The everything-is-normal image of calm resolution, punctuated by calls of patriotism and unity from the White House, were in sharp contrast to the images from halfway around the world -- angry anti-American mobs and fuzzy, green TV footage of bombs dropping.

Since America leaped into the military fray of Afghanistan, the United States has been fighting a war of words on two fronts, here and in the Muslim world.

The message at home is: We're doing the right thing, so carry on with your lives. And the message to Arab countries is: We're fighting terrorism, not Islam.

But no matter how many packaged meals the United States drops or how many assurances it gives that this isn't a war against Afghans, many in the Middle East remain unconvinced.

Their reaction to the bombing attacks, combined with a widespread distrust of all things American, indicates that the United States is facing a difficult propaganda battle abroad.

A Dumbing Down

"The U.S. response is still steeped very much in good versus evil," said Nancy Snow, a propaganda expert and associate director of UCLA's Center for Communications and Community. "I can tell you that is not working very well in other parts of the world, who see it as too simple, as a dumbing-down of a very complex situation."

Because of U.S. support for Israel and the sanctions against Iraq, taking a pro-American stance is extremely unpopular throughout the Middle East, even in nations that oppose terrorism, said Joel Beinin, a professor of Middle Eastern history at Stanford.

Consequently, news outlets from the Gulf States quoted British Prime Minister Tony Blair more frequently than President Bush. They also quoted respected Muslims considered above reproach in their anti-terrorism stance, such as estranged family members of Osama bin Laden.

Nevertheless, any public relations effort to increase support for the military attack is overshadowed by the widespread view that America is hypocritical when it comes to Israel's treatment of the Palestinians, Beinin said.

"This is the part that our government does not pay much attention to: that there is public opinion in the Arab world, and it matters," Beinin said.

The military action that started Sunday included a huge public-relations and propaganda campaign on the part of the United States, including the airdrop on remote Afghan regions of medicine and 74,000 individually wrapped "Humanitarian Daily Rations."

Dropping Leaflets

The United States also is reportedly dropping leaflets on Taliban strongholds promising that America would "protect and reward" anyone who turned in bin Laden. Another set of leaflets promises refugees that they will be fed and warns them not to join Taliban forces. That message is punctuated by a radio message broadcast from a U.S. C-130 jet flying near the Afghanistan border.

While the Pentagon repeatedly said the humanitarian aid was just as important as the military action, there was a different message from Middle Eastern aid workers dealing with an estimated 5 million refugees.

Mohammed Kroessin, the director of Muslim Aid, told the London Guardian that the military action "will cause immense suffering to millions of starving people. Air drops will not be useful." Other prominent aid organizations echoed his views, but the U.S. media almost universally ignored their complaints.

In the United States, another spin campaign is being fought by the White House to show Bush as strong in the face of crisis. Selective anecdotes about his leadership are being leaked to the media. When he announced the attacks on Afghanistan, Bush made the unusual decision to sit in front of a window in the White House Treaty Room, as if to say: "You may hide in caves, but I'm out here in the open."

For Domestic Consumption

The current White House message appears as much directed at the American public as the Middle East. Hours after bombs were dropped, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld referred to a "so-called" war and repeatedly spoke about the airlifted food.

Sunday, Bush spoke repeatedly about the "oppressed people of Afghanistan . . . the starving and suffering men and women and children of Afghanistan."

The next day, the White House was back to almost normal.

For UCLA's Snow it offered evidence that the U.S. public was being denied context and history at a time when it really needs such information, not just maps showing the position of aircraft carriers.

"It's almost like a conditioning," Snow said, "that they want you to pretend that everything is the same, and we don't want you to worry about the complicated part."

©2001 San Francisco Chronicle

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