Shut Up and Fight

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General John Abizaid, the new chief of U.S. Central Command, has issued a threat aimed at U.S. soldiers who complain publicly about the situation in Iraq. "Some U.S. troops in Iraq have complained publicly about the uncertainty of when they are returning home," write Will Dunham and Michael Georgy. "A group of soldiers aired their concerns on U.S. television on Wednesday, speaking of poor morale and disillusionment with Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. Abizaid said troops who criticized Rumsfeld in comments to reporters faced possible 'verbal reprimand or something more stringent' from their commanders." But Abizaid himself is contradicting Rumsfeld, who has refused to characterize the situation in Iraq as a guerrilla war. According to Abizaid, U.S. forces are facing "a classical guerrilla-type campaign against us. It's low-intensity conflict in our doctrinal terms, but it's war however you describe it." Why did we get into this mess to begin with? In an interview with Australian radio broadcaster Mick O'Regan, PR Watch editor Sheldon Rampton discusses our new book, Weapons of Mass Deception, about the propaganda used to lead American, British and Australian soldiers into war.