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A picture
speaks a thousand words.
Through all the media manipulation during the Attack on Iraq, one of the most
ingenious methods utilized by the American propaganda machine was to diminish
the sense of humanity of Iraqis. One way this was achieved was that in all the
media coverage leading up to the Attack and during the annhilation of Baghdad,
we almost never saw a single Iraqi face. We never saw images of what life in
Iraq was like. We were fed only blurry images of dust-strewn landscapes; bleached
out wide shots of the Baghdad skyline; or the occasional group of 3 or 4 men
in the distance, walking up a highway with a white flag raised. Never a single
mention of Iraqi society, culture, or economy (oh wait, except for the belief
that Hussein would burn hundreds of oil fields). Never a profile of an individual.
Never a human face put on the numbers. Never an attempt to understand those
we were about to ‘liberate.’ In contrast, we were fed endless loops of video
and audio describing schlock and awe, attempts at ‘diplomacy’ and ‘expert’ opinions
of how long the ‘War’ would last. (By the way, why have I not seen even one
single image of a Republican Guard soldier? and how do you fight a ‘War’ without
an enemy??) Anyways, the reality is that Iraq is full of people. People who
work, pray, shop, eat, sleep, and love. But we can’t show that on TV, can we?