Propaganda by plane

[FS]

Has anyone else seen the footage of special US "studio airplanes" pumping anti-Iraq propaganda into Iraqi households? A special television broadcast compels the Iraqi people not to take up arms to defend Saddam Hussein. There's also lots of mocking the Iraqi government. In one piece, they're shown a photo of Saddam with the mouth cut out and an actor badmouthing "himself" by saying such things as "I flee from palace to palace every day". The government is also compared to rats that "will end up devouring each other", while footage of heaps of dead rats is shown.

I'm not condemning this, but christ, shouldn't we be above this sort of thing? What's next, Bush declares that Saddam Hussein will at all times be referred to in the media as "a great big poopyhead"?

[El Blanco]

Have you seen political ads during elections? This looks like a step up.

Anyway, maybe it loses something in the translation. Maybe they think calling someone "yellow bellied" is stupid. But, we see it as a way of calling them cowardly.

[KevinTheOmnivore]

lol, I'm glad to see our government uses the same tricks Conan O'Brien does.

[ItalianStereotype]

its psychological warfare and one of our most valuable tools. if the populace of iraq is a state of growing unrest about the war, the more likely they are to possibly revolt.

[GAsux]

What an astounding revelation! This is the first time they ever used that. Aside from Afghanistan, Bosnia, Somalia, Panama, Greneda, etc etc etc.

Blah blah blah. We were dropping leaflets and broadcasting radio in Japan in the 40s.

Is this supposed to be some kind of startling revelation? And so what? If YOU were an Iraqi citizen would you rather watch "Saddam Millionaire" or funny Conan O'Brien skits?

[AChimp]

I'd rather watch the Playboy channel because I'd be a Muslim, sexually repressed and horny as hell.

[GAsux]

[MrAdventure]

MILITARY PROWRESS = DEMORALIZING NAZI GERMANY WITH BESTIAL PORNOGRAPHY AND UNFULFILLED PLOTS TO PLANT ESTROGEN IN HITLER'S SALADS

[Zero Signal]

They should drop Cranberries fans over Iraq as ordnance.

Thanks, Mr. Rollins!

[FS]

Originally Posted by GAsux

What an astounding revelation! This is the first time they ever used that. Aside from Afghanistan, Bosnia, Somalia, Panama, Greneda, etc etc etc.

Blah blah blah. We were dropping leaflets and broadcasting radio in Japan in the 40s.

Is this supposed to be some kind of startling revelation? And so what? If YOU were an Iraqi citizen would you rather watch "Saddam Millionaire" or funny Conan O'Brien skits?

Shut up. There's a difference between telling the people of a country you're going to attack not to fight because it's pointless and their leaders are evil, and showing them rejected SNL skits with said message underlining them. I just posted this because I thought it was pretty fuckin' ridiculous to be doing this in this day and age.

[mburbank]

I'm sorry, GA but that was pretty dumb. FS made it really clear that he was talking about the crudity and stupidity of our propaganda, not the fact that it exists.

Why don't we drop leaflets that say "Soon we'll be dropping bombs but for now, please accept these writtten and broadcasts statements that we think you, the Iraqi people, are idiots and we hold you in contempt. PLEASE SUPPORT US! Love, the Good 'Ol "Smarrt" folks of the U.S.A."

[GAsux]

He also tried to present it as come kind of evidence that we've slipped into some new level of moronicy. And that is exactly MY point. That those same leaflets, radio messages, and television skits have been used in virtually every single conflict the U.S. has been engaged in for the last fifty years.

Do you suppose the Iraqi government isn't at the very same time portraying Bush as a bumbling moron and all Americans as some kind of hate infested muslim bashers?

What FS described is exactly what's happening. So my question is, what's the point?

[KevinTheOmnivore]

Originally Posted by GAsux

Do you suppose the Iraqi government isn't at the very same time portraying Bush as a bumbling moron and all Americans as some kind of hate infested muslim bashers?

I think the Daily Show does the same thing.

[mburbank]

So, then, where do you come down on our trying to win hearts and minds (not just in this war, but as a matter of course) by insullting the enemies intelligence? What kind of luck have we had with progbrams like this so far? Are they free?

Is Iraqi moronic screed a justification for ours?

I bet the folks who dreamed up and produced the conan obrien rip off got paid better than I ever will, and I'd put money on the table that the impact (aside from employing a comic who speaks arabic) is zippo.

What's the point? The point is we're stupid and undignified and we waste pefectly good money on nonsensical, pointless crap as if killing folks wasn't costly enough to begin with. It may not be a new point, but it's worth underlining.

[GAsux]

Is it crude? Sure? Does it have an effect? That's debateable. While the "Hi I'm Saddam and I'm a bumbling moron" bit may not change many minds, that's hardly representative of the bulk of the psych warfare that's likely being employed. The leaflets, broadcasts, etc are designed to impress upon the people that Saddam does not care about them and that if they fight, they are fighting for someone who is not concerned with their well being.

I haven't seen any of it myself. so I can't comment on it first hand. If the psych warfare stuff was put together by civilians, which I doubt, then I might agree with your assertion that they've made a substantial profit. If it was produced by the military, which I suspect, than I doubt they'll be getting Hollywood writing contracts any time soon.

My point here is if we're trying to play for shock value, the existence of psych warfare is hardly startling, and in light of all the other circumstances surrounding current events, doesn't merit much of a concern in my book.

[AChimp]

I can't believe that none of you laughed at my joke. I don't think I'm going to come to this forum anymore.

[sadie]

oh hush, chimp, you fuckin' narcissist. :P

[FS]

I have no idea of the average IQ level of a citizen of Iraq, but I just don't think this particular type of propaganda is effective. Of course it's a completely different culture there, but if I saw something like this pumped into my TV, I'd think the Americans were complete retards and change the channel.

What I would deem more effective, is bombard them with statistics, make empty promises about a future Iraq being paradise if the Americans take over, elaborating on Saddam's countless crimes, assuring them safety and security once Saddam is gone, and so on. Hell, every politician does it whenever the subject of Iraq comes up - why not apply it here?

[GAsux]

FS,
It does. That's the point I was getting at. The video in question is not representative of the bulk of the material utilized in psych warfare. The leaflets go much more along the lines of what you are talking about. Listing U.S. allegations of injustice committed by the regime, encouraging them to join the "winning" team now, etc. I am sure the video stuff is out there, but I am willing to bet it's a very small portion of the material that is being distributed.

[ranxer]

"the Iraqi government isn't at the very same time portraying Bush as a bumbling moron " telling the truth helps thier case..

dont forget that it took the supreme court to appoint this bafoon.. they've got us there. Its embarassing to be an american right now.

dont you republicans(those of you that are) realize that gwb is destroying the credibility of your party for at least a generation? you're going to be doing damage control for a lot longer than that.

[El Blanco]

No, it took the supreme court to make the democrats stop whining (well, out loud anyway).

You think Bush was the first president to win without the popular vote?

And do you think this is the first time florida screwed up the ballots?

Lets face it folks, when hamilton figured the general populace wasn't smart enough to pick our leader, he was dead on.