Iraq

Can a PR Front Group Run Iraq?

by Sheldon Rampton — February 20, 2003 - 11:00pm

PR Watch has previously written about the origins of the Iraqi National Congress (INC) as a PR front group created by the Rendon Group, which has nevertheless become the Bush administration's preferred source for "intelligence" about Iraq. Now an internal fight is bubbling over INC's plan to actually become the government of Iraq after a U.S. invasion.

Main Source: 
The Guardian (UK), February 21, 2003

Self-fulfilling Prophecies?

by Sheldon Rampton — February 19, 2003 - 11:00pm

As the nation marches toward war in the Middle East, millions of Americans believe in Biblical prophecies of Armageddon that predict war and mass slaughters of Jews and Muslims. "Genocide, in short, becomes the ultimate means of prophetic fulfillment," writes historian Paul Boyer. "Without close attention to the prophetic scenario embraced by millions of American citizens, the current political climate in the United States cannot be fully understood. ...

Main Source: 
AlterNet.org, February 20, 2003

Their Master's Voice

by Sheldon Rampton — February 16, 2003 - 11:00pm

"You have got to admit that Rupert Murdoch is one canny press tycoon because he has an unerring ability to choose editors across the world who think just like him," writes Roy Greenslade. "How else can we explain the extraordinary unity of thought in his newspaper empire about the need to make war on Iraq?" Murdoch publishes 40 million papers a week and dominates the newspaper markets in Britain, Australia and New Zealand, and none "has dared to croon the anti-war tune.

Main Source: 
The Guardian (UK), February 17, 2003

Spin Caught in Web Trap

by Sheldon Rampton — February 16, 2003 - 11:00pm

"When Allied forces were last on their way to the Gulf in 1991, the Internet was little more than a gaggle of bearded academics swapping information on their latest computer programs," reports Owen Gibson. Today, however, the web "is opening up a world of different perspectives and viewpoints. ...

Main Source: 
The Guardian (UK), February 17, 2003

Millions March for Peace

by Sheldon Rampton — February 14, 2003 - 11:00pm

More than 11 million people worldwide turned out to demonstrate against a war with Iraq, with demonstrations in Eastern and Western Europe, Oceania and Latin America.

Main Source: 
Independent Media Center, February 15, 2003

Fitz-Pegado's Progress

by Sheldon Rampton — February 11, 2003 - 11:51pm

As an employee of the Hill & Knowlton PR firm, Lauri Fitz-Pegado helped coach Nayirah, the 15-year-old daughter of Kuwait's ambassadors whose false testimony about Iraqi atrocities helped build public suport for the first U.S. war in the Persian Gulf. Participating in one of the most scandalous PR scams of the 1990s hasn't hurt her career, though. After Operation Desert Storm, she went to work for Iridium LLC, a satellite phone company that went bankrupt a few years later.

Main Source: 
http://www.fitzpinternational.com/

Feb. 15th NYC Peace Rally A "Go", but March Still A "No"

by John Stauber — February 11, 2003 - 11:00pm

The United for Peace and Justice coalition has secured a rally location for the New York city anti-war protest on February 15, announcing that "this massive, peaceful demonstration to stop the Iraq war will go forward no matter what. But in an outrageous attack on our civil liberties, Federal Judge Barbara Jones ruled ... that we may only hold a stationary rally. ... This fight is about far more than one protest march; it's about how much political space for dissent there will be in this country for the foreseeable future.

Main Source: 
United for Peace, February 12, 2003

Lying Us Into War

by Sheldon Rampton — February 9, 2003 - 11:00pm

"President George W. Bush and his foreign-policy team have systematically and knowingly deceived the American people in order to gain support for an unprovoked attack on Iraq," writes writer and college communications instructor Dennis Hans, who tallies 15 "techniques of deceit" that Bush has used "to deceive the very people most inclined to trust him."

Main Source: 
Scoop (New Zealand), February 10, 2003

Spies vs. Lies

by Sheldon Rampton — February 8, 2003 - 11:00pm

"Tony Blair and George Bush are encountering an unexpected obstacle in their campaign for war against Iraq - their own intelligence agencies," reports Raymond Whitaker.

Main Source: 
New Zealand Herald, February 9, 2003

The Truth Behind Powell's "Poison Factory"

by Sheldon Rampton — February 8, 2003 - 11:00pm

"If Colin Powell were to visit the shabby military compound at the foot of a large snow-covered mountain, he might be in for an unpleasant surprise," reports Luke Harding. "The US Secretary of State last week confidently described the compound in north-eastern Iraq - run by an Islamic terrorist group Ansar al-Islam - as a 'terrorist chemicals and poisons factory.' Yesterday, however, it emerged that the terrorist factory was nothing of the kind - more a dilapidated collection of concrete outbuildings at the foot of a grassy sloping hill.

Main Source: 
Observer (UK), February 9, 2003
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