U.S. Officials Work To Manage Image Abroad

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The Wall Street Journal reports, "Since Sept. 11, U.S. officials have scrambled to persuade local editors and broadcasters across South Asia and the Middle East to carry stories intended to soothe anti-American passions and win tolerance for military action. They include features on the importance of Muslims in American life and hard news reports on evidence linking Mr. bin Laden to the attacks." The PR effort also includes "deploying forces to mount psychological operations, or 'psy-ops,' inside Afghanistan. These forces will be prepared to broadcast messages and distribute leaflets in hopes of dividing the Taliban militia and encouraging a wider anti-Taliban uprising." CNN reports Secretary of State Colin Powell met Oct. 3 with the emir of Qatar to rein in the "anti-American" broadcasting on the Qatar-based al-Jazeera cable TV network, considered the most widely watched in the Arab world.