The role of propaganda, the press and public opinion
in the War on Iraq

Hartford Web Publishing is not the author of the documents in World History Archives and does not presume to validate their accuracy or authenticity nor to release their copyright.

The history in general of the attack on Iraq (2002-03)

Countdown to war
By Eric Rouleau, Le Monde diplomatique, February 2003. Manipulating the media becomes almost the norm in wartime. Disinformation has its rules. Never since the end of the cold war has there been such intensive effort to prepare public opinion as that now marshalled in favour of war in Iraq.
A New Power in the Streets
By Patrick E. Tyler, The New York Times, 16 February 2003. The fresh outpouring of antiwar sentiment may not be enough to dissuade Mr. Bush or his advisers from their resolute preparations for war. But the sheer number of protesters offers a potent message that any rush to war may have political consequences for nations that support Mr. Bush.
Free press and the face of war
By Paul Belden, Asia Times, 25 March 2003. While Western television coverage continued to be dominated by a numbing rotation of embedded reporters, armchair generals and video special effects, Arab media was showing some of the most astonishing images of war ever broadcast.
Beyond the funhouse walls
By Geov Parrish, workingforchange.com, 26 March 2003. Where to go to get better or a broader spectrum of information than what America’s mainstream networks and big dailies specialize in. An annotated list of on-line publications.
An Army of Propaganda
By Kari Lydersen, AlterNet, 28 March 2003. A slickly orchestrated public relations campaign on the part of the military and the U.S. government that is borrowing the best practices of the corporate PR world. The White House Office of Global Communication the source of a pre-scripted message of the day.
Media monopoly gives us a scripted war
By Leslie Feinberg, Workers World, 3 April 2003. The media is a weapon of war, U.S. Army Gen. Tommy Franks boasted on March 25. This barrage of high-tech propaganda sandbags the world’s view. Media polls are being shaped to shape public opinion—from how the questions are skewed to how the results are hewed.
Turning the tanks on the reporters
By Philip Knightley, The Observer (London), Sunday 15 June 2003. War correspondents find themselves in a situation similar to that in Korea in 1950: ’You can write what you like—but if we don’t like it we’ll shoot you.’