Public Diplomacy after Psyops Atrocities

While embedded with a U.S. Army unit in Afghanistan, Australian journalist Stephen Dupont filmed "U.S. soldiers burning the bodies of the suspected Taliban fighters" near Kandahar. Afterwards, members of a U.S. Army psychological operations unit "read taunting messages about the act over a loudspeaker to the nearby village," which "was believed to be harboring Taliban soldiers," Dupont reported. One message called the Taliban "cowardly dogs," adding, "you allowed your fighters to be laid down facing west and burned." The goal was "to incite that much anger from the Taliban so the Taliban could attack them. ... That's the only way they can find them," said Dupont. U.S. embassies have been instructed "to make clear that what people might see on the videotape is not reflective of the actions of the vast majority of our U.S. military. ... They are not reflective of our values," reports O'Dwyer's. U.S. PR czar Karen Hughes, who is visiting Indonesia, is "fully prepared to deal with this issue," said a State Department spokesperson.