American forces battling insurgents have added two new tools in their arsenals: iPods and comic books. Seriously.
American forces battling insurgents have added two new tools in their arsenals: iPods and comic books. Seriously.
In the Philippines, U.S. Army psychological operations officers have distributed 600,000 copies of Barbargsa — Blood of the Honorable. It's a comic book starring "Ameer," a "practitioner of kuntao, which
is a local form of martial arts. Like Zorro or Batman, he dons a mask
and vows to protect the downtrodden and innocent victims of terrorists," National Defense magazine reports.
U.S. special operations
forces have used comic books in information campaigns. But the
characters were based on well-known American superheroes. Two years
ago, two Army officers decided to create one from scratch to tell the
children of the [Philippines'] Sulu islands the story of what was happening in their
homeland...The
Philippines military are also portrayed in a positive and heroic light
while the villains are the terrorists or “bandits.” The creators were
careful to accurately illustrate the Sulu region, and use character
names, clothing and mannerisms that reflect the culture of the Tausug
ethnic group. There are versions in English and in the local dialect.
In Iraq, I saw similar attempts to turn terrorist-fighters into superheroes, for the local kids to idolize. There, a psychological operations ("psyops") team printed up t-shirts showing a stylized, improbably muscle-bound Iraq policeman. "The real Mujahadeen," the shirts read.
Meanwhile, soldiers
from the 10th Mountain Division are gearing up to patrol Baghdad by syncing up their iPods -- "not with songs and
movies, but with a laundry list of missions and audio files containing
pre-recorded phrases in Iraqi Arabic or Kurdish," National Defense says, in a separate story.
Loaded
with special software, the music players help them communicate with the
populace and learn the local culture, and they occasionally serve as
handy tools in their tactical missions, such as searching for persons
of interest. The gadgets have been so useful that troops are now
finding new ways to employ the technology.
The
Army so far has purchased 300 of the Vcommunicator Mobile LC devices.
Since last fall, squad leaders from the 10th Mountain Division’s 1st
and 4th Brigades have been using the product in Iraq.
The
simplicity that has made the iPod, manufactured by Apple Inc., so
successful as a music player also relates to its combat applications.
Soldiers simply scroll through as they search for mission data or for
spoken phrases. The display shows the sentence phonetically and in
script, and the user can play the corresponding audio clip, which also
can be synced to an avatar, or computerized character, that gestures
according to customs.
The online demo
is priceless, although I didn't see a ton of "cultural" information
presented. Just a list of phrases -- and corresponding gestures -- a
soldier might need for a checkpoint or a raid.
(High five: EM)
ALSO:
* Rummy Resurfaces, Calls for U.S. Propaganda Agency
* In Iraq, Psyops Team Plays on Iran Fears, Soccer Love
* How Technology Almost Lost the War
* Targeting the Jihadist Noise Machine
* 18 Months Later, Charges for Jailed Journo in Iraq
* U.S. Enlists Arab Bloggers for Info War
* Some of Her Best Friends Are Terrorists
* Inside Al-Qaeda's "Intranet"
* Intel Director Launches Qaeda Leak Probe
* Ex-Spies Blast Qaeda Breach
* Al-Qaeda "Intranet" Goes Dark After Leak
* Bloggers vs. Terrorists?
* Army Gearing Up for Info War (Finally)
* Osama: Back in Black
* Al-Qaeda Channels Pixar
* Inside the Insurgent Noise Machine
* Terrorists Keep Blogs, Too
* Al-Qaeda Ramps up Propaganda Push
* Army Bullies Blogger, Invades YouTube
* Al-Qaeda Propaganda at New High
* British Military Gags Blogs
* Army Audit: Official Sites, Not Blogs, are Security Threat
* Military Security Threat: Bogus Bomb-Zapper's Bogus Countermeasure
* Military Hypes, Bans YouTube
* Petraeus Hearts Milblogs
* No More YouTube, MySpace for U.S. Troops
* Milblogs Boost War Effort
* Pentagon Whispers; Milbloggers Zip Their Lips
* Clarifying the Blog Rule Clarification
* Army to Bloggers: We Won't Bust You. Promise.
* Army's Blog Rebuttal
* Stop Those Leaks!
* Strategic Minds Debate Milblog Crackdown
* Milblog Bust: AP Gets Snowed
* Army: Milblogging is "Therapy," Media is "Threat"
* Urban Legend Led to Army Blog-Bust?
* New Army Rules Could Kill G.I. Blogs (Maybe E-mail, Too)
* Reporters = Foreign Spies?
* Army's Info-Cop Speaks
Source: http://blog.wired.com/defense/2008/01/coin-comic-book.html
Related blog articles:
When is it time to get a new iPod?
iPod Software Update
That’s Going in my iPod.
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