Thanks for the article. I know that if the media was truly doing its job, Americans would put an end to this gruesome and senseless war.
I thought that many of the observations and quotes in the article posted below illustrate a number of your points.
http://www.islamonline.net/english/In_Depth/Iraq_Aftermath/2004/11/article_07.shtmlCrimes in Iraq
How America Wages War in Iraq
By Firas Al-Atraqchi
Freelance Columnist
18/11/2004
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Step 1: The Media.This has to fully comply with our strategic goals by ensuring that key words are repeated thoroughly when referring to a certain subject matter. In Fallujah’s case, we will allow the media to repeat words like “bastion,” “stronghold,” “insurgent base,” “insurgent center of Iraq,” “terrorist heart of the Sunni triangle,” and so on, until all semblance that this was once a city bustling with civilian life is erased from the psyche and the reader is fully engrossed in the mandated logic that the US military is fighting insurgents in their terrorist base.
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Step 2: Public relations. Tell the world the city we are about to storm has been emptied of civilians:Mohammed Abboud said he watched his nine-year-old son bleed to death at their Falluja home yesterday, unable to take him to hospital as fighting raged in the streets and bombs rained down. “My son got shrapnel in his stomach when our house was hit at dawn, but we couldn't take him for treatment,” said Mr Abboud, a teacher.
“We buried him in the garden because it was too dangerous to go out” (Fadel al-Badrani for the BBC in Fallujah, November 10, 2004).
Make sure our soldiers know that they aren't fighting for the people of Iraq but for cold revenge:<snip>
Even if Fallujah has to go the way of Carthage, reduced to shards, the price will be worth it. We need to demonstrate our strength of will to the world, to show that there is only one possible result when madmen take on America (Ralph Peters, New York Post, November 4).
“This is for the Americans of Blackwater that were murdered here in 2004 Semper Fidelis (always faithful),” is scrawled in black print on a section of the bridge across the Euphrates where the remains of two out of four Americans, killed by a mob in Fallujah at the end of March, were hung.
The graffiti is signed “3-5”, an abbreviation of the 3rd Battalion 5th Marines, one of the units that is taking part in a massive US-Iraqi assault on the rebel stronghold to regain control of the city.
It finished with: “PS, Fuck You” (AFP, November 14).
“I see the little kids in the cars and I feel sorry for them, but when they turn 16 they’re evil.” (Lindsey Hilsum, with the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force in Fallujah, November 14, 2004)
Tell enough lies to our troops until even our own spokesman starts to believe them:The goals are simple: to win the gratitude of Fallujah civilians who will no longer have to cope with Iraqi and foreign fighters in their midst; and to demonstrate to other insurgent-dominated towns and cities what can happen if they refuse to participate peacefully in the Iraqi political process (John Diamond, Steve Komarow and Tom Squitieri, USA TODAY, November 12).
Let our troops know that God wants them to kill Iraqis in Fallujah, that US President George Bush received direct orders from the Divine that war was sanctioned in Fallujah:"The marines that I have had wounded over the past five months have been attacked by a faceless enemy," said Colonel Gareth Brandl.
"But the enemy has got a face. He's called Satan. He lives in Falluja. And we're going to destroy him." (Paul Wood, BBC News, embedded with US Marines near Fallujah, November 7). (Note the British press is actually doing its job by reporting this outrageous statement) "We must not be afraid to make an example of Fallujah. While we always seek to fight humanely, the most humane thing we can do in that tormented city is just to win, to burn out the plague of fanaticism and prove to Iraq's people that the forces of terror will not be allowed to enslave them." (Ralph Peters, New York Post, November 4).
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