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Analysis:
The Bush Administration's Communication
Challenges in the aftermath of the September 11 Terrorist Attacks
By Frank Williams, President
Pioneer Strategies, Inc.
On the morning of September 11th terrorists attacked the two
most prominent symbols of America's free market economy and
the primary symbol of our military might. In the
aftermath of these attacks the still-young George W. Bush
administration is faced with the greatest national security
crisis of my lifetime. This crisis presents the Bush
administration with many unforeseen challenges, among them
the extremely complex job of communicating with the many
important target groups who will impact his ability to fight
and win this new war against terrorism.
A
Wide Range of Target Groups and Communication Goals
The Bush
administration faces an amazingly complex communication
challenge in large part because of the extremely diverse
collection of target groups with whom they must deal.
The administration has a distinct set of communication goals
and challenges in dealing with each group. Consider
the following:
Communicating
With The American People: The president
must assure our nation's citizens that he and his
administration are ready, willing, and able to meet
this new challenge. He must demonstrate that the
administration will take action to deal with this new threat
to our national security. At the same time, he must
continually persuade the American people that this new war
will be unlike any we've ever seen. This war will take
time, so he must call on the people to be patient. It
will be ugly and gruesome at times, so he must call on the
people to stay the course when the going gets rough.
Many of the battles will be fought under the veil of
secrecy, so he must call on the American people to
understand that they will not see every victory on CNN.
Finally, he must instill a sense of calm and rationality in
our people. He must convince our people that their is
no reason to panic, while at the same time calling them to
stand vigilant in the face of this new threat and in the
aftermath of the recent attack which took place on our
own soil. He must also convince our people not to
stoop to the level of the terrorists by unfairly harassing
Arab-Americans who moved to our great nation because they
truly want to enjoy the freedom and opportunity our nation
offers. Standing alone, the task of effectively
communicating with the American people makes the president's
task a formidable one. However, it is only one piece
of the puzzle.
Demonstrating
American Unity: One of the
administration's key messages is to the world is that our
nation is united in this war against global terrorist
networks. The administration will work to communicate
this message to every significant target group, both foreign
and domestic. You saw the beginning of this process
after President Bush's address to Congress on September
20th, when the Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle
and Senate Minority Leader Trent Lott delivered a joint statement
in support of the President. Our leaders have
demonstrated unprecedented bipartisan unity in the wake of
this crisis. The key challenge facing the
president is to preserve this unity as weeks and months
pass.
Rallying
Leaders of Friendly Nations: President
Bush must move quickly to build an international coalition
of nations to help in the battle against global
terrorist networks. The first step toward building
this coalition is to shore up our support among our closest
allies and other nations with whom we have good relations.
To do this, the president must demonstrate to the world that
he is up to this challenge. At the same time, he
must demonstrate that his administration has a sound,
reasonable military and diplomatic strategy, and that
we are willing and able to execute that strategy.
Finally, he must convince them that we are fighting the
right enemy and going it the proper way.
Reassuring
Citizens of Friendly Nations: If the
popularly elected leaders of our allies are to stand with us
in this war against terrorism, the citizens who elect them
must also stand with us. As a result, the president
must reach beyond the leaders of our closest allies and
other friendly nations and reassure their citizens. In
an international political culture where CNN
reaches nearly every corner of the globe, the rest of the
world is acutely aware of the ups and downs of American
politics. Citizens of many nations watched with
interest as we fought and bickered in the aftermath of the
2000 presidential election, and many of them came to view us
as a house divided. President Bush must speak through
the media to citizens of allied nations and
reassure them that our nation is united and that his
administration is ready to meet this new challenge.
Reaching
Out to Other Nations: As President Bush
continues working to build an international coalition
against terrorism, he and his administration have already
begun reaching out to nations with whom the United States
has not historically gotten along. This part of the
process will prove to be particularly challenging.
First and foremost, the president will have to convince
the leaders of these nations that they have something to
gain by joining in this cause and much to lose by not
joining our coalition. As with our allies, he must
demonstrate that America has a sound strategy and is ready
to execute that strategy, and that we are fighting the right
enemy and going it the proper way. If President Bush
can achieve this, the fact that many of these nations have
felt the wrath of terrorists will increase the likelihood
that their leaders will be willing to work with us. In
addition, the fact that many of these nations rely on the
United States for economic assistance increases our
leverage. The president's challenge lies in the
fact that the rank-and-file citizens of many of these
nations may not share their governments' willingness to join
us in this fight. A case in point is Pakistan, where
the government has committed to help the United States.
Pakistan has seen a number of anti-American demonstrations
in recent days, and Pakistani Muslim fundamentalists
who are sympathetic to the Taliban and Osama Bin Laden are
condemning their government's decision to assist the U. S.
The normally friendly nation of Egypt is walking a similarly
fine line. If any of these governments fall victim to
a hostile coup, our cause is greatly damaged. The
President must demonstrate to the leaders of these nations
that they have something to gain by helping us and much to
lose if they don't help us. Further, he must take
great caution to avoid making remarks or divulging
information which will further enflame the anti-American
sentiment which already exists among the citizens of
these nations.
Letting
the Terrorists and those who support them know We Mean
Business: President Bush must
communicate this message with crystal clarity, and his
administration must follow words with actions. The
President has very succinctly stated that we will do
whatever it takes to eradicate terrorist networks with
global reach, and that we will make no distinction between
the terrorists and the nations who harbor and support them.
The president has spoken in a clear and determined way, and
he is already outlining plans to begin execution of the
war on terrorism. The global scope of the post-attack
investigation has demonstrated our nation's
resolve and global reach and should serve notice to the
terrorists and those nations who harbor them that the Bush administration
and all of America means business. Now that the
president has drawn a line in the sand his administration
must stick to its guns.
Reassuring
Arab and Muslim Nations: This is one of the
trickiest and most delicate communications challenges facing
the administration as it begins a war against terrorism.
President Bush must convince Arab and Muslim nations that
the United States is not conducting a war against Islam, but
rather a war against global terrorist networks and those who
harbor them. The Taliban, the ruling faction in
Afghanistan which has been harboring suspected terrorist
mastermind Osama Bin Laden, refuses to give him up in spite
of our threats of military action against them. While
the president is attempting to make his case that this is
not a war against Islam, the Taliban is threatening to
declare a holy war against America if we fulfill our
promise to take military action against Afghanistan.
Further, some of the Taliban's leaders are publicly stating
that it is the duty of all Muslims to kill Americans if we
take military action against the Afghan government. On
this issue, we are in an all-out communications war.
While the Bush administration is making the case that this
is not a war against Islam but is rather a war against
terrorism, the Islamic extremists who are harboring the
terrorists are making the opposite case. Further, they
are making the case to civilians in countries whose
governments are supportive of the United States, further
increasing the chance for civil unrest in countries who are
currently cooperating with us.
Effectively
Communicating in this Complex Environment
It is evident
that President Bush and his administration are operating in
a complex, volatile communication environment. They
are dealing with an extremely diverse array of target
groups, each of which has its own agendas and priorities.
In order to effectively communicate in this situation, the
administration must have a well thought out communications
strategy, a clear and concise message, and a careful
execution plan.
The president
and his advisors must galvanize and rally the American
people and our closest allies, reach out to nations with
whom we have not traditionally cooperated, and reassure
countries in the Middle East that this is not a war against
Islam. All of this must be achieved while combating
our enemy's attempts to incite a holy war by persuading
Muslims that we are in fact conducting a war against all of Islam.
Further, we must achieve our goals without fanning the
flames of existing anti-American sentiment or in any other
way galvanizing the Muslim extremists who are most
susceptible to the propaganda spread by Osama Bin Laden and
the Taliban.
Awareness
of Cultural Differences and their Impact on Effective
Communication
The President
and his advisors are operating in a complex and volatile
political culture. This environment, combined with the
cultural differences between the administration's target
groups, creates a communications climate in which little
things mean a lot. The President and other
administration spokesmen must be mindful of the words and
analogies they use. They must be aware of the fact
that a word or phrase which means one thing to Americans may
have an entirely different meaning to citizens in the Middle
East.
Two examples
which have already surfaced in the past two weeks come to
mind.
First, the Pentagon
chose the code name "Operation Infinite Justice"
for its anti-terrorism campaign. Many Muslims
reacted negatively because, according to their religion,
only Allah can bring about infinite justice. As a
result of this, the code name may be dropped to avoid
angering Muslim nations who are currently siding with the
United States in this new war.
Second, while
making off-the-cuff remarks the president recently used the
word "crusade" to describe our war against
terrorism.
Because of
the word's historic overtones in the Islamic world the
statement came under fire overseas. A Newsweek
article has quoted White House press secretary Ari
Fleischer as saying the president “regretted” the use
of that word and that he meant it “in the traditional
English sense … a broad cause.” This is yet
another example of a word that has little significance in
our nation's history, yet which struck a negative chord
with some of the administration's overseas target groups.
In this
complex communications environment, every word spoken and
every action taken by this President and his administration
is significant. Because little things matter, every
word must be carefully thought out.
The First
Test: The President's Address to Congress
The
President's address to a joint session of Congress was the
most important presidential speech of my lifetime.
President Bush was called to Capitol Hill to address not
only Congress, not only the American People, but the entire
world, and he was called to do so under the greatest
pressure imaginable. While the speech was delivered
before the U. S. House and Senate, they were not his
primary audience. His primary audiences were the
American People, our current allies, our potential allies in Muslim
countries, and the terrorists and those who harbor them.
This was more than a speech. This was a rallying cry
for a prolonged war against global terrorist networks.
This address would set the tone for the campaign against the
terrorists and it would define this president.
There were
two important keys to the president's ability to deliver an
effective speech on this momentous occasion: the
message and the messenger.
While the
content of the president's speech was obviously important,
this was a time when his delivery needed to be his best
ever. As the messenger, President Bush needed to
appear strong, capable and determined, and his performance
would set the tone for the entire campaign against
terrorism. By all accounts, President Bush more
than met that challenge and gave the speech of his
life on September 20th. A CNN commentator was quoted
as saying "this is the most confident we have seen
George W. Bush."
The president
appeared composed, confident, and determined. Equally
as important, he came across as sincere and genuine.
This reassured the American people that he had his act
together, reassured our allies that America is as capable as
ever, and told our enemies that we are serious.
In this most
important of speeches, President Bush needed to deliver a
variety of messages to a diverse group of audiences.
He had to take great care to ensure that a message intended
for one audience didn't create an unexpected backlash with
another. Let's take a look at his performance,
audience by audience.
The president
achieved a number of significant communications goals in
terms of reaching out to the American People. First,
he reassured them that his administration was taking
significant steps to increase the security of our nation in
an effort to decrease the likelihood of future attacks.
This included a concrete, tangible move: the
appointment of Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge as Director
of Homeland Security. Second, he educated the
American People on who attacked our country and why
they hate our nation and our way of life. Third, addressed
the steps that his administration will take to eradicate the
terrorists' global network. Fourth, he began the
process of educating the American people on the type of
campaign this effort will require and called on the people
for patience and resolve. Fifth, he called on the
American people to avoid discrimination against Arab
Americans and Muslims who are living in our nation.
President
Bush also communicated a number of messages to our allies.
Foremost among those messages was the idea that these
attacks were more than just attacks on buildings in New York
and Washington, but that they were attacks on the very idea
of freedom itself. Second, he compared Osama Bin Laden
and the terrorist networks to the "murderous ideologies
of the twentieth century," specifically pointing out
Nazism and Fascism. This analogy was sure to
strike a chord with nations whose histories are forever
scarred as a result of their battles with those regimes.
You might be
wondering why the president did not mention Communism when
referring to the "murderous ideologies of the twentieth
century." From a communications point of view,
the reason for this is simple: the president is
reaching out to both China and Russia for support in this
war against global terrorist networks, and he did not
want to offend their governments or their citizens.
The president
also used his speech to communicate a third message to
our allies: "We have our act together, we are
unified, and we are ready to lead the world to victory
against terrorism. Come and join us in this
fight."
In addition,
President Bush sought to reassure Arab nations and
Muslims here in America that this campaign is not a war
against Islam, but rather a campaign against terrorists.
In his speech, he painted Osama Bin Laden and his followers
as extremists who are not representative of Islam, but who
are attempting to "hijack" the Muslim religion to
fulfill their own personal agendas. He pointed out
that the Muslim religion teaches peace, and said that
those who kill and commit terrorist attacks in the name of
Islam "blaspheme the name of Allah." This
was a clear attempt to differentiate between the Islamic
world and Bin Laden's terrorist organizations
and to drive home the point that this campaign is not a war
against the Muslim religion.
Finally, the
president delivered a clear and unmistakable message to the
terrorists and to the governments who harbor them,
specifically the Taliban in Afghanistan. The message
was that we will not stop until we have eradicated terrorist
networks with global reach. The words "with
global reach" are important because the provide more
focus to the campaign. These three words tell the
world that the United States is not going after every
individual terrorist in the world, but rather after
organized networks which have global reach and operate in
many countries.
The president
also reiterated that the United States will not
differentiate between terrorists and the governments who
harbor them. He issued an ultimatum to the Taliban:
"hand over the terrorists or share in their
fate." While this statement is a clear message to
the government of Afghanistan, it was also a message
targeted to other countries who have a history of
sympathizing with terrorist organizations.
Finally, President
Bush made a clear statement to the rest of the world.
By saying "either you're with us or your with the
terrorists," the president made it clear that it's time
for countries to quit playing both sides and to stake out
their position.
President
Bush's address to the world on September 20, 2001 was a
communication masterpiece. He knew his audiences and
their nuances, he knew his goals, and he knew what he had to
do to achieve his goals. He communicated with
sincerity and passion. His message came through loud
and clear.
The Rest
of this Communications Campaign
As President
Bush has repeatedly made clear, this war against terrorism
will not be an overnight operation. It will take time
and it will require patience on the part of the American
people. It will also require persistence and
consistency on the part of the administration. The
president has defined the message and the terms of
engagement. The congressional leadership from both
major parties have given their support to the effort.
Now they must all stay the course. The administration
and the congress must stay on message. They must stay
focused. They must continue to be mindful of the
nuances of each audience with whom they are communicating.
They must continually remind us to be patient. And
they must continue to match their words with actions.
Both the upcoming military campaign and the corresponding
communications campaign will take time and require patience
and attention to detail. If the administration's
future performance matches the president's effectiveness in
his address to Congress, they will be successful.
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