Iraq

Historic Moment or Staged Publicity Shot?

"One of the ' HREF="http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2003-04-09-statue-flag_x.htm"
target="_blank">most memorable images of the war' is created when U.S. troops pull down the statue of Saddam Hussein in Fardus Square. ... The entire event is being hailed as an equivalent of the Berlin Wall falling...

US Flag Banned in Iraq

"Today, the Army, seeking to demonstrate that its troops in Iraq are 'liberators' and not 'conquerors' barred any display of the American flag on vehicles, buildings, statues, and command posts. The order, which effectively halts the display of the flag virtually anywhere in Iraq, except the United States Embassy, said that flying the flag on buildings in Iraq would only reenforce the anti-American message that the military was 'here to oppress the Iraqis.' "

The Rest of the World

Round-the-clock coverage of the war in Iraq has eclipsed a host of bad-news stories from the rest of the world, including a massacre in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Israeli killings and detentions in the West Bank, and a crackdown on dissidents in Cuba. According to Curt Goering of Amnesty International USA, the virtual exclusion of most other international news has provide an opportunity for repressive authorities to settle old scores. "That's been a fear that we had even before the war started," Goering said.

Pentagon PR Star Torie Clarke Embeds the Press

Bill Berkowitz writes that "a relatively quick war against an overwhelmed and outmatched foe -- sanitized of civilian casualties -- has been a tonic for a Pentagon hungry for good publicity. ... Embedding reporters is the brainchild of Victoria 'Torie' Clarke, the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs. Clarke brings considerable PR experience to the task of winning the spin war.

"It's The Policy, Stupid"

"The front line in the war for hearts and minds in the Arab world and
beyond is here, at the U.S. Central Command headquarters and media
center," writes the New York Times' Nicholas Kristof from Doha, Qatar. Kristof gives the Bush administration credit for reaching out to the foreign press, noting that Al Jazeera was assigned a front row seat for press briefings while the Times was in the second row. But he suggests international journalists see through the spin.

"This is propaganda," a Chinese journalist told Kristof at a U.S. military briefing in Doha.

Dealing With The Truth

"The Office of Global Communications, a controversial agency created by President Bush in January, has blossomed into a huge production company, issuing daily scripts on the Iraq war to U.S. spokesmen around the world, auditioning generals to give media briefings and booking administration stars on foreign news shows," the Chicago Tribune's Bob Kemper reports. "The communications office helps devise and coordinate each day's talking points on the war.

Core Values In Times of Crisis

"If you want your core values to mean anything, you have to live them 24 hours a day, seven days a week. And you cannot simply abandon them in times of crisis," PR Week columnist (and weblogger) Paul Holmes writes in his Holmes Report.

Twisted Language To Justify The Unjustifiable

"Why do we aid and abet the lies and propaganda of this filthy war?" asked the Independent's Robert Fisk. "How come, for example, it's now BBC 'style' to describe the Anglo-American invaders as the 'coalition'. This is a lie. ... The Iraqis try to imitate the US Central Command (CentCom) propaganda operations, though with less subtlety. ... Then there's the famous "war in Iraq" slogan which the British and American media like to promote. But this is an invasion, not a mere war. ...

Propaganda Points

"If till now the coalition forces have been the ones surprised by the apathy of the Iraqi population and the cool welcome given them, apparently it is now Saddam Hussein's turn to be surprised," writes Zvi Bar'el. "The initial pictures from the battle for Baghdad show Iraqi citizens starting to wave cautiously to the U.S. and British soldiers bearing down on the capital.

Lives Per Gallon? Real Patriots Drive Hummers!

"While the Humvees are lined up in the desert, their cousins, the Hummers, continue to be Detroit's hottest seller. .... Rick Schmidt, founder of IHOG, the
International Hummer Owners Group
, said: 'In my humble opinion ... it's a symbol of what we all hold so dearly above all else, the fact we have the freedom of choice, the freedom of happiness, the freedom of adventure and discovery, and the ultimate freedom of expression.

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