The Best Propaganda: Victory

The Best Propaganda: Victory
Forget about winning hearts and minds. The real battlefield is . . . the battlefield.
BY CLAUDIA ROSETT
Thursday, October 18, 2001 12:01 a.m. EDT

We've been hearing a lot lately about how important it is for America to win the propaganda war. True enough. But what on earth does that mean?

If the idea is that in the immediate future America must win the hearts and minds of hundreds of millions throughout the Islamic world, demonstrably earning approval, applause and possibly even love from average citizens and the autocrats who rule them alike--and sustain this feat while we engage in genuine battle with the terrorists in their midst--then we are setting ourselves up to fail.

Not only that, but to judge by some of the recent comments within our own camp, we are already losing. Readers of the Washington Post were treated Sunday morning to an editorial that began: "America is losing the battle of ideas within countries harboring terrorists, placing national security at risk." Viewers tuning in to CBS's "60 Minutes" that evening got to watch Leslie Stahl worry that we might be seen abroad as bullies. "Are you not concerned that the hate for us is growing?" Ms. Stahl asked National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice.

On newscasts and talk shows--between coverage of memorial services and reports of anthrax now arriving in U.S. mailrooms--there is a rising assumption that if we make any mistakes, we will lose the "spin" battle and thus doom our cause. It is deemed a propaganda blow to the U.S. if Osama bin Laden gets on the air, a bad move if the Bush administration tries to keep him off. Documentaries on Taliban brutality toward Afghan civilians have been giving way recently to tallies of civilians killed by Western bombing in Afghanistan--as if Taliban are suddenly concerned with welfare of fellow Afghans, whom they themselves have been oppressing and killing for the past half decade.

And there is a rising chorus of worry that we may be losing the "moral high ground." The assumption is that as long as Americans are victims, we are worthy people, but if we actually do what it takes to win a genuine war, then we are bullies. The growing danger is not so much that America will be further reviled by some in the Islamic world, but that we will get too tangled up in our own debates over the propaganda war to win the actual war.

If, on the other hand, winning the propaganda war means maintaining the courage and resolve to stand up for ourselves, regardless of the daily scorecards in the "spin" contests, then America has a real chance of victory. It might help to jettison the Clintonian notion that it's important for the Islamic world to like us, and focus instead on what President Bush neatly outlined in his address to Congress as the need to win respect. It would be nice to have that proceed from appreciation of our values and virtues--one hopes that as the years roll by, that is how things will turn out.

But whether respect for America proceeds from love or fear is a secondary question. For all the bravery and noble deeds rising from the rubble of Sept. 11, the attack was an act of war, and America was dealt a defeat. If we do not deliver the clear message that we will not tolerate such acts--not just in words, but in deeds--we are inviting disrespect and worse attacks to come.

One of America's virtues is that everyone gets a say. But it might also help as we listen to the chatter to remember that for all the patriotism and unity emerging from Sept. 11, there's still a blame-America-first crowd endowed with habits that are hard to shake. For that old mindset, the propaganda war is an obvious rallying point. The question "Why do they hate us?" quickly evolves into a meditation not on what's wrong wtih the Islamic world, but on what's wrong with America. It's a seductive question; after all, Americans, like most people, would rather talk about themselves than about the complexities of foreign lands.

But in this war, our flaws, however intricately fascinating they might be to us, are not the vital issue--unless we decide they must be. In which case, we are going to lose.

None of this is to dismiss the importance of reaching out to all those abroad who might be prepared to hear us. It's important that President Bush keep stressing our war is against terrorists, not Islam. It is a smart move for top administration officials to appear on Al-Jazeera television and speak their piece to much of the Islamic world. It is wise to revamp the Voice of America. It may help to drop leaflets on Afghanistan; it may serve a humanitarian purpose to drop food and offer relief--although it bears noting that aid is sometimes answered not with gratitude but with resentment.

But in the battles now under way, the most valuable understanding Americans can reach is that the best way to make progress on the propaganda front is to carry on with the business of winning the war itself.

Ms. Rosett is a member of The Wall Street Journal's editorial board. Her column appears Thursdays on OpinionJournal.com and in The Wall Street Journal Europe as "Letter From America."