Tuesday, March 11, 2003

 
Are the Bush-Iraq Lies Getting Through?

As a follow-up to yesterday's article, "Top 30 Bush - Iraq Lies: A Reference For Seekers of Truth", I thought it would be interesting to see whether these lies are filtering down to the average American or, more likely, are being overshadowed and confused by the Administration's fear-mongering and propaganda.

According to the newest CBS News poll, it seems that the Administration's fear-mongering and propaganda are winning.

To start, CBS News rolls out its own bit of Bush-butt-kissing with the headline "Losing Patience with the UN". Holy smoke. Of course, they hold off till the end of the article to present the findings that show people are losing patience with Bush as well, and even then, they don't exactly paint the picture that way.

So before we go any further, here are the approval ratings:

Bush's overall job approval rating is down to 56%, from 58% last week.

On foreign policy: 51% approve, unchanged from last week.
On the Economy: Only 40% approve. This is down from the abysmal 41% approval last week.
On Bush's handling of Iraq: Only 51% approve. This too is down from last week (54%)

And, for those of you who were wondering, 51% approval for anything is nothing to jump up and down about. It is on the fringe of truly miserable levels. Nevertheless, when you're talking about an administration who claimed a mandate after losing an election by over half a million votes, such measures become painfully irrelevant.

Even so, the headline, and perhaps even the poll, might be misleading as it was taken after Bush's pseudo-press conference (i.e. invasion sales pitch) and Friday’s report by United Nations weapons inspectors. With this in mind, it is not surprising that perceived "impatience with the UN" spikes.

This effect is similar to that rewarded to presidential candidates directly following their party's convention. Nothing is different. The spike is typically quite temporary and meaningless. Unfortunately, it does give the Administration something to latch onto and blow entirely out of proportion, one more piece of "evidence" that people are moving in support of his "policies".

Nevertheless, the facts are this:

The statistics that inspired the CBS News headline was this: Of those polled, 44% believed that the U.S. should take military action soon (up from 35% last week) while 52% (THE MAJORITY) think the inspectors should have more time (Down from 60% last week). So even though the direction was headed toward "UN impatience", the fact of the matter is that the majority of Americans (or at least those polled) favor more time for inspectors.

Very disconcerting is the fact that 55% would approve of military action against Iraq even if the U.N. did not support a U.S.-sponsored resolution to take such action. This tells me that the Bush propaganda machine has been successful. I'm sure this just encourages them to spew further lies. (As though a different result might discourage their lying. Ha!)

So what would it take to decrease the American support for war? Answer: It seems that a Security Council veto or simply considering the potential loss of life and dollars from a Bush war would do the trick. Apparently, most people don't think so much about the loss of life or financial implications of war. This makes the Administration's job that much easier. It also makes clear what those who oppose a Bush war must do:

They must point out 4 things:

1) The Administration's ulterior motives and lies. This is not a war about weapons of mass destruction or regime change or terrorism or national security. It is a war about oil and the enrichment of the Bush aristocracy. Of course some would argue that unlimited access to oil is in our national interest. In response, I say that stealing another sovereign state's natural resources is not in the interest of anyone, including the long-term national interest of the United States. Indeed, such a move would only ensure that the US would be a target of violence and distrust across the planet for many years to come. In addition, note that the very use of lies (especially in such unprecedented quantities) is evidence of ulterior motives. If the cause was legitimate and pure (i.e. protecting the US from an imminent threat), lies would be unnecessary.

2) Sensationalize the potential loss of life. True, it is the one thing that shouldn't need sensationalizing, but here it seems necessary in order to peel through layer after layer of fear and confusion, laid so skillfully by the Administration and the conservative punditocracy. People are always more wiling to send others to their death in order to feel safe themselves. Of course, no one will admit it. Such a sense of survival is instinctive, though socially unconscionable. As a psychological defense mechanism toward this decision making process, the details of those deaths are often relegated to the back room of the psyche. Many go to great lengths, especially those in favor of war, to gloss over and dehumanize this loss of life as a "general cost of war".

3) Accentuate the financial cost of war, particularly in this time of economic uncertainty. Note that the Administration refuses to estimate the cost of a Iraq war because they know it will be more than we possible could have imagined. Be sure to mention the need for post-war occupation, estimated at a minimum of 5 years.

4) Length of war was also a consideration and it should be noted that this is NOT going to be a remake of the perceived CNN "video game" that was the Gulf War. "Regime Change" will require urban warfare. That means much higher American casualties and a much longer war. Is the American public ready for a war that costs thousands of US lives? Unfortunately, we will probably find out quite soon.

In general, the perceived result of a Bush war with Iraq is this:

~ 40% believe it would make the US economy worse.

~ 55% believe it would increase terrorism against the US.

~ The issue of Iraq falls into third place behind the flailing economy and terrorism as the top priorities in the nation.

~ 19% believe that oil is the main reason Bush is invading Iraq.

~ 62% of Americans think the Bush Administration knows more than they are revealing to the public. Not surprising after it was revealed that the Administration hid information about the North Korean Nuclear program even as congress voted on the Iraq resolution.

~ 50% think that the Administration hasn't a clue as to what it should do with a post-war Iraq.

~ 48% say Congress is not asking enough questions about the President’s policy toward Iraq.

The percent of those polled who think the US is winning the "war on terror" has increased to 45% from 41% a week ago and 38% the week before. The spike is reasonably attributable to the capture of an allegedly high ranking Al Qaeda operative. Let this serve as evidence that those polled have no concept of what "winning" the "war on terror" truly involves.

And get this little load of garbage:

"45% of Americans believe Saddam Hussein was personally involved in the September 11th, 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, although the Bush Administration has not made such an assertion."

What a gross distortion of the truth. Technically, it is true. Bush has never said, " Saddam Hussein was personally involved in the September 11th, 2001 terrorist attacks." But he implies it with every breath that he takes. There is no wonder why so many people believe this connection to be true.

In the "Holy Shit!" Category:

~ 36% say we should ignore what our allies say.
~ 37% say the President should not heed the anti-war protestors' views.
~ 73% say North Korea can be contained even though only 41% think Iraq can be contained.

Unfortunately, with the data available in the CBS News Poll, I was unable to discern whether or not these particular respondents were smoking crack. Nor was I able to determine if they had been living under a rock for the past two years. Unbelievable!

When all is said and done, it seems that Bush is winning. We will go to war. Thousands will die. Terrorism will increase. Anti-Americanism will increase. Number of allies will decrease. We will have oil. We will be plunged into crippling deficits and foreign occupations as far as the eye can see. Yup. Bush wins.

The bottom line: He who controls the media, controls the minds of America.

Related: "Top 30 Bush - Iraq Lies: A Reference For Seekers of Truth"

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posted by Thomas Ball 1:25 PM