Public relations preparations for 2003 invasion of Iraq

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This article is about the 2003 Invasion of Iraq. For more information on this particular part of the topic, see Support and opposition for the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

The Rendon Group, a Washington, DC based public relations firm with close ties to the US government, and which has had a prominent role in promoting the Iraqi National Congress, was alleged by some journalists to be planning to support the 2003 invasion of Iraq by a careful public relations campaign.

Such a campaign would be viewed by many with skepticism, recalling that the PR firm Hill & Knowlton, damage-controller for the tobacco industry,[1] was hired by the Kuwaiti Royal Family to support the Gulf War in 1991 with a campaign including misinformation such as a false story of Iraqi soldiers' barbaric treatment of incubator babies.[2] (see Nurse Nayirah)

In late 2001, with the Pentagon's focus on information warfare as an integral facet of the American war doctrine increasing, the Pentagon's Office of Strategic Influence was formed. This office was created with a mandate to propagandize throughout the Middle East, Asia and Western Europe, with the help of the abovementioned Rendon Group. In February 2002, amid a backlash of public outcry resulting from a New York Times article, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld claimed he lacked knowledge of the program and the OSI was closed down. [3]

In January of 2003, with the Office of Strategic Influence dismantled, President Bush formally announced "the creation of a White House "Office of Global Communications" to broadcast the United States' message worldwide ahead of possible war on Iraq," [4] which had been effectively operating for several months prior. [5] According to the White House, the office will disseminate the policies of the US Government to media sources, domestic and foreign, and send "teams of communicators to international hot spots, areas of media interest." [6] Having a similar mission to the now-defunct OSI, many skeptics have voiced opinions regarding the legitimacy of this new office. [7]

1 Government statements that set the stage for war
2 Success of the public relations campaign
3 See also
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Government statements that set the stage for war

Colin Powell holding a model vial of anthrax while giving a presentation to the United Nations Security Council.

The U.S. government has tried to sell the notion that the war against Iraq is critical to the American "War on Terrorism": "In the war on terror, Iraq is now the central front..." President Bush said on December 14, 2005 (Bush, George W. "President Discusses Iraqi Elections, Victory in the War on Terror." White House, Official Press Release). Also, the public was asked to believe that the 2003 invasion of Iraq was connected to 9/11: "The battle of Iraq is one victory in a war on terror that began on September the 11, 2001..." (Bush, George W. "President Bush Announces Major Combat Operations in Iraq Have Ended" White House, Official Press Release, May 1, 2003]. In the lead up to the 2003 invasion of Iraq, Vice President Dick Cheney suggested during a, "Meet the Press" interview that Iraq was involved in the September 11 attack: Iraq is, "the geographic base of the terrorists who had us under assault now for many years, but most especially on 9-11." [Davies, Frank. "Study: Misperceptions About Iraq War Contributed to Support For It." Knight-Ridder, October 3, 2003.)

President Bush and Bush Administration officials made hundreds of false statements in an orchestrated public relations campaign to galvanize public opinion for the war, according to a study by two not-for-profit journalism organizations.^[1] For example, on at least 532 occasions top Bush Administration officials stated unequivocally that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, or was trying to produce or obtain them, or had links to al Qaeda, or both. These statements were demonstrably false. The study concluded that the U.S. government's public relations campaign against the U.S. public thus led the nation to war under decidedly false pretenses.^[2]

According to the study, U.S. news organizations facilitated the government's orchestrated campaign of false statements by their largely quite uncritical and deferential coverage of government statements, thus providing seemingly "independent" validation of the false statements in the minds of the U.S. public. “Some journalists and even entire news organizations have since acknowledged that their coverage during those prewar months was far too deferential and uncritical."^[3]

[edit] Success of the public relations campaign

The U.S. government's public relations campaign was largely successful in getting the American public to accept false beliefs to support the war. Approximately 70% of Americans believe that Saddam Hussein had a role in the 9/11 attacks, even though the Bush administration and congressional investigators say they have no evidence of this. [8] As late as 2006 an astonishing 90% of U.S. troops in Iraq said the U.S. mission was mainly "to retaliate for Saddam's role in the 9-11 attacks." [9].