Money can't buy you love - or win the propaganda war

The New York Times informs us that militant Islamist groups are gaining popularity amongst refugees [internally displaced people] in the Swat region of Pakistan, because of the aid work which these groups are providing. There are similarities between this and the popularity which Hamas was able to gain amongst Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza, through their aid work. The amount of aid which the United States are sending to Pakistan is greater than that provided by the militant Islamists, but:

Pakistani authorities have refused to allow American officials or planes to deliver the aid in the camps for displaced people. [because] The Pakistanis do not want to be associated with their unpopular ally.

Military might and 'shock and awe' can win on the battlefields, but it doesn't deliver hearts and minds. The Allies lack an ideology which can inspire anyone in the lands which they occupy. The militant Islamists, however, are not much better. They feed off the unpopularity of the West, rather than the popularity of their own ideology.