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GOLESTAN: "You're listening to W.IED 102.5 FM 'the bomb'," joked Staff Sergeant Todd Bowers as he slotted another cassette of religious chants into his portable radio station.
While most of the battles fought by US Marines in restive Farah province are against improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and guns, Bowers, 30, is fighting a war of words to win the hearts and minds of people in rural western Afghanistan.
The radio station - a portable deck and 45-foot antennae at the military base in Golestan - began as a chance to give local villagers a taste of the music they were banned from hearing under the hardline Taliban rule.
"Ever since word got out, I've had people bringing me cassettes. To have this music now has such a strong impact on the people," said Bowers, who heads the Marines' civil affairs team.
"When I drive through the valleys and play local Pashtu music on the loud speaker, people out in the village are singing and dancing. A lot can be said for music changing things."
The station, which goes on air at 5:00 am and ends at 11:00 pm each day with the Afghan national anthem, takes song requests amid a schedule of prayer chants and official messages from the government and coalition forces.
But this week the station took on greater importance for the US Marines after Taliban insurgents launched their own propaganda drive after accusing them of defiling a mosque in nearby Bakwa.
Militants then fomented a riot involving about 200 protesters in Delaram, 36 kilometres from Golestan. Tyres were burnt in the street and rocks were thrown at Marines and Afghan soldiers, while rumours continued to escalate.
Troops were later accused of killing about 50 people during the ruckus, including a baby, but no evidence was found.
"It's a common tactic," said the commander of the 2nd Battalion 3rd Marines Company, Captain Francisco Xavier Zavala. "The enemy tries to get you to open fire into the crowd. The whole propaganda thing is huge. Having the trust of the population is important."
To quash the rumours, the Afghan National Army's local commander, Mohammad Anwar Sakra, was swiftly called to record a radio message to play to villages.
"(The) Americans do not disrespect our culture and our country. Before they came here they learned from the Russians' (experience)," Sakra told people across the airwaves.
The broadcasts reach a potential 40,000 people in 107 villages surrounding Golestan, and Bowers' team have handed out 450 wind-up radios to overcome the lack of electricity in the mountainous region.
Marines said similar claims were made in Bakwa and eastern Kunar province in 2007. But with the arrival of the radio station, foreign forces now no longer have to rely on fighting counter-propaganda with leaflet drops from planes.
"I burn the cassettes to CD and then add them to my iTunes playlist," said Bowers.
For now, government red tape means the radio station can only play music and official messages - no DJs are allowed to sound off across the airwaves.
Bowers said he tries to mix local Pashtu music and Indian Bollywood film soundtracks with chants from the Koran at prayer times.
- AFP/sc
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