Pre-War Pentagon Memo Reveals Plan For ‘Rapid Reaction Media Team’ To Control Iraqi Media
Pre-War Pentagon Memo Reveals Plan For ‘Rapid Reaction Media Team’ To Control Iraqi Media
Yesterday, the National Security Archive (NSA) released a 3 page pre-war Pentagon memo and an accompanying slideshow presentation that revealed the Bush administration’s desire to create a “Rapid Reaction Media Team” (RRMT) to control major Iraqi media while providing an Iraqi “face” for its efforts.
Both the memo and the slide presentation were prepared by two Pentagon offices: 1) The Special Operations and Low-Intensity Conflict, which specializes in psychological warfare, and 2) The Office of Special Plans under then undersecretary of defense for policy, Douglas Feith. The memo explained the mission of the rapid response teams as follows:
After the cessation of hostilities, having professional U.S.-trained Iraqi media teams immediately in place to portray a new Iraq (by Iraqis for Iraqis) with hopes for a prosperous, democratic future, will have a profound psychological and political impact on the Iraqi people. […]
In addition, a re-constituted free Iraqi domestic media can serve as a model in the Middle East where so much Arab hate-media are themselves equivalent to weapons of mass destruction.
The memo envisioned deploying a team of U.S. and U.K. media experts with a team of “hand selected” Iraqi media experts to “communicate immediately with the Iraqi public upon liberation of Iraq.” These Iraqi experts would “train the Iraqi broadcasters and publishers (’the face’) for the USG/coalition sponsored information effort,” while an “ensuing ‘strategic information campaign‘ would be part of a ‘likely 1-2 years…transition’ to a representative government.”
UPDATE: The January 2003 Pentagon White Paper:
UPDATE II: Inter Press Service’s Jim Lobe reports, “The NSA Tuesday also released an audit by the Pentagon’s Inspector-General regarding two dozen, mostly non-competitive contracts totalling 122.5 million dollars awarded by the defence department to three defence contractors that carried out media-related activities in Iraq after the invasion.” Those contractors included the Rendon Group, the Lincoln Group, and Scientific Applications International Corporation (SAIC), the same company that employed World Bank communications staffer Shaha Ali Riza. SAIC has said it was directed by Doug Feith to hire Riza.
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Goebbels would be proud!!
May 9th, 2007 at 3:55 pmRapid Reaction Media Team = Propaganda Unit
May 9th, 2007 at 3:56 pmP R O P A G A N D A
May 9th, 2007 at 3:56 pmThe Bushite’s only language.
I don’t see a problem with this plan — as long as the reporting is factual. Propaganda will usually fail if the public sees that it doesn’t match their reality.
May 9th, 2007 at 3:57 pmThe memo envisioned deploying a team of U.S. and U.K. media experts - - I just know they demanded to wear capes and utility belts.
May 9th, 2007 at 3:59 pmI guess this was to let the Iraqi people know when they should shower us with candy and flowers.
May 9th, 2007 at 3:59 pmLike the “Rapid Reaction Media Team” headed up by Tony Snow?
May 9th, 2007 at 3:59 pmThese folks are all about the propaganda, aren’t they? Only they call it “democracy”. This is their version of spreading this so-called “democracy”.
May 9th, 2007 at 4:00 pmKRank,
it’s not that simple, although I hear you on this.
For many, the reality is what their media outlets feed them. Take a look at your typical Fox News viewer for confirmation. Their “reality” is way different then what is really going on.
May 9th, 2007 at 4:01 pmI don’t see a problem with this plan — as long as the reporting is factual. Propaganda will usually fail if the public sees that it doesn’t match their reality.
Ha ha ha. If that was true Faux News would be out of business. O’Reilly would be sitting on a corner somewhere twiddling his thumbs. People want to read & hear stuff that they already believe. They don’t question the media when it supports what they want to believe. Therefore Bush tried to sell a story that people would want, whether reality supported it or not. They’re using the same plan in Iraq that is used in the U.S.
May 9th, 2007 at 4:02 pmwelp, I guess the Iraqis might as well have the same thing as we have here in Merka
May 9th, 2007 at 4:08 pmWhat? You expected them to sit on their hands and let you to spread your anti-war propaganda that runs contrary to their interests?
What is it with you people? You are smart, but sometimes you are just so friggin’ naive. You act outraged when the Pentagon does what has been done in every war since the dawn of time: propaganda.
Everything is political, truth is malleable and reality is created.
May 9th, 2007 at 4:10 pmKRank,
it’s not that simple, although I hear you on this.
For many, the reality is what their media outlets feed them. Take a look at your typical Fox News viewer for confirmation. Their “reality†is way different then what is really going on.
Comment by Crump’s Brother — May 9, 2007 @ 4:01 pm
I would not dispute that, CB, but I think your hard-core Faux viewer is a special case — he NEEDS to believe what Faux feeds him. Admittedly, that makes a lot of “special cases” in these United States, but our relative comfort level gives most people the luxury of ignoring their own economic or social realities. In a war zone, I don’t know if that kind of need that Fox satisfies would get priority over food, shelter, safety.
May 9th, 2007 at 4:12 pmThe Wabid Wepublican Weaction Team (WWWT)? Sounds like we all need to get our wabies shots before the Bush media attack dogs are unleashed (again)… “Wabid Weaction?” as Elmer Fudd would say…
May 9th, 2007 at 4:12 pmI wonder if this is a part of the Lincoln Group initiative that was revealed about a year and a half ago?
Iraq Gets A Dose Of U.S. Style Propaganda
May 9th, 2007 at 4:14 pm“…the U.S. military is secretly paying Iraqi newspapers to publish stories intended to portray operations there in a positive light. The stories are not disclosed to the local media as having been written by American troops.”
But who was the propaganda for? The Iraqis or the Americans? It was shown during the 2004 election that most of the “good news” stories coming from Iraq that the Republicans campaigned on were fabricated and printed in Pentagon paid newspapers. A lot of this fake news was bandied about in Congress too.
Just as the Ft Dix Six sounds like a fake news story, so too were the goofy good news items pouring out of the Fertile Cres. before the American public became cynical.
Since we know Bush/Blair wanted a government run by Chalabi or Allawi, we can assume you’d get the same slanted “no spin zone” garbage pushing the miraculous ’straight talk’ qualities of those two crooks & liars. Of course, those neo-con artists had been lying about their popularity to the CIA and MI6 for years and were promptly sidelined by the Iraqi electorate.
And this doesn’t explain why US troops kills so many journalists in Iraq.
May 9th, 2007 at 4:14 pm“What? You expected them to sit on their hands and let you to spread your anti-war propaganda that runs contrary to their interests?”
What anti-war propaganda? This was at the start of the war when the Democrats thought that we were fighting for a just cause. And, then when they realized they were lied to and nothing that Bush did was for any supportable reason, they told the truth (which is what you Republics call propaganda).
It must have been a pretty sorry plan because it didn’t work. I think we should ask for a $215 million refund from Bush’s cronies.
May 9th, 2007 at 4:16 pmrapid reaction propaganda team? amazing that they actually have corporate-style buzzwords for these things…
I guess it makes sense in a fascist state that America has become…
The reality, though, is that when you give power to politicians, they’ll use that power to lie, distort, cheat, pad their friends’ pocketbooks, and…yes, lie more…..
This article touches on the idea of lying politicians pretty well:
“Politicians Lie? Say it ain’t so!”
May 9th, 2007 at 4:16 pmhttp://www.populistamerica.com/ politicians_lie___say_it_ain_t_so
You give the general public way too much credit. While only 22% belive what Fox says, I am sure that our side is another 22%. Which leave 56% of the population completely uninformed. We like to claim credit for the other 56%, they are not liberals. They are uniformed masses that people like Karl Rove can easily take advantage of as was seen in the run up to Iraq.
Proof?
A lot more than 22% of the American public still believe Saddam had something to do with 9/11.
In my line of work (PR) we call it “believing our own BS.”
Don’t fool yourself into thinking that America has woken up to the criminals in Washington. They haven’t. They are still uninformed.
How many people voted in 2004? 100 million? That is 1/3 of the country. So, you can put the number of uniformed out of touch people at at least 200 million in this country.
Does propaganda work? Heck yes. Will that change any time soon? Nope.
Us liberals and our resident trolls can argue all day long about who is right and who is wrong, we are already set in our ways and most likely won’t change. The uninformed masses in America are controlled via the right wing owned propaganda stations on TV. Specifically the 30 news bite during the commercial break during Dancing with the Stars.
May 9th, 2007 at 4:16 pmThe “Rapid Reaction Media Team” - taking a page from the Dem Playbook authored by James Carville and George Stephanopolous……..
TP, your whining has to stop.
May 9th, 2007 at 4:17 pmIf that was true Faux News would be out of business. O’Reilly would be sitting on a corner somewhere twiddling his thumbs. People want to read & hear stuff that they already believe. They don’t question the media when it supports what they want to believe. Therefore Bush tried to sell a story that people would want, whether reality supported it or not. They’re using the same plan in Iraq that is used in the U.S.
Comment by Dave C — May 9, 2007 @ 4:02 pm
One other key difference between the propaganda spewed by Faux News and this plan to manage message in Iraq — the typical Faux viewer is going to have his perceptions reinforced by what he watches, but isn’t generally going to have them challenged by the world outside his door. He’s never met Nancy Pelosi, so it’s easy for him to assume she’s a typical corrupt Democrat. He’s never been and will never go to iraq, so it’s easy for him to believe that the damn librul media isn’t showing him any of the “good” news.
If, on the other hand, his neighborhood was under seige and his neighbors were taken out in the street and shot, I imagine he’d have a tough time swallowing the Faux news reports that the situation in his neighborhood is “improving”.
May 9th, 2007 at 4:17 pmThe “Rapid Reaction Media Team†- taking a page from the Dem Playbook authored by James Carville and George Stephanopolous……..
TP, your whining has to stop.
Comment by valiant venus — May 9, 2007 @ 4:17 pm
Pure projection, from the whiny resident Nazi H*llb*tch…
May 9th, 2007 at 4:19 pmAh, good old cronyism at work. Shaha Ali Riza: she seems to be a regular Mata Hari. Who is she working for? She certainly seems to have become fabulously wealthy doing nothing but squeezing Wolfie’s hand and telling him to come back with his shield or on it.
May 9th, 2007 at 4:20 pmGood fu*king lord!
Does George Bush only know 20 people?
Jebus friggin christmas when are the right wing nut trolls going to finally figure out that they are being had?
May 9th, 2007 at 4:20 pmJebus friggin christmas when are the right wing nut trolls going to finally figure out that they are being had? Comment by Spudge_Boy — May 9, 2007 @ 4:20 pm
They don’t *want* to figure it out - because then just like Bush they’d have to admit they are *wrong*!!! Then they’d have to question every other wingnut belief they have - won’t happen…
May 9th, 2007 at 4:24 pmThe “Rapid Reaction Media Team†- taking a page from the Dem Playbook authored by James Carville and George Stephanopolous……..
TP, your whining has to stop.
Comment by valiant venus — May 9, 2007 @ 4:17 pm
What playbook … how about a link.
And of course you could always go somewhere that people agree with your perspective and you wouldn’t hear the whining here. Believe me, nobody would miss you here.
May 9th, 2007 at 4:27 pmWhere does the “greeted as liberators” stuff fit in this scenario??
May 9th, 2007 at 4:27 pmComment by ValiantVenusGrewFromUranus — May 9, 2007 @ 4:19 pm
Glad you’re here. Haven’t seen you around this week and nobody handles vv like you do!
May 9th, 2007 at 4:29 pmWELL MY GOD YOULL NEED IT IN THE NEXT COUPLE DAYS
Iraqi Union Set to Strike over Oil Law
Iraq’s largest oil workers’ trade union will strike tomorrow, in protest at the controversial oil law currently being considered by the Iraqi parliament. The move threatens to stop all oil exports from Iraq.
The oil law proposes giving multinational companies the primary role in developing Iraq’s huge untapped oilfields, under contracts lasting up to 30 years. Oil production in Iraq, like in most of the Middle East, has been in the public sector since the 1970s. Continue reading ‘Iraqi Union Set to Strike over Oil Law’
http://priceofoil.org
May 9th, 2007 at 4:29 pm122.5 million. We didn’t get our money’s worth.
May 9th, 2007 at 4:29 pmWhere does the “greeted as liberators†stuff fit in this scenario??
Comment by Ben Dover — May 9, 2007 @ 4:27 pm
That is so 4 years ago!
May 9th, 2007 at 4:30 pmRemoving independant news sources was also part of that plan by bombing Al-Jazeera and shooting reporters.
May 9th, 2007 at 4:31 pmIraqi’s are literate? Who knew?
May 9th, 2007 at 4:32 pmvaliantthevenushater would never go elsewhere. All the rightwing nutbar sites turn off their comments. Besides, that’s not what she’s paid to do. She’s paid to make farting noises on this forum. Didn’t you see that the RRMT got $120 million? That sure didn’t go to the Iraqi media. It was funneled back to the USA to buy favorable war coverage on this side of the pond. And to hire trolls to divide the progressive liberals. Just another page out of the Nixon/Agnew playbook.
May 9th, 2007 at 4:34 pmAnd they couldn’t do that right. Talk about paying lots of money to imcompetent people. Only in the Bush Crime Family.
May 9th, 2007 at 4:38 pmYes, yes, Tobey Tall, we get it. Operation Iraq iLiberation. Oil. Yes, yes. But the strike will have little effect on us. There is not that much Iraqi oil being pumped right now.
What it does mean is that the Iraqi Parliament is likely to ask the UN to cancel the Coalition’s mandate and send them packing. That will be embarrassing for Mr Bush. As for Blair, well, he’s history. And it sounds as if fellow Scot Brown will change direction in the Middle East.
May 9th, 2007 at 4:39 pmJebus friggin christmas when are the right wing nut trolls going to finally figure out that they are being had?
Comment by Spudge_Boy
well, they would have to become smart first.
May 9th, 2007 at 4:41 pmThe current TP trolls just don’t have what it takes for critical thinking.
She’s paid to make farting noises on this forum. Didn’t you see that the RRMT got $120 million? That sure didn’t go to the Iraqi media. It was funneled back to the USA to buy favorable war coverage on this side of the pond. And to hire trolls to divide the progressive liberals. Just another page out of the Nixon/Agnew playbook.
Comment by david — May 9, 2007 @ 4:34 pm
Oh, that’s the stench whenever vv’s around. I was afraid it was my brain dying a little every time I read one of here bile filled post.
May 9th, 2007 at 4:41 pmWe must remove these fascist bastards post haste!
May 9th, 2007 at 4:43 pmDear me, Mr President, what have you been smoking?
What an insulting comment! I should point out that there is no apostrophe in “Iraqis”. It would seem you’re illiterate. “Iraqi’s” either means “of Iraqi” or “Iraqi is” –neither of which make sense here. So, order out a pizza, Mr President, your brain could do with a massage.
May 9th, 2007 at 4:44 pmBy the way, what’s the psychological impact of the Iraqis figuring out that the American forces were subverting their media to overstate the real Iraqi influence in the new government?
I’m guessing not good for us…
Hi. Misinformation generally comes out eventually. Better not to use it. Seriously, what’s so hard about honesty? And if you’re not going to be honest, for Christ’s sake, make sure you’re competent enough for it not to come out, or to achieve your desired goals before it does.
“Feith is the dumbest mother f*cker on the face of the planet.” No kidding.
May 9th, 2007 at 4:47 pmJebus friggin christmas when are the right wing nut trolls going to finally figure out that they are being had? Comment by Spudge_Boy — May 9, 2007 @ 4:20 pm
They don’t *want* to figure it out - because then just like Bush they’d have to admit they are *wrong*!!! Then they’d have to question every other wingnut belief they have - won’t happen…
Comment by ValiantVenusGrewFromUranus — May 9, 2007 @ 4:24 pm
Spudge & VVGFU,
I agree with VVGFU. This is an emotional issue and not about facts or reality. VVGFU puts it very simply and not professorially as I would be inclined to do. Everything that happens in our lives involves an emotional issue that we have to confront. We really live by emotional drives and not facts, unfortunately.
The issues here that VVGFU (please correct me if I am reading you wrong here VVGFU) references are fear (of change) and shame (the loss of respect and all the consequences that go with that.) If they ever so much as doubt or question even one small thing, everything that they believe in and live for might, they fear, come crashing to the ground.
As VVGFU says, it “won’t happen…”
May 9th, 2007 at 4:48 pmAnd it worked pretty darn well didn’t it…the media plan on the US, I mean.
Maybe next time they should just have Rupert Murdoch buy Al Jazeera before they attack.
May 9th, 2007 at 4:48 pmCan we get our money back?
May 9th, 2007 at 4:49 pmToo bad it didn’t work. If they could have used the media to control Iraqi public opinion half as well as they use it to control red state public opinion here, several thousand American soldiers might still be alive. Maybe Iraqis just aren’t as stupid as Sean Hannity’s audience.
But whether the plan was ethical or not, it was executed with supreme incompetence. What else is new?
May 9th, 2007 at 4:54 pmCouldn’t they have saved a whole lot of money by piping in Faux News with Iraqi subtitles?
May 9th, 2007 at 4:57 pm#36-David: “What it does mean is that the Iraqi Parliament is likely to ask the UN to cancel the Coalition’s mandate and send them packing. That will be embarrassing for Mr Bush. As for Blair, well, he’s history. And it sounds as if fellow Scot Brown will change direction in the Middle East.”
May 9th, 2007 at 5:01 pmWow, this would be huge news. Bush and Cheney doubled down and rolled the dice on the oil. No wonder Cheney’s frantically waddling around all over the Middle East.
But who is Scot Brown?
“What? You expected them to sit on their hands and let you to spread your anti-war propaganda that runs contrary to their interests?”
Wow… half a dozen logical fallacies in a single statement. Nice going!
“You act outraged when the Pentagon does what has been done in every war since the dawn of time: propaganda.”
Not quite. We expect the Pentagon and the White House to issue press releases that are optimistic. And with this administration, we fully expect those releases to be factually challenged. But to run a full-fledged secret propaganda campaign, planting fake unsourced stories in local media? Paying local writers and local newspapers to take those stories? And counting on those propaganda stories to make their way back to the U.S.? I’d say that’s worth a bit of outrage.
May 9th, 2007 at 5:02 pmThat would be the case if we were all sitting in an auditorium ripping on each other and one of them came to the realization that they were wrong. It would be at that point that all the things you point out would happen.
But, we are all posting “anonymously” on a blog. Any of the trolls could say to themselves “Wow, have I been wrong.” and then come here, change their style a little bit and post under a different anem and nobody would know the difference.
This means that the trolls have a lot bigger problem than you think.
May 9th, 2007 at 5:03 pmShanette - You’ve heard of the WAR Room? It’s a documentary about the Rapid Response Team Bill Clinton’s campaign consultants devised in 1991. It’s on DVD (sorry no book with pictures).
Isn’t it nice of TP to keep letting you post when you contribute….nothing….(Your insults aren’t even original.) WHAT exactly DO you do?
May 9th, 2007 at 5:05 pmWell, I have to say that it must be really hard for the good old propaganda machine to make up a freaking bomb in a mosque as a fountain of renewal fire.
May 9th, 2007 at 5:07 pm“The ‘Rapid Reaction Media Team’ - taking a page from the Dem Playbook authored by James Carville and George Stephanopolous”
ROFL… My goodness, but this was lame. Do you really have so little to work with these days? I mean, this wasn’t even a remotely relevant “But, but, but, Clinton!!!!” post
“TP, your whining has to stop.”
LOL… Oh, the irony of this particular poster complaining about “whining,” when her every post here is a whine about evil liberals, most of whom exist solely in her own mind. Dear heart, those were our tax dollars used in an operation that is highly embarrassing and highly damaging to our national interests. We’re just so sorry that you’re having trouble understanding this.
May 9th, 2007 at 5:09 pmThis is R-I-C-H……Merlin psychoanalyzing VVGFU!! LOL!!! You’re not a professional in the mental health field, are you? Do you accept honorariums????
May 9th, 2007 at 5:10 pm“It’s a documentary about the Rapid Response Team Bill Clinton’s campaign consultants devised in 1991.”
Yes, dear. It was a communication strategy to deal with the negative press about Bill Clinton. It was run by private individuals and it was completely open and transparent, both in its purpose and in its execution. It also bears no resemblance to anything under discussion here, which leads us to wonder whether you actually do have anything relevant to say. Do you, dear?
“Isn’t it nice of TP to keep letting you post when you contribute….nothing….”
ROFLMAO… Oh, the irony… Dear heart, considering your own contribution to this thread, you probably shouldn’t be criticizing others.
“(Your insults aren’t even original.)”
As compared to your sparkling repartee, dear? People in glass houses and all that, dear…
“WHAT exactly DO you do?”
Alas, we know precisely what you are doing, dear. Personally, we find it to be rather pathetic, but if that’s how you want to spend your time, far be it for us to criticize. TTFN, dear.
May 9th, 2007 at 5:15 pmAuntie Valiant, PLEEEEZE!
I don’t want any of your new stories! I wanna hear some of your really cool old stories!
I wanna hear the YELLOWCAKE story!
I wanna hear the ALUMINUM TUBES story!
I wanna hear the WMDs story!
I wanna hear the NIGER DOCUMENTS story!
Pretty PLEEEEZE?
May 9th, 2007 at 5:19 pmmidwestblue - Wow, this would be huge news. Bush and Cheney doubled down and rolled the dice on the oil. No wonder Cheney’s frantically waddling around all over the Middle East.
yes very big news ……… now you know why Cheney is there in Baghdad , Its the only sign of Victory for Bush and Cheney is IRAQ OIL,
May 9th, 2007 at 5:21 pmIf Bush and Cheney loss the Oil they will lose the last 28% - End of Bush
on the other hand if they get the Oil - Rebubs will win again and be 5-10 trillion better off
May 9th, 2007 at 5:26 pm#10 Comment by Dave C — May 9, 2007 @ 4:02 pm
“People want to read & hear stuff that they already believe. They don’t question the media when it supports what they want to believe. Therefore Bush tried to sell a story that people would want, whether reality supported it or not.”
This is spot on, Dave C!
After the fact of 911, BushCo manipulated the public through their emotions. Facts were distorted and deception used to goad the public into an angry revengeful “mob”. Get Sadaam was the battle cry and most of the country was fooled.
Like any good “confidence” scheme, the mark (read, American public) did not know they had been “had” until 3 years later. (As a “confidence team” BushCo, with Rove as the real con man, is very good at what they do!) That public awareness was shown in the election of ‘06. Now, instead of being pissed at Sadaam, the public is pissed at BushCo for duping them. Unlike a con man who fades away after duping the mark, Bushco had no where to go and the whole sordid scheme fell apart.
May 9th, 2007 at 5:30 pmI believe that BushCo thought they would have the country completely under their control before the confidence scheme would be discovered. Then it would be too late!
They came close with the patriot act, perpetual war, unitary presidency, judicial control and media absorbsion into their program. But close only counts in horseshoes…
#49 Comment by Spudge_Boy — May 9, 2007 @ 5:03 pm
That would be the case if we were all sitting in an auditorium ripping on each other and one of them came to the realization that they were wrong. It would be at that point that all the things you point out would happen.
But, we are all posting “anonymously†on a blog. Any of the trolls could say to themselves “Wow, have I been wrong.†and then come here, change their style a little bit and post under a different anem and nobody would know the difference.
This means that the trolls have a lot bigger problem than you think.
Hi Spudge_Boy
Yes, I agree that trolls have a huge problem. And I said that in that post. Quoting me:
“If they ever so much as doubt or question even one small thing, everything that they believe in and live for, might, they fear, come crashing to the ground.”
On your other thought, this has nothing to do with a “real audience”. It is what goes on inside their own head. Outside their head can be gotten around by, as you indicated, going somewhere else, finding diferent people etc. The real problem is that you can’t run away from yourself. Ask anybody that has been in psychotherapy and they will tell you that. The real fear is inside yourself. This potential devistation of their fantasy must be fought and avoided at all cost. Classic example is George W.
May 9th, 2007 at 5:46 pmRapid Response Team Bill Clinton’s campaign consultants devised in 1991. It’s on DVD (sorry no book with pictures).
Comment by valiant venus — May 9, 2007 @
So a “Rapid Response Team” used during an election is the same as the “Rapid Reaction Media Team” to be used to control Iraqi media?
Ahahahahaha, ahahahahaha, gasp. Your are one funny little nitwit. Don’t you have to go vomit something up?
May 9th, 2007 at 6:29 pmOh, we are wayyyyyy on the same page. I was just giving more proof that they have a more serious condition and will never admit they were wrong. These people think Joseph McCarthy and Richard Nixon are great people.
May 9th, 2007 at 6:35 pm#60 Comment by Spudge_Boy — May 9, 2007 @ 6:35 pm
Oh, we are wayyyyyy on the same page.
Yes, I know that, and I enjoy your posts. I took the opportunity to expand the thought for anyone else who might be interested. How many people, outside of those who study psychology or have been to therapy understand that? Even here, there are some folks that are confused and say, “How can they, BushCo, not see the facts?” or “They must be stupid!”.
And that is why I wrote the post on the way BushCo opperated a very efficient “confidence scheme.” Refer to post #57 above. I would venture most people in this country do not have a clue about how sweetly the public was professionally conned. It is all about emotions and not facts or reality. It is all about the fantasy they pass off as reality.
(A great book on Confidence schemes is “Yhe Big Con” by Maurer. It was written in 1938 and a movie was made based on it in the 70s I believe. Still available in paperback.)
We all need to understand the emotional workings of life or we will continue to be duped. Then it will be a new group, different con scheme appealing to the same emotions of fear, shame & guilt. Pearl Harbor, Gulf of Tonkin, Iraq. Same story, different times, appealing to the same emotions. Result? The same, a war. Justified and glorified as usual with the MSM being the trumpet.
May 9th, 2007 at 7:04 pmExactly.
I say on these blogs that the republicans are idiots, that they are stupid, etc.
But they aren’t and that is the scary part. Bush is playing the part of bumbling idiot. He isn’t really an idiot, he is evil. There is a huge difference.
May 9th, 2007 at 7:07 pmShanette - You’ve heard of the WAR Room? It’s a documentary about the Rapid Response Team Bill Clinton’s campaign consultants devised in 1991. It’s on DVD (sorry no book with pictures). Comment by valiant venus — May 9, 2007 @ 5:05 pm
Yeah, to counter the *propaganda* you wingnuts generally use to dishonestly smear (swiftboats anyone?) candidates. Yet, what again does that have to do with the government trying to *control* the media in Iraq? Or do you conflate the two - being a Nazi Wingnut?
Isn’t it nice of TP to keep letting you post when you contribute….nothing….(Your insults aren’t even original.) WHAT exactly DO you do? Comment by valiant venus — May 9, 2007 @ 5:05 pm
Pure projection as usual. What did you write on here the other day? You don’t come here to *contribute* anything, just to attack people with hate and sarcasm? You already admitted that was your goal here wingnut st*pid c*nt - yet all you can do is now accuse others of what you admitted to yourself? Sad, st*pid pathetic little c*nt. What a loser you are child…
May 9th, 2007 at 7:08 pmMeanwhile in UK, two whistleblowers who have evidence Bush wanted to bomb AlJazeera are going to jail. Impeachment is off the table.
May 9th, 2007 at 7:23 pm“The NSA Tuesday also released an audit by the Pentagon’s Inspector-General regarding two dozen, mostly non-competitive contracts totalling 122.5 million dollars awarded by the defence department to three defence contractors that carried out media-related activities in Iraq after the invasion.â€
Well, I say the American taxpayers are due a refund. They didn’t do their job. This is so disgusting it boggles the mind.
May 9th, 2007 at 7:33 pmToo bad they didn’t have a rapid response team to secure the weapons and explosives that were getting looted by the truckload after the invasion. Shows what they were concerned about.
May 9th, 2007 at 7:37 pm“…122.5 million dollars awarded by the defence department to three defence contractors …”
Yo Think Progress, think “spell check” for “defence” sic.
May 9th, 2007 at 9:08 pmThough–Iraqis are used to state propaganda and take everything told to them officially with large shakers of salt. I do not believe it would have worked, anyway.
Americans are more gullible.
May 9th, 2007 at 11:06 pmThe U.S. media knows there is no “democracy in Iraq, yet they NEVER challenge this falsehood.
May 10th, 2007 at 2:27 amThe Military controls Iraqis prisons, with over 20,000 in prison and the Iraqi “intelligence service”is controlled by..drum roll..U.S.military.
EVERY ministry has a U.S. “adviser” and their oil board has U.S. oil executives.
Bremmer issued order 39 the day he got there, that sold off Iraqi banks, opening them up for 100 % foreign ownership, when Saddam limited foreign ownership to THIRTY PERCENT and there’s a lot, lot more.
The U.S. media is totally complicit in the occupation of Iraq.
Could this mean that reports about Iraqis being happy about the invasion were the result of propaganda?
Did our own media pass on this propaganda effect to us?
Martin Gifford.
May 10th, 2007 at 4:33 am>WHAT exactly DO you do? Valiant Megan the Penus
Where did you go to law school, what is a passing score on the bar exam, and how many days did the exam take you? Did you have to take any other tests to become a lawyer?
May 10th, 2007 at 5:54 amThe Rendon Group was instrumental in producing the testimony of the witnesses in this video.
May 10th, 2007 at 7:02 amhttp://video.google.com/ videoplay?docid=2068209706002999721&q=kuwait+incubators
Pre-War Pentagon Memo Reveals Plan For ‘Rapid Reaction Media Team’ To Control Iraqi Media
The shelling of Hotel Palestine and the bombing of Al Jazeera was part of the plan? Most probably yes.
May 10th, 2007 at 7:43 amwe can all be sure that the propaganda plan was NOT only for the Iraqi people… bet your ass that it included control of the “message” domestically as well.
May 10th, 2007 at 8:58 amPay Day Loans
can be found to be charming and encouraging result to budgeting subscriber in the eletronic highway.
April 13th, 2008 at 7:23 am