Blowback
November 30th, 2005 - 10:00 pm
Pick an international boogeyman, any international boogeyman, sometime in the not-too-distant future. It could be Red Chinese Hordes, done eating up East Asia and hungry for more. It could be the Apocalyptic Army of the Caliphate, storming our gates to install sharia over America. A resurgent, revanchist Russia. Nazis. Heavily-armed Jehovah’s Witnesses.
Whomever you chose, imagine that they’ve invaded our great nation. We’re at war
What we’ve been selling over there is freedom, including freedom of the press. This little project doesn’t help us sell that.
You’ve written about the power of the media in this war. It would be nice if the administration were to better factor the media into their strategy–and I don’t mean to write phony news stories, I mean to consider the negative impact if something like this project or, say, Abu Ghraib were to be exposed. There’s no point in whining about how the newspapers are so treasonous to expose our dirty little secrets, any more than there is to cry about how bright the sun is or how that darn sand gets in your eyes. You factor it into your damn strategy.
LNS,
As you well know, I once spent 3,000+ words explaining how Bush doesn’t understand the nature of a media war – then you go and put the word “treasonous” in my mouth.
Take your strawman elsewhere.
While you’re at it, search my archives for the word “treason.” You’ll come up with 12 hits and not a single accusation – out of over 8,000 posts.
Take your strawman elsewhere.
You’ve also failed to notice that I rather was explicit in mentioning that the Army’s propaganda effort at best “probably isn’t doing much either way.”
So again I’ll ask you to take your strawman elsewhere.
Now then. What is your “goddamn strategy,” other than to belittle me for points I never made?
You said: “What we’re waging in Iraq is a real war, with real battles and real bullets. It is therefore a government effort. So it should come as no surprise that the government is waging
Well, I had typed a long comment and it came back saying:
Comment text is required..
Go figure.
Papa Ray
I threw away my Reason subscription card a couple of weeks ago. After being a continuous subscriber for 15 years, I’ve given up.
I even passed up a golden opportunity to attend their recent Las Vegas “Reason After Dark” event. I was speaking at a tech conference that started the day after their event, and I came out to Vegas early. But when I looked over the lineup and saw names like Jesse Walker, I just decided it wasn’t worth the effort. (One look at the pretentious picture that heads Walker’s columns is all you need to know about his writing style.)
Their current crop of hipsters can’t seem to distinguish between glibness and analysis. And they are more dismissive of serious arguments that lead to a different conclusion than I’ve ever seen in Reason.
I’ll miss Ronald Bailey and Jacob Sullum (even though I sometimes disagree with both). The rest are a waste of newsprint and pixels.
TO: Stephen Green
RE: Propaganda
The truth works more effectively.
But even the truth would be painted/smeared with the brush of “Propaganda” by those who would oppose it.
The term “propaganda” is being applied, here, as an effort to silence the truth of the matter; soldiers stories in an Iraqi newspaper. Just like the term “chickenhawk” was used to try to silence other people earlier. Indeed, every now and again Vox Day trots out that golem in an effort to silence people he disagrees with over the Iraq campaign.
The most important thing is to keep fixated on the truth and forget the cries of ‘propaganda’ made by those who despise it.
Regards,
Chuck(le)
P.S. But, one can recognize the enemy by hearing them decry the truth as ‘propaganda’.
Doesn’t the fact that the army had to PAY to get the stories printed PROVE that the newspapers had the FREEDOM to print or not to print as they chose? They chose the money. Sounds like capitalism to me!
Again.
This is a war. Propaganda, getting your story out, is part of that war. We are engaging this war on all levels – military, police, intelligence, financial, diplomatic, information, etc.
This is to be expected, and I am not shocked by those who profess themselves shocked and sadly disappointed. They are the same ones who have [for the most part] done their damnedest to hobble the prosecution of this war from the get-go. This is merely one more piece of evidence for them, proof of the overwhelming perfidy of America and the west.
Sorry, I refuse to be surprised that we fight back on all levels, and I refuse to be surprised that we don’t advertise everything we’re doing. And I refuse to accept the hobbling of this nation’s war-making capacity because of the faked outrage of a passle of fascist anti-American sympathizers.
I’m a much too old and crusty writer to believe that the truth shall set you free, but I do appreciate Nietzsche’s observation that “when you gaze long into the Abyss, the Abyss also gazes into you.” Using propaganda as a Tool of War is legitimate? I suppose it depends who wins. For Meister Goebbels it was a no-no. We’ll see how it shakes out for those uniformed desk soldiers at the Pentagon. Incidentally, Our Great Leader is, in a phallic sense, A Tool of War.
But then what do I know?..I haven’t published a novel in years and I have idle (idyll) time to troll the Internet(s) only because I’m suckled by the teat of academia. A Defense of Propaganda is entertaining because it’s fun to see Bush Apologists employed in the busy work that is Apologizing for the Unapologizable; at least they’re not out putting stickers on our biology textbooks, shooting doves, beating the poor with sticks, masturbating to their stock profiles, or whatever it is those “successful” members of society (of whom I
Yes, Mr. Trout, you are correct. It does depend who wins this one, very much so. As it has in every war.
Personally, I’d rather not see the light of academia extinguished by a know-nothing new caliphate, dedicated to keeping all humanity shackled to a Twelfth century social and religious order. And I would lie to prevent that, even if it means your sanctimonious, smug, self-rightous self can keep your hands soft and clean, untainted by any of that nasty necessary work.
But don’t thank me, I’m just real generous like that, a true humanitarian.
Please forgive me if in my clumsy writing I appeared to conflate your views with those of some of the commenters who jumped all over me in a previous comment. Such was not my intent. The fact is I know what you’ve written regarding Bush’s inept handling of the media war, and my point is that this is simply another manifestation of that ineptitude. Propaganda good? Sure–good propaganda. Bad propaganda bad. The fact that we’re all now discussing this tactic to my mind demonstrates it wasn’t done well. The fallout from having this little tactic uncovered IMO completely undoes any of the benefits. So more Radio Free Europe stuff, fewer planted news stories that are rather easily exposed and then do more harm than good. And again, my apologies.
“Pick an international boogeyman, any international boogeyman, sometime in the not-too-distant future. It could be Red Chinese Hordes, done eating up East Asia and hungry for more. It could be the Apocalyptic Army of the Caliphate, storming our gates to install sharia over America. A resurgent, revanchist Russia. Nazis. Heavily-armed Jehovah’s Witnesses.”
Dammit Steve, we need to understand why they hate us. Except the JW’s, those rightwing Christer bastids…
TO: Brown Trout
RE: That’s An Interesting Report
“I’m a much too old and crusty writer to believe that the truth shall set you free…
… I have idle (idyll) time to troll the Internet(s) only because I’m suckled by the teat of academia.” — Brown Trout
So, what do you teach? Lies and propaganda?
It goes far to explain what we keep hearing reported of ‘academia’.
Regards,
Chuck(le)
[Educations enhances income. Ask any college professor.]
Most intelligence experts agree that the WOT will be a long, “twilight war,” with most of the battles fought in the shadows. Since the terrorists have the majority of the Arab media and MSM on their side today, it only makes sense for this administration to try to counteract these biases.
The news media’s job is to differentiate from fact and fiction, and the reality is that they can no neither effectively these days – witness their inane posturing and trafficking in the wild rumours during the Katrina flooding in NO.
“Our Great Leader is, in a phallic sense, A Tool of War.” Sounds like a classic case of projection here. Pray tell us, how much does your esteemed university cost to impart this pseudo – Freudian craptacular analysis on the poor, benighted souls who attend?
TO: Dmac
RE: Check Out…
…Brown Trout’s blog.
It’s all about sex. Or at least 90% of what I saw was. Not to mention his earthy comments here (above).
Looks like his mind has been thoroughly corrupted by his sucking at the tit. And it reinforces my opinion of macadamian nuts such as he.
Regards,
Chuck(le)
Ah. I understand. Brown Trout swim in a porcelain bowl.
TO: Mikey
RE: Cute
“Brown Trout swim in a porcelain bowl.” — Mikey
However, there are a species of trout that are called “brown”. See But, considering the blog this guy operates….
Regards,
Chuck(le)
Ooops…
….See….
http://www.bcadventure.com/adventure/angling/game_fish/brntrout.phtml
I know, Chuck. The European Brown Trout and the Rainbow Trout displaced the Michigan Grayling.
A good game fish, but I doubt the gentleman is into those kinds of games…
I honestly don’t see the problem with what the military is doing here. This is not a propaganda campaign in the sense of publishing incorrect and misleading information. Even the news source which broke this story admits that the information in the articles in question is factual. This is a case of us producing some stories along the lines of “here are some good things we are doing for your country – it isn’t all bad news”. Further, the papers were free to publish the stories or not.
I think that telling true facts of progress is entirely appropriate, especially since the western media refuses to publish anything that makes the effort in Iraq seem even marginally successful.
I think it would be a mistake if we *weren’t* trying to spread some of this good information.
TO: Some Guy
RE: The Only Problem….
“I honestly don’t see the problem with what the military is doing here.” — Some Guy
…is from the perspective of the so-called major media. They can’t stand the idea that good news is getting into print. So, they’re calling it ‘propaganda’, the same way some people label others ‘chickenhawk’. It’s an effort to silence the other side.
Regards,
Chuck(le)
also, Kerry Howley’s a girl.
To: Chuck
Re: “Looks like his mind has been thoroughly corrupted by his sucking at the tit.”
Is the tit in question really a metaphorical one? Methinks not.
I can see it now.
After the invasion, a TV broadcast…..
“I for one welcome our new Nazi Chinese Islamofascist Witnesses overlords.”
-Kent Brockman
I even passed up a golden opportunity to attend their recent Las Vegas “Reason After Dark” event. I was speaking at a tech conference that started the day after their event, and I came out to Vegas early. But when I looked over the lineup and saw names like Jesse Walker, I just decided it wasn’t worth the effort. (One look at the pretentious picture that heads Walker’s columns is all you need to know about his writing style.)
I wasn’t aware that my columns appeared with a picture on top of them, pretentious or otherwise. Then again, I also wasn’t aware that I appeared at the Reason conference in Las Vegas.
Your entry draws attention away from the basic facts. Propaganda and counter propaganda are of course tools of modern warfare. However, your point has virtually nothing to do with why what the US has done here is wrong.
You engage in propaganda to win the minds of those you are selling to. This effort is only proving to those Iraqis sympathetic to the insurgency, that we say one thing and do another.
TO: James Bedell
RE: Yeah?
“This effort is only proving to those Iraqis sympathetic to the insurgency, that we say one thing and do another.” — James Bedell
Please explain how so….
Regards,
Chuck(le)
Propaganda and war
Stephen Green over at Vodka Pundit has some insightful comments…
“Fake, but accurate”
Propaganda – as Stephen Green points out – is as important a factor in war as it ever was, although its reverberations have become more complex as global communication has become instantaneous and means of distorting and faking images and…