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December 16, 2004
How Propaganda Works
Let me follow up on the last post with a small example of one method by which propaganda works: through journalists' use of the "objective voice" to describe the very motives which they should be questioning. This from the Post:
The Bush administration's effort to build a system for defending the country against ballistic missile attack suffered an embarrassing setback yesterday when an interceptor missile failed to launch during the first flight test of the system in two years.
Certainly, there is more to be said on why "missile defense" is a first strike weapon. And, certainly, there is more to be considered in terms of the role of corporate profiteering in such project. But note how the above graph cuts the discussion: the Bush administration's effort to build a system for defending the country.
Once that framework is presented and accepted, all criticisms look silly. What's a few billion in an effort to defend the country? So a few tests fail. So a few well-connected corporations make a buck. It's an effort to defend the country. A piece that starts like that mainly reinforces the propaganda system, no matter how critical the rest of the contents.
Posted by zeynep at December 16, 2004 12:28 AM
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Comments
great example and good comments, zeynep. thanks again for this wonderful blog.
It's a bit scary though that three years ago, Bill Keller wrote in the NY Times that the missile system was a offense weapon, and how "this debate about missile defense is one Americans are not having."
http://www.algora.com/Clippings/Russia/Military%20Issues/IHT%2012_18_01.htm
Guess they are still not having it?
Also from 2001 here is a scary but entirely predictable analysis of NMD's effects in China from a Chinese academic:
http://www.janes.com/security/international_security/news/jir/jir010307_1_n.shtml
best
pran
Posted by: pran at December 16, 2004 01:47 AM
Great links, thanks Pran.
Posted by: zeynep at December 16, 2004 11:55 AM
But then trusted audiences don't need to be lied to. Consider this from Lawrence Kaplan in The New Republic:
"" In fact, the strategic logic of missile defense runs entirely counter to the claims of isolationist champions and liberal critics alike. The real rationale for missile defense is that without it an adversary armed with long-range missiles can, as Robert Joseph, President Bush's counterproliferation specialist at the National Security Council (NSC), argues, 'hold American and allied cities hostage and thereby deter us from intervention.' ....In other words, missile defense is about preserving America's ability to wield power abroad. It's not about defense. It's about offense. And that's exactly why we need it."
http://www.tnr.com/031201/kaplan031201.html
Posted by: joe emersberger at December 19, 2004 01:12 AM
Sorry if this shows up[ twice. It didn't seem to post propoerly the first time. Its a quote from the editor of The New Republic who feels no need to lie about what NMD really is.
" In fact, the strategic logic of missile defense runs entirely counter to the claims of isolationist champions and liberal critics alike. The real rationale for missile defense is that without it an adversary armed with long-range missiles can, as Robert Joseph, President Bush's counterproliferation specialist at the National Security Council (NSC), argues, 'hold American and allied cities hostage and thereby deter us from intervention.' ....In other words, missile defense is about preserving America's ability to wield power abroad. It's not about defense. It's about offense. And that's exactly why we need it. "
http://www.tnr.com/031201/kaplan031201.html
Posted by: joe emersberger at December 19, 2004 01:25 AM
The real pity in the US these days is that aside from not voting ,a real BIG chunk of people dont read ,care or seem to understand what is going on in the US. Our motto should be 'Who Gives A Damn "
Posted by: Eli Rouse at January 1, 2005 10:13 PM