viz.

This article from the BBC Middle East shows that the U.S. military and Iraqi government hope that some visual evidence will help them to win “hearts and minds” in their efforts to rid Iraq of al-Qaeda.

After raiding an al-Qaeda hideout north of Baghdad, coalition forces found videos of young boys brandishing guns and grenades. The videos show about 20 boys running around with machine guns, staging mock kidnappings, and in one scene putting a pistol to the head of their “hostage.” The videos are apparently part of al-Qaeda propaganda aimed at attracting new recruits. But American and Iraqi officials hope that the “images might persuade Iraqis to turn against the Islamic militants.” It’s interesting that we’re hoping these images will turn Iraqi’s off to such activities and al-Qaeda is hoping that they will turn people on to their cause.