In Afghan Campaign, Propaganda Matters Most

(Feb. 18) -- The fog of war has settled over Afghanistan's southern Helmand province. Since the start of the massive joint NATO-Afghan operation on Feb.13 to dislodge the Taliban from Marjah, reports on civilian casualties and tactics have conflicted as a matter of course.

The propaganda campaign promises to remain at the forefront of the fight over this sprawling district set amid poppy fields and desert, one of the Taliban's last Afghan strongholds.

In the most prominent incident so far of the still-young campaign, a missile fired Feb. 14 by U.S. forces reportedly hit a house containing civilians. Initial reports stated that the missile had missed its target, but the United States later admitted that the house had indeed been the intended target. Afghan sources now claim Taliban militants were inside the house using civilians as human shields.

Not surprisingly, that is a charge one Taliban commander vehemently denies. "This is propaganda to cover up the civilian deaths caused by the invaders," says Habibullah, speaking over the telephone from an undisclosed location in Kandahar province, east of Helmand. "These people are our people; they are our brothers and sisters. Why would we put our own kin in danger?"

The truth, of course, is elusive, but it is certain that such exchanges of accusation and counter-accusation will be fierce and frequent in coming weeks.

Anyone who has seen a typical village in southern Afghanistan knows the region lends itself to confusion. The area is easily one of the world's friendliest for a homegrown insurgency. It is largely a barren desert scattered with virtually identical, mazelike towns and villages huddled around rivers and canals, where the men all dress in similar baggy pants, long shirts and tribal headgear and carry weapons as a matter of personal pride.

As terrain for counterinsurgency, it is an army commander's worst nightmare.

Already, U.S. and NATO troops are finding it difficult to locate Taliban targets and face a welter of improvised explosive devices in the warren of alleyways and treacherously exposed farm fields. And the Taliban know their region well. They have perfected their strategy over years of fighting invaders and are experts at hit-and-run tactics.

"They are pretending to be civilians," says Ghulam Nabi, a villager from the area who was reached by telephone. "They have weapons and supplies scattered all over the towns and villages so they can move around and attack the foreigners whenever they have a chance." Nabi adds that Taliban fighters prevented civilians from leaving Marjah after leaflets dropped by coalition forces warned locals that an operation was imminent.

Those civilians have now become a liability for U.S. and NATO troops, who must contend with restrictive rules of engagement against an enemy with no such constraints. The foreign troops have been forced to enter populated areas and clear compounds one by one, a laborious process that plays to the advantage of the Taliban.

"We want to draw them in," says Habibullah. "We use snipers to force them in one direction and then surround them from all sides." When helicopter gunships arrive, Habibullah says the fighters simply drop their weapons and melt into the civilian population.

He admits that the civilian presence is the key to the Taliban's strategy but puts a different spin on why noncombatants have stayed, despite the warnings. "Everyone here supports the Taliban," he says. "They are happy to be martyrs for our cause."

Indeed, much of the insurgency in Afghanistan's south, the Taliban heartland, is homegrown. Nabi points out that the local population is not averse to Taliban rule -- the people also adhere to the strict form of tribal Islam the militants espouse. "What the people want is peace," he says, scoffing at the idea that anyone is eager to become a martyr.

But peace in southern Afghanistan has traditionally been maintained by strength of arms, and that warlike culture remains deeply embedded in the local consciousness. Whoever projects the greatest strength is whom the people will support, Nabi adds.

For now, coalition soldiers have taken the advantage, pushing into Marjah with overwhelming force. But the Taliban are experts at killing with a thousand cuts. Convincing the local people that they are not simply a transient Goliath, that they will stick around and enforce the peace, will be key for the U.S. and NATO to winning the trust of the locals. Key for the Taliban will be prolonging the battle as long as possible to maximize the strain on civilians and turn the deaths of innocents into a rallying cry against foreign aggression. In this case, as in so many other guerrilla wars, the best propagandist wins.