How to win Afghan hearts and minds.

Now that the Taliban and al-Qaida are on the run, the aspect of the U.S. war effort the military calls "psychological operations"—and that you might call propaganda—takes on more importance. That's because the increased prospect of having our troops go up into the mountains to find Mullah Omar, Osama Bin Laden, and their ilk puts more of a premium on locals providing us with helpful information, not giving away our movements, and not actively resisting us. And now that Kabul is accessible, the United States can get its message to many more Afghans via radio and even television. But what should that message be?

The best starting point for an answer is to look at the messages the United States has been using in Afghanistan up till now, via broadcasts from a special radio-studio plane and from air-dropped leaflets. The main themes (sometimes woven together, sometimes not) have been:

1) The Taliban are oppressors and al-Qaida are outsiders who together are destroying the Afghan people.

2) The terrorists prey on the weak and innocent.        

3) The Taliban and al-Qaida are bad Muslims who don't even hesitate to kill innocent Muslims.

4) The Taliban are selfish cowards.

5) The Taliban and al-Qaida are facing death at the hands of the United States.

6) The United States is not in Afghanistan to harm innocent people.

7) The United States is not anti-Muslim and is for a free Afghanistan.

These messages touch a lot of important bases. And the broadcasts employing them have liberally used indigenous music, a smart rhetorical move given that music has been banned in Afghanistan for years. Yet the government has missed some important messages and rhetorical moves. There are a number of things the Pentagon's hearts and minds campaign can do differently—and better.