The War of Words That We Must Win

The U.S. and coalition’s assault on ISIS in Iraq and Syria will not be successful without the proverbial “boots on the ground” – but the fighters wearing those boots do not have to be, and cannot be, American troops.

In Iraq, we wage an aerial war against ISIS with the assistance of both the legitimate government of Iraq and the Kurdish army.  They are our boots and will be effective.

In Syria, however, we do not have a legitimate government to aid us. Syrian president Assad is a ruthless dictator who has killed over 190,000 of his own citizens in a war he is waging against his people. We are therefore relying on the Free Syrian Army – a force made up of civilians who organized not to fight ISIS but to fight for the end of the Assad regime.

In order for the United States and its coalition partners to achieve a sustainable victory over ISIS in Syria, we must also win the war of words, ideas and perception among the moderate Syrians who struggle against both ISIS and Assad. 

Clearly, we have the military might to disrupt ISIS, destroy its cash generating oil fields and refineries, and stop its advance in to new areas of operation. 

The question remains, however, do we have the intelligence capabilities to communicate our goals clearly to the average Syrian living in the fog of propaganda being generated by Syrian President Bashar Al Assad?

To the average Syrian waking this morning in Aleppo there are two enemies – ISIS and the Assad regime.  This person also understands that despite the rhetoric of Assad and claims by ISIS, these two enemies are allied in their effort to root out and destroy all moderate Syrians who are resistant to either.

(I will write more on this under-the-table alliance in an upcoming post.)

Assad, his family and his mafia-like inner circle have held firmly to power for decades by terrorizing and trampling the slightest domestic resistance.  He has successfully pushed the boundaries of tyranny well beyond what is acceptable to the world community using a series of carefully crafted and successful PR maneuvers.

Assad and/or his advisors are brilliant craftsmen of disinformation and his PR machine is in full operation today. He understands that if he convinces the people opposing him that the U.S. and Coalition forces are working with him, he will effectively drive a wedge between the Coalition and the “boots” we so desperately need as allies.

If we are blind to this fact, or recognize it but do not actively battle against it, we may win the fight to contain or even destroy ISIS but will lose in our attempt to bring lasting stability to the region.

Here is one example of Assad’s current propaganda effort – 

The morning after Coalition forces flew night operations earlier this week destroying Alnusra Front strong holds, munition storage facilities, and communication centers, around the cities of Aleppo and Idleb, Assad launched daylight follow-up operations bombing civilian neighborhoods and other non-military targets in the same areas.

To that Syrian waking up to the sound of barrel bombs in Aleppo or Idleb it appeared, and convincingly so, that the two operations are coordinated and that the U.S. is supporting the regime.  This false notion is being aggressively and effectively reinforced by state-controlled media and radicalized social media.

Alnusra Front is a well-documented Al-Qaida representative organization in Syria, but unlike ISIS, it has aggressively been fighting with success the Assad regime and has not been targeting Syrian civilians in the way that both ISIS and Assad have done.

To the shell shocked Syrian civilian living in a war torn hell created by his or her own president, Alnusra Front falls into the category of “an enemy of my enemy is my friend.” 

Clearly, Alnusra Front is our enemy and must be targeted and destroyed.  We must however recognize the reality of the landscape we have entered and never lose focus of the fact that we must have a moderate populace willing to be our boots on the ground.

As the Coalition justifiably uses the power of war to defeat the threat of ISIS and other radicalized elements in Syria, we must simultaneously bombard the people of Syria with the message that we are on their side in their struggle for normality and stability.

We must find a way to counter the propaganda claiming an alliance with Assad. If we allow this misperception to stand, we lose the support of the moderate opposition groups that have waited desperately for our entry into the fight and want to be our “boots on the ground.”  They have fought ISIS and will continue to fight but not on behalf of a coalition that appears to be providing aerial support for the Assad regime.

Countering this perception will be difficult but it must be done.

A simple and concrete first step would be for President Obama to send a very clear and explicit message to the Syrian people that we are not and will not align ourselves with Assad. 

He should look into the camera and explicitly say that we are not and will not provide Assad’s regime with intelligence or other support. 

Most importantly though the president should tell the Syrian people who have struggled for a generation under Assad’s police-state and for three years have lived in the rubble of  barrel bombs that Bashar Al Assad will pay a very steep price for his targeting of civilians, that these crimes are not, and will not be forgotten, and the day of reckoning will come for him and his regime. 

This is the message that will assure the people of Syria that we are their ally and that we intend to win not only the war against ISIS, but the war of words against Assad.