Iraq

Latest WMD Spin: From the 'Big Lie' to the 'Big Impact'

Submitted by John Stauber on July 31, 2003 - 11:00pm

Columnists for the Washington Times write that "the Pentagon adopted a new strategy in its search for Iraq's weapons of mass destruction. It is called the 'big impact' plan. The plan calls for gathering and holding on to all the information now being collected about the weapons. Rather than releasing its findings piecemeal, defense officials will release a comprehensive report on the arms, perhaps six months from now.

Main Source:

Washington Times, August 1, 2003

Topics:

Iraq

Propaganda

U.S. Government

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Photos of Hussein Sons 'PR Disaster'

Submitted by Laura Miller on July 31, 2003 - 11:00pm

The photographs released by the Bush Administration of Uday and Qusay Hussein's dead bodies have provoked strong reactions throughout the world. The Guardian's Mark Borkowski writes in his column Stuntwatch: "What was the Bush administration's motivation in making the images public and how did the outcomes relate to the stated objectives? Since this is war, this is PR and the Uday and Qusay photograph incident, planned as a surgical media strike, has turned mucky (both in media and military terms) because no one had the sense to think through the PR implications properly.

Main Source:

Guardian, August 1, 2003

Topics:

Iraq

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Payback

Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on July 29, 2003 - 11:00pm

After retired diplomat Joe Wilson exposed the dishonesty of White House claims about Iraqi attempts to buy uranium in Niger, senior administration officials retaliated by outing his wife, an undercover CIA agent. Senator Charles Schumer is calling for an investigation, pointing out that it is a felony to leak a CIA agent's identity.

Main Source:

The Hill, July 30, 2003

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White House Fumbles On 16-Word Crisis

Submitted by Laura Miller on July 23, 2003 - 11:00pm

"If President Bush's White House is known for anything, it is competence at delivering a disciplined message and deftness in dealing with bad news," Washington Post's Dan Balz and Walter Pincus write. "That reputation has been badly damaged by the administration's clumsy efforts to explain how a statement based on disputed intelligence ended up in the president's State of the Union address." The shifting White House story about it's references to Iraq, Niger and uranium continues to draw attention to the Bush administration deception.

Main Source:

Washington Post, July 24, 2003

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Moran's War

Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on July 22, 2003 - 11:00pm

During the war in Iraq, Paul Moran, a TV cameraman for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), was killed by a suicide bomber. After his death, his hometown newspaper discovered that Moran also worked for the Rendon Group, a secretive public relations firm that works with the Pentagon.

Main Source:

Special Broadcasting Service (Australia), July 23, 2003

Topics:

Iraq

Propaganda

Miller's 2nd Draft of History

Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on July 22, 2003 - 11:00pm

New York Times reporter Judith Miller has begun revising her first draft of history, some two months after her widely criticized stories made the case that evidence of Saddam's unconventional weapons was being found.

Main Source:

Editor and Publisher, July 23, 2003

Topics:

Iraq

Journalism

Ethics

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Dissent in Stars and Stripes

Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on July 21, 2003 - 11:00pm

"As frustration over their lengthening deployment grows among troops in Iraq, soldiers are smacking head-on into limits on their public speech," writes Steve Liewer, a correspondent for the European version of Stars and Stripes magazine. Troops interviewed in Germany and Iraq say they have been briefed to refer questions to a public affairs specialist and that soldiers have been getting in trouble for speaking out. "I'm not comfortable telling you what I really think, and I'm not going to lie to you, so it's better if I just don't say anything," said one soldier.

Main Source:

Stars and Stripes, July 22, 2003

Topics:

Iraq

Secrecy

U.S. Government

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Witch Hunts And PR Blunders In The UK

Submitted by Laura Miller on July 21, 2003 - 11:00pm

"In England, they shot the messenger," the Los Angeles Times' Robert Scheer writes, referring to the apparent suicide of British biological weapons expert David Kelly. The scientist, who worked for the British Ministry of Defense, found himself at the center of a battle between the British government and the BBC over a BBC report that the government "sexed up" a September 2002 intelligence dossier on Iraq's weapons.

Main Source:

Alternet, July 22, 2003

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Hyping A Hero

Submitted by Laura Miller on July 21, 2003 - 11:00pm

"Jessica Lynch, the wounded Army private whose ordeal in Iraq was hyped into a media fiction of U.S. heroism, was set for an emotional homecoming on Tuesday in a rural West Virginia community bristling with flags, yellow ribbons and TV news trucks," Reuters reports. "But when the 20-year-old supply clerk arrives by Blackhawk helicopter to the embrace of family and friends, media critics say the TV cameras will not show the return of an injured soldier so much as a reality-TV drama co-produced by U.S. government propaganda and credulous reporters.

Main Source:

Reuters, July 22, 2003

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The War of Spin

Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on July 19, 2003 - 11:00pm

David Kelly, the scientist whose suicide marked a tragic twist in the unfolding controversy over British intelligence dossiers that supported the war in Iraq, was "ripped apart in the middle" of a "war of spin," said an editor at the British Broadcasting Corporation. The BBC has come under intense criticism for its reports alleging that top British officials "sexed up" the dossiers, and now it is being criticized on grounds that its reports may have contributed to Kelly's suicide. "Yes, we had a role in it," the editor said.

Main Source:

Daily Telegraph, July 20, 2003

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