Fine-Tuning the Sell Job for the Next War

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"The basis of the whole thing was, 'we're going to go into Iran and what do we have to do to get you guys to go along with it,'" said Laura Sonnenmark, a participant in a recent focus group apparently funded by the Republican-associated lobbying group Freedom's Watch. Sonnenmark, a "focus group regular," said the moderator "used lots of catch phrases, like 'victory' and 'failure is not an option.'" She added, "I've never seen a moderator who was so persistent in manipulating and leading the participants." The final questions of the session were: "How would you feel if Hillary [Clinton] bombed Iran? How would you feel if George Bush bombed Iran? And how would you feel if Israel bombed Iran?" Neither the firm involved, Martin Focus Groups, nor Freedom's Watch would confirm that the organization funded the focus group. But focus group participants were handed a flier with a Freedom's Watch logo, and the group has advocated for confronting Iran, organizing forums on the "threat" posed by the country, and running ads calling the Iranian president a "terrorist."