Selling Iraq: Bush

Public relations are not only used to clear a politician’s tarnished reputation. PR has become vital in ensuring that the public agrees with the decisions made by those in power. it was actually largely used to “spin” facts to gain public approval during George W. Bush’s presidency, most notably in its effective promotion of the war on Iraq.

Background: Before September 11, 2001, the Bush administration had known two things: that they were in need for an excuse to go into war with Iraq (Paolucci, 7) and that the Taliban were planning an attack on the US (Moore, 144). On September 11, 2001, the citizens of the United States witnessed the attack of the World Trade Center. This caused fear and a change in world view (Farnsworth & Lichter, 89) within the American public, and the Bush administration capitalized on the newfound fear. Bush had found his much needed excuse to go to war.

The Game Plan: In the aftermath of the terrorist attacks, the new goal of the government was to tie Iraq and its leader Saddam Hussein to Al-Qaida, the terrorist organization responsible for the attacks on 9/11. This would subsequently link Saddam Hussein, the Iraqi leader, to the terrorist attacks of September 11. By making these ties, Bush and his people were able to excuse an attack on Iraq as part of their “War on Terror” (Paolucci, 8).

The Execution: Following orders by Donald Rumsfeld, John Rendon organized The Office of Strategic influence "to generate false news to serve the United States interests,” including the rescue of soldier Jessica Lynch (Paolucci, 9).

The best and most effective tool in swaying the public was the press. Embedded journalism was also used and it resulted in the “ultimate control over media reportage disguised as an unprecedented willingness to bring the ‘true’ face of war to the masses” (Scatamburlo-D’Annibale, 37). Officials were pleased by this war coverage because it “conveyed the Pentagon’s message, it touted the technological prowess of the US military, and it fed the home audience a constant diet of US bravery” (Scatamburlo-D’Annibale, 40).

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For more information on how the media influenced the war, click here.

In this clip, we hear the claims made by the Bush administration about Iraq and WMDs:

In this clip, Bush admits that there were no WMD's and that Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11:

In this clip, we find discrepancies between official reports and what President Bush told the media. This is just one example of how the administration placed their "spin" on the facts: