Nachbeben des Psywar um Falludscha

--- Die Washington Post stellt heute den milit�rischen Spin um die Schlacht um Falludscha einem bekannten Blog mit Aufnahmen aus der zerst�rten irakischen Stadt entgegen: Two photo-rich summaries of the battle of Fallujah -- one produced by the U.S. military in Iraq, the other by an anonymous American blogger -- highlight how the terrain in such counterinsurgency fights can be as much psychological as physical. Both presentations have gained increasing Internet audiences recently and attempt to convey, among other things, the suffering imposed on Iraqi civilians in Fallujah. That is where similarities end, however. The military's presentation depicts the fight for Fallujah as a liberation of a city from the insurgents. The Web log posts far more graphic wire service and other photos, and tends to point the finger of blame for civilian suffering at the military. Judging by the reaction of several soldiers and military experts, a comparison of the two presentations shows, among other things, how the might of the U.S. military can be matched by a single blogger working part time. Public affairs officers at the top U.S military headquarters in Baghdad produced the 59-page Microsoft PowerPoint presentation titled, "Telling the Fallujah Story to the World." It is the first such effort distributed by the headquarters, said one of its creators, Army Maj. Scott R. Bleichwehl. ... The military briefing, an electronic slide show that has rocketed around the Internet over the last week, can be read at Soldiers for the Truth (www.sftt.org) and other Web sites ... Charles Krohn, a former Army public affairs official who worked with the U.S. occupation authority in Iraq, said he suspects the presentation is directed at American audiences. He said the United States has failed to get out its message in Iraq, and has not even appeared to want to do so. ... A competing vision of the Fallujah operation is presented by the blog titled "Iraq in Pictures" (www.fallujahinpictures.com), which Krohn says is far more similar to what Iraqis, and the Arab world, see on their satellite news channels. ... Many of the photographs are far more graphic than are usually carried in newspapers, showing headless bodies, bloodied troops, wounded women, and bandaged babies missing limbs. One added recently shows a U.S. soldier with part of his face blown away by a bomb. ... In an interview, the blogger said he started the site after the presidential election, working on it in his spare time, because he believes "there is an emotional truth to the war, and it's not being shown" in the U.S. media. Finger weg von Powerpoint, kann man da doch nur sagen. Blogs sind da schon noch ein bisschen mehr sexy.

Update: �ber eine gef�hrliche Entwicklung bei Psy-Ops berichtet -- auch im Zusammenhang mit der Schlacht um Falludscha -- die LA Times: Demnach wurden schon im Oktober von Marines gezielt falsche Informationen �ber den Start der Gro�offensive an die Medien gegeben.