Oh! The Problem in Iraq is Branding!

Thanks to a $400,000 study from the Rand Corporation (not to mention the saucer people and the reverse vampires) the truth is now known:

From the Wapo
The Pentagon Gets a Lesson From Madison Avenue
U.S. Needs to Devise a Different 'Brand' to Win Over the Iraqi People, Study Advises
[snip]

'Helmus and his co-authors concluded that the "force" brand, which the United States peddled for the first few years of the occupation, was doomed from the start and lost ground to enemies' competing brands. While not abandoning the more aggressive elements of warfare, the report suggested, a more attractive brand for the Iraqi people might have been "We will help you."'

I wonder if the "you killed my child and imprisoned my brother for no reason" brand is also a problem...

And just in case you haven't been to Wal-Mart in a while:

'Wal-Mart's desired identity as a friendly shop where working-class customers can feel comfortable and find good value, for example, would be undercut if telephone operators and sales personnel had rude attitudes, or if the stores offered too much high-end merchandise. For the U.S. military and U.S. officials, understanding the target customer culture is equally critical.'