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BACK TO : PSYOPS IN IRAQ 2003-6
Psychological warfare against Iraq by Radio Netherlands 
Psychological warfare against Iraq Clandestine radio and psyops were used so effectively during the Gulf War of 1990-91 that an estimated 87,000 Iraqi soldiers surrendered. Flying over Iraq during the war, a small fleet of EC-130 Command Solo aircraft broadcast the Voice of the Gulf to the Iraqi troops with messages of "Arab brotherhood, allied air power, and Iraqi isolation to induce large numbers of enemy soldiers to desert". This station began after two psyops battalions were sent to Fort Bragg on August 6, 1990 with the purpose of developing leaflets and programmes. When the station began to broadcast, its programs were produced with the assistance of Kuwaiti exiles and Saudi Arabians, and shared transmitting facilities with two Armed Forces Desert Network radio station vans that broadcast to US troops from Saudi Arabia. After Kuwait was liberated in January 1991 and as troops began to return home, the Voice of the Gulf's work was complete and it left the air. Information Radio In December 2002, without advance publicity, a new psychological warfare operation started, using the same EC-130 aircraft. These went unnoticed for a few days until a routine press briefing in Washington referred to their existence. To advertise the frequencies within Iraq, hundreds of thousands of leaflets were dropped. It should be noted that all the frequencies are, or have been in the past, used by official Iraqi transmissions. The broadcasts identify as Information Radio. The programming includes both Arabic and US pop music. Initially, the station broadcast five hours a day in the local evenings, 1500-2000 UTC. Both shortwave frequencies were monitored in Hilversum on 18 December 2002. The signal on 9715 kHz was clearly audible co-channel with Deutsche Welle in Russian. The signal on 11292 kHz was weak, and the modulation level was extremely low, although it improved briefly just before 1600. The station uses the Arabic ID "Idha'at Radyo al-Ma'ulumat." Listen to Information Radio as monitored in Hilversum on 31 March 2003 at 1445 UTC, 9715 kHz Broadening the message A significant change of emphasis took place in the broadcasts of Information Radio around 1 March 2003. Whereas messages carried by the station had been aimed primarily at members of the Iraqi military and government officials, leaflets dropped on Iraq started telling ordinary Iraqis to tune in for important news and information. "In times of crisis, tune into 'Information Radio' for important news and information. Coalition Forces Support the Iraqi people in their desire to remove Saddam and his Regime. The Coalition wishes no harm to the innocent Iraqi civilians." "The Coalition stands with the Iraqi people against Saddam. For your safety stay in your homes away from military targets. The Coalition does not target civilians. Listen to Information Radio for more information." In a press release dated 10 March 2003, United States Central Command stated that "The leaflets referred Iraqis to radio frequencies where they can hear information about Coalition support for the Iraqi people and reaction of the international community to actions by Saddam Hussein's regime. The radio broadcasts also include information about United Nations resolutions, opinions of world leaders and regional music." Extended schedule Around the same time as the change of message, the broadcast hours of Information Radio were also increased. Mobile transmitters on the ground and others on board naval ships were used for this purpose. Mika Mäkeläinen visited US Central Command in Doha and compiled this report for his Web site DXinginfo. Photographs of leaflets dropped in the first week of March listed the following UTC times: 756 kHz 1500-0900 693 kHz 1500-2000 9715 kHz 24h 11292 kHz 1500-0900 100.4 MHz 1500-2000 At 1745 UTC on 21 March we recorded Information Radio on 9715 kHz, with a strong signal but co-channel with Deutsche Welle in Russian. On this segment you can hear a female announcer telling the Iraqi people that the US wants to liberate Iraq from Saddam. New Frequency! Heard on 4500 kHz as of 28 March 2003. First reported by Tarek Zeidan in Cairo. Listen to this recording made in Hilversum at 1855 UTC on 28 March 2003. TV added On 10 April 2003, the day after the fall of Baghdad, the press office of 10 Downing Street announced that a new TV service, Towards Freedom TV, would be launched at 1400 UTC that day with messages to the Iraqi people from President George W Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair. Downing Street said the TV service would operate 5 hours a day from Commando Solo on the former Iraqi TV frequencies. Four hours a day originate in the US, with one hour contributed by the UK Foreign Office. Fronted by Iraqi journalists, the content for the new TV service has been agreed following discussions with the Iraqi exile community in London, British officials said. The first broadcast was said to include an interview with an opposition group, a report on humanitarian aid, and a feature on Iraqi arts. The service will initially be available to people in central Iraq including Baghdad, before being extended nationwide on frequencies previously used by Iraqi TV. Leaflets have been dropped to inform Iraqis of the new station, and it has also been publicised on Information Radio. The service will last until a "proper, free and open" media can be established, a British foreign office spokesman said. Fronted by Iraqi journalists, the content for the new TV service has been agreed following discussions with the Iraqi exile community in London, British officials said. The first broadcast was said to include an interview with an opposition group, a report on humanitarian aid, and a feature on Iraqi arts. The service will initially be available to people in central Iraq including Baghdad, before being extended nationwide on frequencies previously used by Iraqi TV. Leaflets have been dropped to inform Iraqis of the new station, and it has also been publicised on Information Radio. The concept of Towards Freedom came from a cross-government information working group, supported by the UK National Contingent Headquarters in Doha. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office's public diplomacy department commissioned and runs Towards Freedom. The Ministry of Defence's Permanent Joint Head Headquarters (PJHQ) at Northwood is meeting the television programming costs. The programming is outsourced to World Television, the company which also produces British Satellite News. The production team was set up, and the first programme produced, in just eight days. The first programme was seen in Iraq at 1200 UTC on 10 April. World Television sends the completed programme daily by satellite in the late evening to the US base of 4th Psychological Operations Group (Airborne) at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. From Fort Bragg, it is rebroadcast by military satellite to Qatar, recorded onto videotape and loaded into a video player on board Commando Solo. Fort Bragg can also send the programme to mobile US radio and television broadcasting systems called SOMS-B (Special Operations Media System-B) which allow it to be rebroadcast from different locations in Iraq. The television signals are broadcast from the aircraft and SOMS-B systems on frequencies that were used by the Regime's domestic television services. In due course the programmes will also be broadcast by US Special Operations Command mobile radio and television stations. The programmes' content is agreed in close consultation with Iraqis, across government, with Coalition headquarters in Doha, staff in Iraq and other stakeholders, including Iraqis in Iraq. A consultative group or Sounding Board of members of the Iraqi community in London advises the production team about the content of the programmes to help make them relevant. British psyops in Basra In the second week of hostilities, the British forces charged with the responsibility of taking Iraq's second city, Basra, began their own psyops station, Radio Nahrain [Two Rivers Radio], operating on FM 100.4 MHz. Programming is similar to Information Radio, with a mixture of Iraqi songs and western pop music, and messages to the local population. On 31 March a report on CNN said that the transmissions were being "stepped up". |
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