Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on
British public relations consultant Liz Harrop, who specializes in "public awareness activity for human rights campaigning organisations and humanitarian projects," has written a report that analyzes the relationship between war propaganda and human rights, focusing on the U.S. and British governments in relation to the Iraqi rabbit hole. "States wage war in the name of peace and democracy," she writes. "Yet war propaganda can violate human rights and undermine the democratic principles it seeks to champion. Despite this it is rarely acknowledged, by the media, governments, or even anti-war campaigners, that war propaganda is illegal under international human rights law. ... As a point of optimism, although war propaganda diminishes human rights, so respect for human rights can diminish the effects of war propaganda. Accurate and timely human rights investigations can dispel the propaganda and rumours which fan the flames of conflict."