Pentagon jams web, radio links of Taliban

NEW YORK - The United States has started a broad effort in Pakistan and Afghanistan to prevent the Taliban from using radio stations and websites to intimidate civilians and plan attacks, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday, citing unnamed senior US officials.
As part of the classified effort, American military and intelligence personnel are attempting to jam unlicensed radio stations in parts of Pakistan near the Afghan border used by Taliban fighters, the newspaper said in a front-page report. They are also trying to block Pakistani chatrooms and websites that frequently contain videos of attacks and inflammatory religious material that attempt to justify violent acts, the report said.
The push takes the administration deeper into psychological operations, which try to influence how the United States, its allies and enemies are seen, the report said, noting that officials involved with the new programme say such operations are a necessary part of halting the deterioration of stability in Pakistan and Afghanistan. The Journal said the Pentagon, Joint Chiefs of Staff and Central Intelligence Agency all declined to comment. US officials believe that the Taliban enjoy an advantage by being able to freely communicate threats and decrees. The Taliban are not just winning the information war- we are not even putting up that much of a fight, a senior US official in Afghanistan was quoted as saying. We need to make it harder for them (Taliban) to keep telling the population that they are in control and can strike at any time, the official said.
The paper noted that Taliban leaders in Pakistan use unlicensed FM stations to recite the names of local government officials, police officers and other figures who have been marked for death by the group. Hundreds of people named in the broadcasts have later been killed, it said quoting officials.
The US may also provide radio-jamming equipment to the Pakistani government, the report said citing officials familiar with the plans. The new push reflects the influence of Gen David Petraeus, who runs the militarys Central Command and has long been a major proponent of using psychological operations to reduce popular support for armed groups, it said.
Richard Holbrooke, Special US Envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan, had earlier likened the Taliban radio stations to Rwandas Radio Mille Collines, a virulently sectarian broadcaster widely believed to have helped fuel the Rwandan genocide, the Journal said. Nothing has been done so far about impeding the Taliban communications, Holbrooke had said. We have identified the information issue ... as a major, major gap to be filled. The US has started American-funded radio stations in many rural parts of Afghanistan, the paper said.