Media and Weapons of Mass Deception
Media are the main source of information around the world. It comes in many forms like newspaper, magazines, televisions, radios, among others. “Weapons of Mass Deception” is a derogatory phrase used by a few people to depict the United States President George W. Bush's claims for Saddam Hussein. Bush claimed that Saddam Hussein owned weapons of mass destruction as rationalization for the war on Iraq.
In a broader sense, the goals of different factors like, terrorist groups, politicians, military, etc. get linked together with an increase in media coverage of the war in Iraq and Afghanistan. Media have been in existence from as long as we can remember and play a very important part in relaying all the happenings around the world. Media have always maintained their powerful position by ensuring they show all the information on important topics like “Wars” in some of the most vulnerable countries in terms of peace.
Increasing media coverage of wars and goals of actors converged
“Weapons of Mass Deception” highlights the role of media as well as the coverage of the war from the American reporters. It also also highlights the level of the fear created by various terrorist groups. The fear among the common citizens had extended to such a level that the military forces got involved to control the situation. With the increasing interferences from Iraq, the American government was already ready to launch a war against the Iraq. While on one side reporters were covering the entire war live, the average person on the other end could only think of war and people being killed. Constant media coverage had started to annoy the people to such an extent and everyday activities were starting to annoy these innocent people. This video showcases an era of media war in which it shows how the media had reached out to the military and how their goals had started to get merged. The war in Iraq can easily be divided into two types; the first one being the war with the military while the second one was the war with the media and their army of journalist. Media coverage became another form of war. The Iraq war which went on for 720 hours was constantly covered by the media. The media coverage’s were primarily focused on relaying the fear as intended by the terrorist groups and not focusing on the required information. People couldn’t understand whether it was media coverage or was it real war journalism. There is a huge difference between the two. Media started to make a mockery out of the military personnel and not highlighting their heroic actions. Media were exposing crimes committed by the military officers during the war and not the actions taken by them in the country. With the increasing negative approach of the media and the reports, politicians started applying pressure to limit the media coverage of the war. (YouTube 2012).
There has been constant media coverage of the wars in Iraq as well as in Afghanistan. The terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in the year 2001 shook all the foundations of the ruling government but before the wars. The media groups from all around the world had constantly covered the entire terrorist attack and the aftermath. The coverage had such a nerve chilling impact on the people as well as the government that they had requested military forces to jump in for controlling the situation. With increasing number of people losing their lives and the remaining scared for their lives, politicians took the best chance of showcasing that they are there for them in every bad phase. Ultimately, the United States of America declared a complete war against the terrorism. With the help of military and positive media coverage, the government was successfully able to track down the main kingpin after the World Trade Center attacks, Osama Bin Laden and killed him nearly 10 years later. Through this attack and the after actions, we can see how the goals of every actor of these terrorist attacks had converged with each other.
Although Iraq and Afghanistan are two different countries, they are still considered the main targets in terms of the War on terror. About 4 years ago both Britain and America launched a full-fledged attack on the terrorists in Iraq; since then the country seems to have gone half of their size now. With the increasing number of media companies focusing on the wars in Iraq, everyday people are fed with sensational and horrifying information. During the wars in Iraq, most of the reporters from the media were surrounded by the military forces which provoked them to depict a one-sided story and in turn raise lots of conflicts. Increasing media coverage encouraged the terrorist groups to launch more attacks on various countries, and these groups were able to meet their goals through the war and media attention. While on one side, the politicians were busy politicizing the scenario to a completely new level; the military on the other side was using all their capabilities to make sure the citizens are safe (YouTube 2012).
According to a report published in Afghanistan War logs 2010, the news of Iraq covering the operations in Afghanistan, were doing the rounds, the media coverage in the country increased to a whole new level. War on Afghanistan was also a part of the War on terror. Bush had indicated to media that either they are in the country or against the country; this resulted in the media coverage becoming way too sensational. Terrorist groups knew that they were the top priority and had all the media attention they were looking for at that time. They started creating widespread fear not only among the people, but also the government through their high-tech devices. The Military was getting fully ready to tackle the situation to protect the safety and freedom of the common innocent people.
Conclusion
A slight hint of any terrorist attack creates a sense of panic and raises the level of insecurity among the common people. Increasing media coverage of the issue creates another level of alarm among the politician who resorts to Military forces to restore peace. In the end, media coverage has been able to merge the goals of all the actors in these kinds of scenario.
References
James Forest, “The Terrorism Lectures James Nortia Press”; ISBN-10: 0984225293, ISBN-13: 9780984225293. 2012.Print
Roberts, Mark. "The Terrorism Lectures: A Comprehensive Collection for Students of Terrorism, Counterterrorism, and National Security. By Dr. James J.F. Forest. Santa Ana, CA: Nortia Press, 2012.."Journal of Strategic Security 6, no. 1 86-87. 2013.Print
Simon Tisdall, Afghanistan war logs: Iran's covert operations in Afghanistan, published in the War logs.2010. Web
Youtube, “Weapons of Mass destruction”, Accesed on 4th Oct 2014, https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DwkkAXkhKg98. 2012. Web
