Leaflet 'bombs' pack a psychological punch

USS THEODORE ROOSEVELT -- Instead of explosives, one kind of "cluster bomb" being dropped over Iraq contains a powerful message -- give up or die.

Leaflets with such warnings are being released by the same combat aircraft that fly deadly missions against Iraqi targets.

And there are other links between the shooting war and the fight for the hearts and minds of Saddam Hussein's soldiers conducted by "psyops" -- the secretive psychological warfare experts putting out such fliers from some of the five aircraft carriers deployed in the eastern Mediterranean and the Persian Gulf as part of the US mission in Iraq.

"Take an offensive posture and you will be destroyed," warns one of the leaflets over two pictures of a tank -- first intact and then set aflame by two attacking war planes.

Many of the close to 30 million warnings have been packed inside cluster munitions canisters that drop the carrot-and-stick messages instead of their customary deadly bomblets.

The other side of the leaflet shows the same tank with its turret facing backward and its cannon pointing downward. This time, the two aircraft fly on and the message says: "Do not take an offensive posture and you will not be destroyed."

First used in Iraq during Operation Desert Storm in 1991, such flyers are only part of the psychological offensive aimed at Saddam's forces.

The psyops campaign has also included e-mail and cellphone messages to Iraqi leaders urging them to turn from Saddam. And electronic warfare planes reportedly took over Baghdad Radio as the first Tomahawk cruise missiles crashed into the Iraqi capital on March 20, broadcasting anti-Saddam messages before the Iraqis retook the frequency.

The messages are simple, but their production is a secretive operation and those involved say few words.

Much of the approach appears to rely on nothing more sophisticated than the offer of life instead of death. Some, directed at non-combatants, are gentler in tone, but still deliver the same message -- don't mess with US or British forces.

"Stay home in safety with your families," says one message superimposed over a photo of a couple and their five children sitting at a meal. "Please do not attempt to interfere with coalition operations or you will become a target."

But is the targeted audience getting the message? There have been far fewer defections a week into this war than during the US military's 100-hour Desert Storm campaign in 1991, when tens of thousands of Saddam's troops, many holding psyops leaflets, surrendered to coalition troops.

One reason may be that those still with Saddam this time are relatively committed. His army numbered more than one million in 1991, compared to only around 350000 now.

"It doesn't mean it isn't working; it's just a different war," said Lieutenant Kirsten Betak, 31, a psychologist on board the Theodore Roosevelt. "It really depends on how strongly the people involved are committed to the government.

"Something like this works more readily on people who are more on the line," Betak said. "People who don't know which way to go." -- Sapa-AP

FAITH: Iraqi women shout, "God is great", during prayers in

Al Qaeilani Mosque
in Baghdad yesterday.

Thunderous

explosions rocked the city and towering

columns of orange smoke churned into the sky during
renewed US and British bombing raids. (AP)

CALL OF DUTY: This image from a video is taken from a commercial currently flighted for the "Army of One" campaign on American national TV.

The US army launched a new, more patriotic advertising campaign since the war against Iraq began.

The campaign

features commitment to country instead of individual benefits. (AP)