A war of public relations

A little over sixty years ago the American troops marching towards the Arc D Triomphe on Champs Elysees after liberating Paris were greeted by the cheers of the Parisians. The Parisians cheered, for they realized the sacrifices of the Americans who were fighting the war to bring peace not just to their own land, rather to the world entire. Compare that with the images from the year 2001, of a few hundred Pakistanis at Jacobabad in the Sindh province of Pakistan throwing stones, protesting against the United States using their airbases during the war on terror. It is ironical that while the intent of the US forces was to attain world peace, the responses of the public were quite contradictory.

Public sentiments can be swayed with a simple weapon of mass influence which President Obama has so effectively used since days much before he started his campaign. That weapon is “Good PR”. PR forms the core of any engagement; more than winning hearts it’s about winning minds and making people look at things the way you want them to. While we have to accept that the stern policy the United States has adopted in Pakistan was due to the prevailing situations in the region, the drone attacks have not helped the United States win many friends. The popular sentiment in Pakistan is not favorable towards Washington DC and many are of the opinion that the Taliban is a monster that escaped from an American research lab wreaking havoc on the people of Pakistan. Secretary Clinton’s warning to Islamabad though necessary has further confirmed the fear of many that their nation is being influenced and destabilized by external powers. With Pakistan getting back to democratic ways, it is important that US wins over the people who were instrumental in the return of democracy.

People wield power - Iran is a classic example of what might be the consequences of pleasing just the King, while disregarding the sentiments of the masses. And to ensure that the new government of Pakistan does not lose out on the support of its people, prompting another military takeover, the United States would need to adopt a “praise in public, punish in private” approach. If the drone attacks are indeed meeting their objective, effort needs to be made to publish the list of militants that the mission accomplished in eliminating. While the world sees the great lengths the US is going to achieve peace on earth, the message reaching the common folk in Pakistan maybe somewhat skewed; it is imperative therefore to reach out to the public with the right message. There is a thin line between propaganda and “good PR”; the effort to win the hearts and minds of the Pakistanis in my opinion would be well within the limits of “good PR”.

The key is to feed the Pakistani patriotism, while not appearing to be a threat to the country and that can be achieved by letting the Pakistani Army take the spotlight in fighting the belligerents, while Washington works out the plans in the war room. The US can ill-afford to look vigilante by carrying out attacks that draw condemnation from Islamabad. That day at Champs Elysees US infantry ensured that it got the most cheers it could have garnered by letting the French 2nd Armored division lead the march though both had fought shoulder to shoulder, clearly sending the message that, “it was your war and we just helped” instead of making it look like “it was our war and we dragged you into it”.