Losing Arab Hearts and Minds: The Coalition, Al Jazeera and Muslim Public Opinion

From November 2002 to May 2003, Steve Tatham worked alongside American military planners in the Gulf, coordinating the huge media campaign that foreshadowed and accompanied the eventual invasion of Iraq.

From first hand experience he witnessed how, in advance of the outbreak of hostilities, the US planned to win over skeptical Arab hearts and minds. Yet as the campaign unfolded, Tatham, the Royal Navy's public spokesman in Iraq, saw how differently the British and Americans regarded the media…