hi all. I was just talking about propaganda yesterday. it occured to me to mention some of the "greatest hits" of american propaganda which many are unaware of or oblivious to.

americans are heavily conditioned to be unfamiliar with the idea that their own government is capable of propaganda. propaganda is something that the "other guy" eg Soviet Union does. unfortunately in the information age, propaganda can be as thick as ever. the internet was still somewhat in its infancy with the start of the iraq war, but played a role in both the resistance and the war propaganda.

I recall some of the famous episodes of propaganda. the public is conditioned to think that if they dont bite on the propaganda, then the initial stories were "mistaken" or "inaccurate" or "incorrect". but maybe its just intentional propaganda that got exposed, it didnt "stick". that seems to be the case with famous cases Tillman and Lynch.

I could go into excruciating detail, but the basic story is the same that the US govt seemed through these cases to be intentionally engaging in war-related propaganda aimed at the domestic population. moreover in the case of both Tillman and Lynch, they seemed to be aware of this and did their own part to debunk the propaganda. tillman: [1] [2] [3] [4], lynch: [5] [6] [7]. they refused to participate in the charade [at best] and "lies" at worst, so to speak.

so I was doing one of those stream-of-consciousness google searches. and another amazing synchronicity pops up. a new book by krakauer is a biography of famous soldier Tillman. krakauer is a local Boulder writer, one of my favorite writers. his "into thin air" about a deadly ascent of everest is one of the greatest paperbacks written in my opinion.

the book has made headlines because krakauer writes Tillman "feared being turned into a propaganda subject." even something that drudge wrote about. yeah propaganda can be confusing how it tends to cross party lines.

it seems like bush sr and bush jr were both experts in military propaganda-- some of the biggest "hits" came from their family. they seem to be adept at hiring public relations firms that play "fast and loose" with laws that prohibit domestic propaganda [8] [9] [10] [13]. [thats right-- its against the law! but I have yet to hear of any prosecution.]

[9] in particular is an excellent reference that shows how the distinction of domestic vs foreign propaganda tends to blur because the same agencies seem to be behind both....

and look, shadow puppet master John Rendon and his PR firm figure prominently in [9] talking about the persian gulf war from the 90s. and then he shows up again [15] with the new Iraq war of Bush Jr. gosh, its like deja vu all over again!! as bush famously said, "fool me once, shame on you. fool me twice, well, dont get fooled again." I guess the public really is that stupid.... they just keep crankin out those hits, one after the other!!

Wont Get Fooled Again Lyrics by the Who
http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/Won%27t-Get-Fooled-Again-lyrics-The-Who/761EF79AAB42FA9C48256977002E72F9 

now, how about John Walker Lindh? at the time, he was touted, blared, branded as the "american taliban" and was made the poster boy scary bogeyman for a short phase at the beginning of the iraq war. traitor!!

but the more that was uncovered about his story, the more he seemed less signficant, unthreatening.. kind of a confused dilettante even-- and to disappear from sight. hmm... sort of like a marketing campaign that runs out of budget??

and this was why we were spending hundreds of billions of dollars to go to war in some godforsaken place? oh, I forgot, it was only going to cost tens of billions, and it would pay for itself!

yeah that reminds me, has anyone written down the shifting rationales for the iraq war?? its like they threw everything and just waited 'til something stuck. it makes your head spin.

- saddam was working with Al Qaida!!
- iraq has horrible WMDs!!
- iraqi women are the most oppressed in the world!!
- saddam is going to get nukes if we dont stop him!
- he oppresses children!!
- he tortures/jails opponents!!
- its about spreading democracy to the oppressed!!
- they'll welcome us as liberators!!
- the war will cost only $40B!!
- the war will pay for itself!!

I guess part of the strategy is that there are so many different rationales, that everyone can pick whatever suits them. sort of like a "propaganda smorgasborg". the administration certainly wasnt effectively penalized or dampened for lack of coherence. to the contrary, it seemed to be rewarded for it..

I cant even remember them all. talk about moving goalposts.. the goalposts moved all over the field and even right out of the stadium...

some of these are proven to be outright lies. and look, some of these things might be true, but the key question is, do they justify war? of course they do-- especially the lies. [note to joe sixpack-- thats sarcasm.]

lindt was one of the first to talk about prisoner abuse and was ridiculed as a liar at the time. now, he can be seen as a sort of atrociously unfortunate "pioneer". [11] [12] did anyone apologize to him? of course not...

and notice how hard it is to remember the propaganda. at the time, propaganda is extremely intense and moves the mass public. later, you can barely remember why it mattered. Lindh was blaring headline at the time-- I think he was on the cover of Time magazine as I recall. I smelled propaganda. but questioning it at the time is like standing in front of a massive tsunami-- deadly to the resister.

then theres the bogeyman Jose Padilla who was an actual american citizen who had most of his rights trampled on. he was sort of a "beta test" for cheney/bush, who basically dont care what the constitution say, for them, only the effective restraints that arise matter.

he was held in Guantanamo, I believe, and probably tortured.. at his trial, there was a strong indication that the govt torture, physical and mental, had actually caused him to lose his mind! surprise! he was a high school dropout.... [12] [14]. as Michael Brenner writes on Huffpost [Sep 14 2009]:

The exploiting of free floating feelings of dread among Americans for political and ideological purposes has both obscured real dangers and contributed to them. Let's drop the childish game of scaring ourselves with the likes of high school drop-out Jose Padilla and similarly I.Q. challenged riff-raff. In doing so, we are behaving like kids who conjure monsters lurking in the stairwell so as to get a thrill by toying with their self-generated fears.

"similarly IQ-challenged riff raff?" wait, that sounds a lot like the previous 8 year administration...!! hmmm... maybe thats just a coincidence... on the other hand, I dont see Obama Designating any Enemy Combatants....  maybe he better start getting busy to keep up with the "Jones"....

the Left seems less proficient in the art overall if you ask me. maybe Left propaganda is how the govt is here to help, and right propaganda is about winning wars. (it seems like Left tends to be more domestically focused, and Right more internationally focused.)

why all the propaganda? heres an outstanding article by tom englehardt who asks

Is America Hooked on War?
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tom-engelhardt/is-america-hooked-on-war_b_290412.html

the reality is that war is one of Americas major exports. yep, proudly Made In America [tm]. without it, our economy gets screwed up. and with it, our economy gets screwed up too. damned if you do, damned if you dont.

the wars will continue until the public develops a sort of resistance/ immunity. they have to be able to smell the lies. now, I do admit that this may be improving somewhat because for example Bush [at the behest of Israel-- also probably a major force behind the Iraq war] wanted very much to go to war with Iran it appears. and it didnt pan out. rats. oh well, you win some, you lose some.

but, it seems like the public tends to forget the calamity of the last war over time. the period is something like about 5-10 years of peacetime, the public gets amnesia and forgets the horrors of war. their resistance goes down, and the next trendy, flashy War shows up. "shock and awe"-- aimed at the so-called enemy... as zen pogo once said, "we have met the enemy, and he is us!!"

[1]
Pat Tillman Feared Being Used as Propaganda
http://www.drudge.com/news/125080/pat-tillman-feared-being-used-propaganda

[2]
Pat Tillman Feared PR Blitz
Ex-NFL Star, Who Died in Afghanistan By Friendly Fire, Was Wary of Gov't Using Soldiers as Media Tools, Book Alleges
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/09/11/national/main5303235.shtml

[3]
Inside Pat Tillman's Life, and the Bush Administration's Cover-Up of His Death
http://www.alternet.org/world/142692/inside_pat_tillman%27s_life%2C_and_the_bush_administration%27s_cover-up_of_his_death

[4]
Propaganda, Wrapped in Lies, Covering up Murder?
http://www.rollingstone.com/nationalaffairs/index.php/2007/07/27/propaganda-wrapped-in-lies-covering-up-murder/

[5]
'Little girl Rambo' decries US propaganda
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2007/apr/24/usa.marktran

[6]
Rambo image was based on lie, says US war hero Jessica Lynch
· Tale of heroics was untrue, Congress hearing told
· Dead corporal's brother says military misled public
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2007/apr/25/iraq.usa1

[7]
The Bush Cartel Ministry of Propaganda Made a Mistake When They Tried to Make a Heroine Out of Jessica Lynch: She Turned Out to Really be One
http://www.buzzflash.com/editorial/03/11/edi03002.html

[8]
How PR Sold the War in the Persian Gulf
Excerpted from Toxic Sludge Is Good For You, Chapter 10
http://www.prwatch.org/books/tsigfy10.html

[9]
This war brought to you by Rendon Group
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/DK13Ak01.html

[10]
Nurse Nayirah
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nurse_Nayirah

[11]
Trial by Fury
After the revelations about prisoner abuse and flimsy terrorism cases, is it time to reconsider the fate of John Walker Lindh?
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2004/11/trial-fury

[12]
Why Jose Padilla's 17-Year Sentence Should Disgust all Americans
http://www.alternet.org/rights/74590/

[13]
The Uses of Propaganda in Bush's War on Iraq
http://www.prwatch.org/books/wmd.html

[14]
Public Enemy No. 43,527 -- The government throws back another small fish.
http://www.slate.com/id/2131020/

[15]
The Man Who Sold the War
Meet John Rendon, Bush's general in the propaganda war
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/8798997/the_man_who_sold_the_war/