defence staff, suggested yesterday that military operations could continue even after the November snows come. But he conceded that deteriorating weather conditions would impair ability to deploy ground forces inside the country. Geoffrey Hoon, the defence secretary, noted, worryingly, that even if the Taliban collapsed, the resulting internal chaos and infighting could also prove a bar to ground operations. Yet ground-level insertion and search-and-destroy missions, by British and other special forces, remain necessary and unavoidable if Bin Laden is to be finally snared. This evident need for haste must not mean that the lives of British soldiers are placed at unnecessary additional risk. It is too early to make a judgment about whether or not Sunday night's strikes were truly effective. Indeed, independent assessment looks like being impossible. When Donald Rumsfeld, the US defence secretary, declares himself satisfied with the accuracy of the attacks, who can contradict him? Absence of any means of non-official verification of allied claims, especially while journalists are denied access to battlefield, is likely to become a vexatious issue in the days and weeks ahead. Similarly, it is hard to ascertain the truth of Taliban reports of civilian casualties. Despite the enormous media attention the crisis is receiving, the greater part of Afghanistan has become a blind spot, a giant no-go zone. What is happening there now is simply not open to normal scrutiny. With heavy air raids continuing, it is impossible to say with any certainty whether the US and British actions are, as promised, measured and targeted. This war looks like being fought out behind a wall of secrecy far greater than is required for operational security. Here, perhaps, is another reason that western politicians would like a quick result. The race for "victory" is lent added impetus by fears that the supporting coalition may fall apart. Yesterday's riots in Pakistan, and unrest in other Muslim and Arab countries, may be only a foretaste of a more fundamental turbulence if the conflict proves protracted and intractable. Time is also of the essence in preventing Afghanistan's humanitarian crisis turning into a disaster, both in human and public relations terms. Television cameras may be banned from Kabul and Kandahar. But they can and will record the growing misery in the border refugee camps arising from the Bush-Blair offensive. Pakistan's General Pervez Musharraf understands these concerns very well. He says he hopes for a "short, sharp action" followed by a balanced political and diplomatic settlement. He knows his political survival may depend upon it. Yet the race upon which the US has embarked has no agreed finishing post in Afghanistan or beyond. In this unconventional war without rules, the US alone may decide when it has "won"' - and whether or not it will then move on to attack other countries it deems to be harbouring terrorists. But of all the time pressures facing Washington and its allies, the daily, upward advancement of Bin Laden towards folk-hero status in the Muslim world is perhaps the most alarming. In political terms, his video disingenuously linking his evil cause with that of Palestine was as potentially devastating as the high-explosive bombs that accompanied its skilfully timed release. This was in effect the opposition's reply to George Bush's address to Congress and Tony Blair's speech in Brighton - every bit as ambitious and far more dramatic. Although the Palestinian Authority was quick to distance itself, Bin Laden's coolly defiant rallying cry will reverberate through an Arab world weary of America's perceived double standards. Bin Laden is in danger of becoming the dark star of Islam. He is closer now than ever to provoking the war of civilisations that is his life's warped ambition. His hopes of inspiring future generations of suicidal "martyrs", and thus more barbaric mayhem, have never been closer to fulfilment. The Taliban are a loathsome bunch, for sure. But defeating, debunking and demystifying Bin Laden remains this conflict's most urgent priority - and the clock on the time bomb is ticking. |