U.S. Troops Engage in War of Words in Iraq
Thu Apr 14, 2:51 PM ET
By EDWARD HARRIS,
Associated Press Writer

MOSUL, Iraq - It's just spray-painted graffiti, but the writing on the wall gets the attention of U.S. troops: "Warning to all policemen: You will be killed." Soldiers then storm into the compound, demanding the owners erase the death threat against the Americans' Iraqi allies.


"If I come back tomorrow and it's still there, I'll fix it myself and you won't like it," Capt. Blake Lackey says sternly. "I'll tear the wall down."

It's all part of a war of words in Iraq, where U.S. troops patrolling the northern city of Mosul constantly inspect handbills and graffiti on sun-scorched walls, searching for insurgent messages that they counter with their own psychological operations — or "psy-ops."

Both sides are wielding the pen alongside the sword in hopes of winning converts among Mosul's more than 2 million, ethnically varied people — a goal American commanders say is key in an unconventional battle where every street is a front line and public spaces double as militants' mission-planning centers. >>>MORE">>>>>MORE

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