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There are all manner of urban legends flying around the net like so many bees in a bonnet. Some are so outrageous that only the most naive or ignorant believe them: eating Pop Rocks and drinking a Coke will make your stomach explode. Others are more sinister: Ronald Reagan opened his 1980 campaign praising the KKK at the site of a 1960s civil rights killing. It is the latter kind of urban legend that is currently being manufactured by the anti-US forces around the world in order to worsen the reputation of the United States.

Even though the allies have been amazingly successful in minimizing civilian casualties in the current war in Iraq, those who wish to see the allies fail have been using all the usual tools of propaganda in order to make it seem as if they have been doing exactly the opposite: maximizing civilian casualties and blatantly disregarding the rules of warfare.

One might be tempted to dispel those efforts as the crude propaganda they are, but in much of the world the tradition of learning and communication has not been as open and free as it has been in the United States and other western countries. For many of those who see this propaganda it must be real, or it could not be on TV. Their perception of events is their reality, whether it is reality or not. Even in the west what is perceived is often accepted as reality, whether it bears any resemblance to actual events or not.

For this reason, as well as the other insidious results of propaganda, the allies must make a concerted effort to fight this disinformation as earnestly as they are fighting the shooting war. People often speak of "winning the hearts and minds" of the civilian population. That is the battle of propaganda in a nutshell. The losers hope to portray their side as victorious, or perhaps "stabbed in the back" by disloyal elements in their own country. Both sides try to portray the other side as evil and on the wrong side of the issue. For those who do not have access to any other information, deciding which side is telling the truth can be difficult. For example, many people in Iraq think that Saddam won the first Persian Gulf War. For decades children in Japan were not told that their country lost the war with America. Defeating Saddam militarily could be for naught if we end up losing the propaganda war. Iraqis and others throughout the world could be convinced that we lost, even if we succeed in defeating the Iraqi armed forces.

The result would be similar to the American experience in Vietnam. While winning the battles, the U.S. lost the propaganda war, both at home and in Vietnam. The result was that any portrayal of American crimes and unethical behavior were seen as believable by many people throughout the world, whether it really happened or not. If we do not win this propaganda war, the same thing could happen in Iraq.

For example, some of the disinformation being spread is that the allies are targeting civilian areas in Baghdad. All that Saddam's supporters have to do to fake this is show some actual bomb damage of a legitimate target, then cut wailing civilians mourning their dead family and friends. It appears that the two are connected, even though they are from two different events. American propagandists like Ramsey Clark and Michael Moore have used this tactic for years, and it is very effective when used on unsophisticated audiences. It is important to note that most Arabic news organizations are playing such propaganda as straight news items. Sadly for many people throughout the world, they have never known any other kind of "news" broadcast. In addition, Saddam's propagandists are so deceptive they make Clark and Moore look like unbiased keepers of the truth by comparison.

Without access to civilians inside Baghdad or even surrounding Arab countries we will be hard pressed to counter such disinformation, yet we must try. To let these falsehoods go unchallenged is to invite people to conclude that absence of protest is an admission of guilt. The best way to counter tales of imaginary war crimes by the allies is to show the truth: allied forces giving food and water to civilians, allied forces helping injured civilians and injured Iraqi soldiers, allied forces risking their lives to help civilians—and potentially a suicide bomber—across a bridge to the relative safety of allied lines.

To accompany these images we need to broadcast the testimony of Saddam's victims: people who have been imprisoned and tortured for opposing Saddam ore merely being in the wrong place at the wrong time; people who saw their family executed for waving at allied troops; people who have seen the sadistic behavior of Saddam's "bodyguards" firsthand. It is imperative that we start operating a "Radio Free Iraq" and "Television Free Iraq" as soon as possible. Only by countering the disinformation with the truth can we hope to defeat the propagandists.

Our side of the story will be challenged for years to come. We must make sure that our story remains consistent with the facts, remains verifiable and remains available to people throughout the world. Otherwise some latter-day revisionist will claim that U.S. troops deliberately killed women and children, used human shields and praised terrorists while desecrating the graves of innocent civilians. Then again it would not take a latter-day revisionist. Today's propagandists are already manufacturing their tales of deceit that say those very things.

I wonder if they will call it "Bowling for Baghdad". Heck, they might even win an Academy Award for it.

But that could never happen here, could it? That would have to be an urban legend, right? Right?

For many of those who see this propaganda it must be real, or it couldn't be on TV.

Defeating Saddam militarily could be for naught if we end up losing the propaganda war.

To let these falsehoods go unchallenged is to invite people to conclude that absence of protest is an admission of guilt.

I wonder if they will call it "Bowling for Baghdad". Heck, they might even win an Academy Award for it.