Army radio DJs in Afghanistan mix news, music sans 'psy ps'http://www.azstarnet.com/allheadlines/150174
By Scott PetersonThe Christian Science MonitorTucson, Arizona Published: 10.08.2006
NARAY, AFGHANISTAN - The first words 1st Lt. Daniel Hampton learned in Pashto were ones he had heard time and time again in the remote reaches of eastern Afghanistan: "Mana raka radio," or "Give me one radio."
Hampton's Afghanistan "combat" has turned him into something of a disc jockey, running a small radio station that broadcasts from this American firebase into the Kamdesh district of Nuristan, along the Pakistan border - the target of a U.S. counterinsurgency effort to defeat Taliban-led militants.Hampton has handed out about 4,000 small radios, sometimes distributing them while his Afghan journalists report at events such as the openings of a new school, mosque, or women's clinic.
It's a rare distinction for a combat arms officer in the U.S. Army's 3rd Squadron, 71st Cavalry, who has been trained more to win battles than wars of ideas.
Once part of what the miliary called psychological operations, or "psy ops," such propaganda exercises are now called "information operations." Senior officers say that distinction matters in this remote area, where they recognize the risk of being seen purely as a mouthpiece of U.S. forces. They - and the Afghan journalists working for the station and a new regional magazine - are trying to gain credibility with their audience by presenting more balanced news content.
"People like the music. Everybody has a radio, and they can listen," says Mohamed Iqbal, the 19-year-old translator who launched the station in early June and helped expand it with other journalists. "People walk around like this, holding their radios in their hand, listening," says Iqbal, gesturing with his hands. "They love news."
The aim of the radio station is to help win support by publicizing the Army's local development projects. The programming is diverse: Daily progress reports on U.S.-funded projects; the death tolls of insurgents and U.S. soldiers alike; and a mix of popular music that brings in 40 request letters a day from local villages.
"I want the 'car bomb effect,' " says Lt. Col. Michael Howard, describing his first rule for the radio. "As when a car bomb goes off in Iraq, and everyone knows about it, I want everyone in Nuristan to know that we really are building a road, a water pipeline."Howard says his second rule is: "Just facts. No psy ops," referring to the units that the military has traditionally deployed to spin information aimed at a local population. At ground level, U.S. soldiers and Afghans alike say that "no psy-ops" is the only way they have a chance to be heard in these villages.
"It's not just the good stuff," says Hampton of the news decisions. "If we lose a U.S. soldier, we broadcast it. We let them know we are human and are here to help them. What's helping us up here is not the bad guys we're killing, but the facts of what we're doing, coming from these Afghan voices."
Even the Taliban are frequent listeners, Hampton says."The Taliban like it and the music, but they just don't like us," he says Afghans tell him. "We're providing entertainment for both sides."On StarNet: Search a database of U.S. and coalition forces killed or wounded in action at go.azstarnet.com/casualties.
(Source: Zacharias Liangas , Thessaloniki Greece/Cumbre DX)