US-backed psychological operations inside Iraq appear to have intensified with the launch of a new propaganda radio station, 快猫短视频 can reveal. The broadcasts target the elite troops of the Iraqi army and the country鈥檚 oil workers.
The new radio station is called Sawt al-Tahrir al-Iraq, meaning Voice of Iraqi Liberation. It was first detected on March 6 by Mika M盲kel盲inen, a radio enthusiast in Finland. The station broadcasts programmes twice a day, at 0630 and 1830 GMT at the radio frequencies 1206 and 4025 kHz.
Analysing the power of the station鈥檚 signal allowed M盲kel盲inen and a radio enthusiast in Egypt, Tarek Zeidan, to trace it a broadcasting base in Sulaymaniyah, northern Iraq.
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This outpost is used by the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, one of the dissident political groups in the region, to broadcast another program 鈥� Voice of the People of Kurdistan. Shortly after this show ends, the new Iraqi one begins.
Grey propaganda
The Voice of Iraqi Liberation does not identify who is behind the transmissions 鈥� so-called grey propaganda. But its broadcasts tell members of the Republican Guard to defy Saddam Hussein鈥檚 orders and join with coalition forces in building a new Iraq.
鈥淒on鈥檛 listen to the orders of the dictator, don鈥檛 shoot those who came to liberate you,鈥� said one programme. 鈥淟ook forward to a bright and happy future of Iraq.鈥�
Iraqi oil workers have also been warned against sabotaging oil reserves: 鈥淭he oil wells and government installations belong only to the Iraqi people, and any deliberate damage to these sites will be considered as a capital crime. The next regime and government in Iraq will put on trial all those who participate in the execution of those orders as war criminals.鈥�
Professional sounding
M盲kel盲inen, who operates the website DXing.info for radio-tracking enthusiasts, says the origin of the station can easily be determined from its content.
鈥淥ne way or another I鈥檇 say the American鈥檚 are involved,鈥� he told 快猫短视频. 鈥淚t could be indirectly, by channelling money to opposition groups inside Kurdistan, or they could just as well be producing the programmes. They sound rather professional.鈥�
The US military already broadcasts propaganda from aircraft flying near Iraq. Another radio station discovered in February 2003 appears to be broadcasting so-called black propaganda.
Radio Tikrit started off supporting Saddam Hussein, but changed its stance after a couple of weeks to become highly critical of the Iraqi president and his government.