PSYOP

As tens of thousands of NATO troops battle it out with Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan for the seventh year, a handful of soldiers are waging their war armed with little more than slogans, leaflets and loud music. They are the members of the psychological operations, or psyops, teams deployed by Western armies to help sap the will of the enemy and win over the local population without firing a shot.

Psychological operations specialist Sgt. Joe Colabuno spent a year-and-a-half helping convince the Sunni residents of Fallujah to turn against local extremists by appealing to citizens' sense of civic pride, pumping up their love of the national soccer team, citing the Koran, and provoking jihadists to overreact. Colabuno also appealed to the Sunnis hatred and fear of Shi'ites, and of Shi'ite Iran.