The US-led war in Afghanistan has led to high numbers of civilian deaths and human suffering for more than nine years. Among the main causes of this suffering during the first three months of the war were the ground-breaking bombardments carried out by the US Air Full. Tens of thousands of bombs, weighing approximately 14000 tonnes, were launched in Afghanistan during those three months, starting in October 2001. However, the destructive effects of this bombing campaign were almost completely hidden from Western public opinion. This article explores the techniques used by the US Government and two popular media groups to adulterate perceptions of the early stages of air war, with the aim of diluting the indignation that the injustice suffered by the Afghan civilian population could have caused. These techniques can be grouped into five categories: concealment, minimisation, re-interpretation, use of official channels and intimidation.