The US government finally realizes that, hey, there’s a PR/propaganda war to be won, too. So expect lots of money to be belatedly thrown at the problem, and no big results any time soon. To quote the Christian Science Monitor story:
“There’s the war of bombs and guns, and then there’s the … war for the hearts and minds in that part of the world,” says Norman Pattiz, a board member of the International Broadcasting Bureau (IBB), the State Department entity that manages Voice of America. “Of course our enemy is winning it, because we’re not even there.”
Does this mean that the US is preparing to spread lies in an attempt to further deceive the world at large? Not at all. When only one side is heard, that side is the one that tends to be believed. No matter how much we may know we’re the guys in the white hats, it’s not so self-evident that we don’t have to get the word out.