Dirty Politics: News in Iraq if the Price is Right
Posted by Matthew D.S. on 12.05.2005
All the News That's Fit to Bribe
Somewhere in hell, Joseph Goebbels is smiling. The former Chancellor of the Third Reich, albeit for only one day, is chiefly recalled as Minister of Propaganda (or Reichsministerium für Volksaufklärung und Propaganda in its native German) during the tenure of Adolf Hitler from 1933-1945. In this position, it was Goebbel's duty to oversee information provided by the state to the people, i.e. to present the National Socialist regime in a positive light. Without Goebbel's techniques, the state would not have likely subsumed such a large portion of the population into its grip.
Now why, you may ask, would this heinous individual be contently smiling whilst being tortured endlessly in the fire of Hell? I present to you the following headlines from various news organizations from across the globe:
• U.S. Military Covertly Pays to Run Stories in Iraqi Press (Los Angeles Times, who originally broke the story)
• US 'admits' Iraq propaganda drive (bbcnews.com)
• Report: U.S. buys positive press in Iraq (cnn.com)
• Pentagon pays Iraqi papers to print its 'good news' (Mail & Guardian, South Africa)
• White House probes Iraq propaganda claims (ABC News Online, Australia)
Propaganda is alive and well and working in full force. This in itself is not surprising at all but it appears to be yet another instance of American governmental: "Do as we say, not as we do."
Iraq is a free country now in many regards: people may think as they wish, openly protest, assemble without fear of Saddam Hussein's thugs. At the cornerstone of this freedom is the press. The press of any nation is supposed to be the bulwark of freedom, but in recent days, this illusion has been shattered by revelations that the American military has been regularly paying off Iraqi journalists and newspapers to print stories that portray American and Iraqi efforts in a positive light.
Smile Goebbels, smile.
Is America's propaganda war in Iraq at equal levels with Goebbel's in Germany? No - that is not my basis of comparison. What is equal is that at the very basic levels, they are instances of planted propaganda, and it is from this unfortunate comparison that I proceed with this article.
These stories were written by American military officials and were presented not as US positions or stories, but rather as independent pieces. Had the US openly declared that they were the patrons of these stories, there would be no qualm with it; however, to use guile and deception in this instance taints everything the Americans are looking to achieve in Iraq.
One can only imagine the embarrassment in the Pentagon - and anger - after these revelations were made. I myself was appalled: the bastion of freedom, the light of the world, the United States, precipitating actions more befitting to China, Mugabe's Zimbabwe, or Kim Jong-Il's North Korea.
However it must be noted as the BBC and others do, that the information presented in these American bought articles are largely factual. Unfortunately, "they only present one side of events and omit information that might reflect poorly on the US or Iraqi government." How convenient.
Reaction at the White House has been swift with President Bush's press secretary Scott McClellan declaring that the President and staff are, "very concerned about the reports." The question remains is that are they concerned about the actual events which have been revealed, or the mere fact that they were revealed to begin with.
This brilliant quote from the British political sitcom "Yes, Prime Minister" presents this question in a similar light:
Prime Minister James Hacker (Paul Eddington): You mean things are only disastrous if people find out about them?
Former Cabinet Secretary Sir Arnold Robinson (John Nettleton): Of course.
Now that it has been found out, the American military has taken a stance opposite of the White House's concern. Major General Rick Lynch who is stationed in Iraq declared that wanted terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was using the media for his evil purposes and was lying, and that American use of that same media was presenting fact only.
General Lynch fails to recognize however that one person's lies are another person's truth, and vice versa. The Americans are viewed with scepticism at best by many Iraqi people, and this story is likely to impinge and harm American efforts ten fold.
What is almost as staggering as the mere fact that the American military has perpetuated such a dishonest policy is the level of disjuncture between the Presidency and the Pentagon, yet again. The abuses at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq were carried out under the watch of the Pentagon while the White House was allegedly kept in the dark. Donald Rumsfeld offered his resignation as Secretary of Defence, which Bush refused to accept. Now there is this uproarious occurrence involving the Iraqi media, and once again the White House was apparently clueless as to the Pentagon's actions.
Who is really running the war in Iraq? Where is the Commander-in-Chief in all of this? And what will be the affect on Rumsfeld? The proverbial "buck" stops with him whenever anything - positive or negative - occurs in the Iraq war. This scandal is another example of Rummy's failed leadership, and perhaps it's time for him to step down, although he will likely not do so.
The Iraqi populace has likely been outraged by this controversy, and rightfully so. A tainted media full of bias will not advance the cause of democratization or peace one iota. Are all media outlets biased? Of course. But most are not bought off by a foreign outside power struggling to win the hearts of minds of the population who is reading different opinions for the first times in their lives.
Goebbels would not be surprised to find out about this scandal, nor how well and alive propaganda is in this modern world. With the spread of the Internet, television, and information available at the fingertips of people twenty-four hours a day at an instant, the golden age of propaganda may not have been during 1930s Nazi Germany, but may yet to come.
The dollar continues to speak louder than truth, and in this war in Iraq, like all wars, the first victim was truth. Let peace come there swiftly, for all our sakes.
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