This is the new face of psychological operations (psy-op) in the U.S. Army: the shock troops are PR flacks in green camouflage. Sarajevans are snapping up the papers like free ice cream at a Boy Scout outing. A fashionably dressed woman of about 60 approaches a couple of Brooks’s information warriors and gives them a back-cracking hug and a big kiss. “Thank you for stopping the madness,” she says, grabbing a Herald and running off. “Peace will come with the help of God and a free press,” says Asim Sultanovic, picking up a copy. A recently discharged infantry captain in the Bosnian Army, Sultanovic was wounded twice in four years at the front. “Peace will stay with us as long as the truth comes out.”
But truth can have as many kinks as the roads out of Sarajevo. Herald of Peace–a six-page newsletter written in English and Serbo-Croatian (both Latin and Cyrillic scripts) – doesn’t have an easy target. In the gulf war, psy-op literature practically had Saddam Hussein eating Kuwaiti children for breakfast. “This is a sophisticated media environment,” says Col. Bud Altschuler, the CO of the infocampaign. But the Herald is still crammed with ham-fisted propaganda about IFOR’s mission. Example: a crude Aesop’s fable about three quarreling brothers whose father (read: NATO) preaches the virtues of trying to get along.
Altschuler insists the goal is to spike rumors. But first they should learn to nail down the facts. Take last week’s grenade attack on the tram traveling down “Sniper Alley.” Within 90 minutes, Bosnian TV was airing the story and, based on eyewitness accounts,was claiming one killed and 19 wounded. Meanwhile, IFOR radio was still reporting news of the day before. When it finally caught up, it got the story wrong, mentioning one KIA and only six WIA. A little digging can yield a lot. I managed to find one of the French armored-car gunners, who was involved in the resulting fire fight with the guys who fired the grenade. “I saw the rocket’s flash and within seconds I returned six rounds of 20-mm cannon fire at the building,” he told me.
Reporting wanted: Why couldn’t IFOR get the details right? Maybe it never bothered to ask the right people-including locals who were on scene. “No one can understand Sarajevo without spending a few months here,” says the capital’s mayor, Dr. Tarik Kupusovic, surprised that the Herald’s staff hasn’t paid a courtesy call. “It’s my paper,” snorts Altschuler, thumping his chest. “I’m the editor. If the mayor has any complaints, he can come over and see me.”
There must be a better way to win hearts and minds. IFOR’s media blitz reminds me of how Brig. Gert. Patrick O’Neal greeted a Bosnian guard who asked for ID after the U.S. commander crossed the Sara River in late December. O’Neal pointed to one of his men’s M-16 automatic rifles and said, “That’s our passport.” IFOR’s new radio spot from a 10,000-watt station (“Good Morning, Sarajevo!”) is probably a good idea. But let’s hear a little more from Robin Williams, and less from John Wayne.
