Winning with Words: Strategic Communications and the War on Terrorism

Abstract

Osama bin Laden used terror to shock and demoralize the American public, to discredit American's strength, and to reduce support for American involvement abroad-and it worked. Part of his success can be attributed to his strategic use of communications. The wrenching visuals of commercial airliners-turned-missiles slamming into the World Trade Center, followed by his pre-recorded videos, and the media coverage of anti-American demonstrations, all served to advance bin Laden's messages. These well-timed, well-placed, and extremely effective messages were designed to exploit our open and ubiquitous news media, with non-stop coverage amplifying the destruction, and increasing the fear.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 01, 2002
Accession Number
ADA441620

Entities

People

  • Ellen K. Haddock
  • Jimmy Rabon
  • Paul M. Thompson

Organizations

  • National War College

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Human Systems
  • Materials and Manufacturing Processes
  • Space

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Commercial Aircraft
  • Department Of Defense
  • Department Of State
  • Foreign Policy
  • Foreign Relations
  • Governments
  • International Relations
  • Law
  • National Security
  • New York
  • Public Diplomacy
  • Recreation
  • Strategic Communications
  • Terrorism
  • Terrorists
  • United States
  • War Colleges

Readers

  • Political Violence and Terrorism Studies.
  • Radio communications and signal processing.