Four Levels of Propaganda

1. Four Levels of Propaganda • The First level: “the Big Lie, adapted by Hitler and Stalin.” • example: “Israelis bombed the WTC to embarrass Arabs” Second: “It doesn't have to be the truth, so long as it’s plausible.” Third: “tell the truth but withhold the other side's point of view.” “The fourth and most productive is to tell the truth, the good and the bad, the losses and the gains. “Governments in Western society take the last three steps. They avoid the Big Lie, which nobody here will swallow.” According to Professor Arthur Siegel, York Univ. (Canada), as quoted by Beth Gillin in the Philadelphia Inquirer, 21 Oct. 2001. Source: www.globalissues.org/HumanRights/Media/Military.asp

2. “Let’s Go To War!”or“Let’s Keep Our Boys Home!” “Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the peacemakers for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country.” -- Gen. Hermann Goering, Nazi Party leader, 1946 Source: www.globalissues.org/HumanRights/Media/Propaganda/Iraq.asp

3. “Images of victims such as this young Kurdish boy shocked the world in the late 1980s when Saddam Hussein unleashed 18 months of chemical weapon attacks on villages in Northern Iraq.” (photo: Department of Defense) Atrocity Fear “A report came out of the Atomic -- the IAEA -- that they were six months away from developing a weapon. I don't know what more evidence we need.” -- George W. Bush, Sept. 7, 2002 Sources: above:http://www.globalissues.org/HumanRights/Media/Propaganda/Iraq.asp at right: http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/stories/iraq203/crossroads03.html

4. Gulf War Atrocity: the Dead Babies “…“justification’ tactics by proponents of military intervention ... brought us the entirely false reports, in 1990, that Iraqi soldiers were killing babies in Kuwait City by switching off hospital incubators -­ brought to us by Washington PR firm Hill and Knowlton. Maggie O'Kane recounted her meeting with nurses at the hospital who were utterly mystified by these stories. “The source turned out to be the fifteen-year-old daughter of theKuwaiti ambassador to Washington, who was presented to the US Congress as a nurse but, in fact, had not been to Kuwait in years. As O'Kane says: "There's always a dead babies story." The effect is to demonize the enemy and create a sense of urgency which admits no time for diplomacy. “ Source: www.poiesis.org/pjo/pjotext.html

5. Name Calling Glittering Generalities “The Butcher of Baghdad” -- appellation for Saddam Hussein “Operation Iraqi Freedom” -- U.S. title for 2003 military operation “Defend America” -- Title of Defense Department Website for Operation Iraqi Freedom “Chemical Ali” “The Snake” -- nicknames for Saddam’s cousin Ali and son Qusay, respectively Sources: (left, lower) http://www.defendamerica.mil/iraq/iraqifreedom.html, (right, upper) http://www.forward.com/issues/1998/98.12.25/news.html

6. Name-calling: reminder of unjust past Transfer: affiliation with God Fear: past debacles A Word from the Taliban “We warn the crusaders openly that your dreams about Afghanistan will never come true and you can not stop the Muslims of the world who have sworn to follow the path of their ancestor Salah-ed-Din Yusuf ibn-Ayyub Saladin. We believe that God willing, the days will come soon when Afghanistan will become more terrible for the Americans than Vietnam and Somalia and they will be thrown out disgracefully just as the Russians and British were..” http://www.propagandacritic.com/articles/examples.afghanistan.html