Image courtesy of The U.S. Army under CC BY 2.0.
They say that in war, the first casualty is the truth.
In reality, truth must usually be raped much earlier then D-day or H-hour. For in order to commit the troops, the troops and the American public must first be committed to the cause. Before the tanks and jeeps roll, the propaganda machine must be rolled out, greased up, and firing on all cylinders.
A recruiting poster from a bygone era showed a businessman angrily tearing off his coat and tie in preparation for a fight. At his feet lay a newspaper with the headline: HUNS KILL WOMEN AND CHILDREN.
And now it seems to me, that as we are preparing to invade Iraq, that the propaganda machine has been unveiled once again. This time it may be prudent to take a more critical look at the quality, tone, style and veracity of the information we are being force-fed.
Recently Bush The Younger claimed that Saddam is developing weapons of mass destruction and has repressed his own people. He (Saddam) has decapitated political rivals, raped women and tortured children in front of their parents.
It is amazing how frequently the word “children” is invoked, whenever we are being lied to. It is a favorite tactic of political advertising and posturing as well as the primary “hook” in any war propagandist’s tool kit.
AS THE TWIG IS BENT…
Bush the elder went to war against the same adversary. Let us pause here and re-examine one telling example of known war propaganda from the buildup to that expedition, who originated it, who profited from it, and who died for it, and how patently, and criminally false the information was.
In a successful attempt to rally public support for a war against Iraq, Bush the Elder appeared on a televised speech and said, “Babies have been ripped off of incubators and those incubators shipped off to Baghdad.” This horrible, brutal scenario we were told, occurred when Iraqi troops stormed a hospital in Kuwait City and removed babies from the equipment and left them to die on the cold hospital floor.
The story was not true. It was a story bought and paid for by the Kuwaiti government, and conjured out of thin air by a Washington, D.C. public relations firm known as Hill & Knowlton. H&K had been paid $10.7 million by the Kuwaiti government to persuade the American public to send their hard earned tax dollars (in the form of military aid) to Iraq, and to send America’s sons into harm’s way. One hundred forty eight of them would not return alive, and the extent of the damage to the health of thousands more may never be determined.
What do you call an act of fraud, on behalf of a foreign government, with the intent of fooling the public into squandering money and lives, and damaging your country’s general welfare? Is it treason? Murder?
And now it is time to see how far the apple has fallen from the tree. In a case of déjà vu all over again, It is Bush the Younger’s turn to convince us we must send our sons and tons of money to the same region, against the same army, and the same cartoon character that escaped the reach of W’s daddy.
Here are some of the recent weapons in W’s arsenal of influence: There are satellite photos that purport to show the construction of a nuclear power plant near Baghdad. There is an al Qaeda connection with Iraqi intelligence. Saddam had some political opponents beheaded. Saddam has tortured children in front of their parents.
You can believe these things if you want to. In fact, you are free to believe that all of these things, even if they are true, add up to a necessary invasion of Iraq, and the loss of American lives that will surely follow that dangerous endeavor.
I believe the track record (the lies of Bush the Elder) is sufficiently stark and far too recent to justify granting the benefit of any doubt.
“Published originally at EtherZone.com : republication allowed with this notice and hyperlink intact.”