Col. Sam Gardiner, who was a regular on the NewsHour during "major combat operations" in Iraq, has written a paper that deconstructs the Anglo-American campaign of strategic deception before, during and after the invasion.
Working with an L.A. Times reporter (the late Mark Fineman) Gardiner has carefully untangled the seemingly endless stream of official lies - the half-baked intelligence, the deliberately deceptive sales campaign, the phony pre-war propaganda, the phony war propaganda, the phony post-war propaganda, etc. etc.
Gardiner breaks all this material down into a series of stories -- like the mythical meeting between Mohammad Atta and an Iraqi intelligence agent at the Prague airport; the Niger yellowcake; the model airplanes of death; the fictional uprising in Basra; the manufactured surrender of an entire Iraqi divison; the Private Lynch made-for-TV movie, and so on. He then traces the origin of each story, follows it through the propaganda assembly lines at the Pentagon, the White House and 10 Downing Street, and shows how it was injected into public consciousness.
I've just started reading the paper, already I've come across this nugget:
There is more to come. As the United States struggles with a post-conflict Iraq, distortions continue. Probably of more concern, major players in the game are working on ways to do it “better” in future conflicts.
Col. Gardiner is cautious in his assessment of what this all means:
I thought about calling [the paper] “Apparatus of Lies,” connecting to a title the White House gave a paper on Iraq’s decade of fabrication, mostly about weapons of destruction. Although lies were part of the effort, that title would have been off the mark because the story is more about aversion to truth rather than the open lie.
Col. Gardiner, I think, gives the benefit of too many doubts to people who deserve none of them. To me, his work just reinforces a fundamental truth: The war is not a series of discrete scandals (Yellowcake, Wilsongate, Halliburton, etc.) but rather a single, monstrous, unified scandal -- probably the greatest criminal conspiracy in the history of the United States. And it's still ongoing.
You can download a PDF of Col. Gardiner's report here.
(Thanks to Steve Soto at The Left Coaster for the tip.)
There's nothing new in one sense. These are pretty similar to the tactics that FDR used to get us involved in WWII.
The difference of course, is that WWII was already well underway at the time...
You think that's bad, try reading the transcript from the 60 Minutes II report on all of Powell's lies from his shameful U.N. performance, which I, by miraculous coincidence, have conveniently posted on my very own, significantly less popular, site. Go Marlins!
I wholeheartedly agree that this conspiracy will probably take the award for scariest of all time. You've got your Teapot Dome cronyism, your Watergate dirty tricks, and your Gulf of Tonkin phony war all rolled into one. I just wish we had another Fawn Hall type to perk up the scenery...
Whoa. Sorry.
Anyway, this war really is the perfect storm of the regime's bullying and graft--a singular, synergistic scale of organized crime that the world has never seen.
We can bet that if they manage somehow to get re-elected, though, they will continue to innovate: Iran, Syria, Cuba--opportunities abound for entrepeneurs who buy into Bush's plutocratic vision.
If that happens--if this cancerous growth on our liberal democracy gets another term to metastasize--we're all in deep trouble. Because America has very little time to right ye olde ship o' state.
I read the whole thing, and while it is compelling, it'd better be a rough draft. Too many misspellings, the layout was awful. I'd be more apt to use it as a resource if it was more presentable.
"There's nothing new in one sense. These are pretty similar to the tactics that FDR used to get us involved in WWII."
How is it similar?
See also,
Weapons of Mass Deception: The Uses of Propaganda in Bush's War on Iraq
by John Stauber and Sheldon Rampton
reviewed by Jeffrey St. Clair, War Pimps
Stauber and Rampton cut through the accumulated media fog to reveal how the war on Saddam was conceived and how the media battle plan developed and deployed. They identify the key players behind the scenes who stage-managed the countdown to war and follow their paper trails back through the murky corridors of Washington where politics, corporate spin and psy-ops spooks cohabit.
Most of this book was written well before the invasion of Iraq. Yet, the story it relates is only now being nibbled at by the mainstream press, which had done so much to promote the vaporous deceptions of the Bush administration. Stauber and Rampton...shine an unforgiving light on the neo-con ministers, such as Paul Wolfowitz, Douglas Feith and Richard Perle, who concocted the war in the sebaceous quadrants of the White House and the Pentagon, over the objections of the senior analysts at the CIA and State Department.
You're right, ChrisL. 60 Minutes II was absolutely damning on Powell's lies. My favorite part was the videotape of him stating the exact tonnage of the chemical weapons, of which we have so far only found "intent." (I wonder how much "intent" weighs in tons?) A written transcript unfortunately leaves out Powell's characteristic emoting for the camera; you know, the solemn serious demeanor followed by all kinds of facial gyrations to convince the audience he is telling the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. The lyin' sack of shit! Somewhere, hidden in Washington, is a whole gallery of portraits of our great warmongering leaders, said secret portraits showing their true vile, disgusting, monstrous faces -- kind of on the order of the "Picture of Dorian Gray." Tell me this bunch haven't sold their souls also.
I hope 60 Minutes II turns into a serial, with perhaps Rice, Cheney or Rumsie next? (With Cheney they only have to go back 24 hours or so to show the lying, lol)
I read the whole thing, and while it is compelling, it'd better be a rough draft. Too many misspellings, the layout was awful. I'd be more apt to use it as a resource if it was more presentable.
Agreed...I can't believe some of the errors in there, such as "Ansar al-Salam" and "General Abizaig." He's really shooting his credibility in the foot with some of these typos. I think the writing and organization was terrible as well.
As for substantive critiques--many of his insinuations are sourced "I heard," and what's more, some of them aren't even damning.
I agree that this administration cannot be trusted, but I think this report is conspiracy-mongering and not ultimately constructive.
Anyone care to rewrite it, and make it stronger?
No point in waiting for the next election for activity in Syria, Iran, cuba, etc....betcha we'll be at war with North Korea before the election. Will we depose the president in time of war?
The first PowerPoint Expose.
I liked Sam Gardiner when he was on the NewsHour. I hope I don’t read about his heart attack in the next couple of weeks.
A comprehensive list of the Bush II Administration lies and propaganda aimed at Americans and British to sell the war that continues on right now.
The Bush II PR Campaign won’t cut it. They lied. So the propaganda and cover-up must continue. The scarey part is they didn’t have to do it. But because they did they will have to keep escalating the lies and propaganda.
There is only two possible outcomes:
1) The religious radicals are kicked out of the White House and the Pentagon, or
2) Mass market propaganda and computer assisted voting assures religious radical control until Civil War II.
Col. Gardiner, I think, gives the benefit of too many doubts to people who deserve none of them. To me, his work just reinforces a fundamental truth: The war is not a series of discrete scandals (Yellowcake, Wilsongate, Halliburton, etc.) but rather a single, monstrous, unified scandal -- probably the greatest criminal conspiracy in the history of the United States. And it's still ongoing.
Absolutely. The bloody carnivorous monkeys on crack don't deserve a single excuse.
I can't stand all the equivocating going on. Where are the mobs with torches and pitchforks walking down Pennsylvania Avenue? These bastards are full-bore into taking down the world. They've already stolen our future and nobody realizes it. It's all too much for most to comprehend.
The REAL irony is that what they've corrupted and stolen was already built on sand. Gee, maybe they've done us all a favor. Don't get me started. On the other hand, why not? I gave up everything to move to northern New Mexico four years ago. (Plenty of sand here, hahaha.) No equity to lose. An invisible Toyota on the Visa. Complacency sucks, though I do kinda miss it.
I tell you what, though: those bloodsucking neocon weaselfarts come marching in here, the locals will watch 'em shrivel up in the sun and sweep their puny husks into the gorge. And if they don't do it, God will. It's that kind of a place.
shit, we're back to drip, drip, drip?
what happened to the dam breaking, etc?
Yes, this paper could have done with a good editor, but I have to say that Lt Col. Sam Gardiner has done an excellent job of pulling the way this disinformation campaign was carried out in both the US and the UK. And he is public enough that he also is displaying a great deal of courage to go against the cabal. As with Joe Wilson, Greg Thielmann and Brady Kiesling, Gardiner is a real American hero.
Sam Gardiner had been tapped by the Bush administration to help get the infrastructure back up as fast as possible (brought in before the war to help with the post war effort), so like others who worked with the administration, he is able to show how bad they really are. I think he can do great damage to their credibility and now he has done a great service at documenting a large piece of their lies and disinformation. The data will be excellent evidence at the inquiries I hope we someday see.
Anyway, this war really is the perfect storm of the regime's bullying and graft--a singular, synergistic scale of organized crime that the world has never seen.
Matt, you left one out. Religious fundamentalism is a cornerstone of all of the president's policies. Graft and bullying are just gravy.
Yeah, nice way to look at. The greatest criminal conspiracy in the history of the world.
Yeah, nice way to look at. The greatest criminal conspiracy in the history of the world.
Wait a minute - let's not get carried away here. I think either Stalin or the Third Reich still hold that title, with the Kmer Rouge a close runner up.
Col. Gardiner's 'Truth from these Podia' in its current state is no use selling to the unconvinced, nor bugging those with no time to grub out the details, but it takes very little imagination to see it as a harbinger of one very stunning expose` later on down the line.
Col. Gardiner's 'Truth from these Podia' in its current state is no use selling to the unconvinced, nor bugging those with no time to grub out the details
How about what was done to the family of the pilot lost in GW1, resurrected by these devils in order to die again in GW 2?
That's pretty easy to understand. I even remember them taking us into the cell where his intials were found, scratched in the wall
putting his family through hell again, as tawdry pr to sell a war, how hard is that to understand?
we are rape victims, wondering if we did wrong, if we asked for it. they brutally bugger even their strongest supporters (POW/MIA flag flyers).
AmerikaGate is in the Lenin/Stalin league in twisted self-righteous cynical audacity
I hope he has an agent and that he's already started working with an editorial team from a major publisher to put out a slim hardback in about six weeks. Did he include a copyright symbol on the PDF? I sure hope so, or someone else is going to beat him to press with his own work.
Billmon: There was much of crimes but barely any conspiracy with the Red Khmers.
As far as the US is concerned, that might be the biggest conspiracy. If we look globally, that is still debatable indeed.
I agree with Laura and Praktike--while it does contain some juicy nuggets, the poor writing and organization, as well as the length, will give many "serious" journalists an excuse to dismiss it.
And what a crappy title. "Podia"? What, he couldn't think of a more obscure plural to use?He should have gone with one of his earlier ideas.
I don't need to read Gardiner's piece to state the obvious. Most everything he speaks of is public knowledge in one form or another and should have been reported and re-reported and shouted from every Media outlet for at least the last year. When you realize that only a peson with access to Internet Blogs knows the full breadth of this plot, you can appreciate the total control of the Media by the Right Wing apparatus. And the deep trouble this country is in.
"Anyway, this war really is the perfect storm of the regime's bullying and graft--a singular, synergistic scale of organized crime that the world has never seen."
I am concerned that you are engaging in a bit of hyperbole overload here. Since every dictator of modern times has operated above the law, it could be argued that each one is a criminal. Certainly people like Hitler, Stalin and Pol Pot had just as much political legitimacy as this evil bunch. Stalin was directly responsible for the death of 20 million Russians following WWII and Hitler's crimes are similar in magnitude. So I am grateful that the current bunch hasn't achieved this level of destruction. Yet.
hm, since we are still deep in the midst of it (& gettng deeper), lets not argue about "which is bigger/badder".
I have sent this pdf to everyone I know.
i'd *like* for it to be attractive (& legible) but I aint waitin for that to happen, i am gettin the word out!!!!!!!!
...& its even more important coz this weekend is NBC's SAVING PRIVATE LYNCH tv mooovie, which is gonna be a whole new DUMPTRUCK of propaganda that we are gonna have to dig ourselves out of!!!!!
correction: NBC's SAVING PRIVATE LYNCH tv mooovie is not this weekend, but they have begun hyping it for november sweeps.
I wrote the Col. Gardiner to tell him that I believe out a big part of the puzzle - TIMING.
I believe (but can't prove) that this war was begun to win the election of 2002. Talk of Saddam's "imminent threat" came out of left field at a time when it appeared that the Dems would retain control of the Senate and might gain control of the House.
Mr. Bush ran around the country saying that he needed Republicans to support him in the fight against terrorism & Saddam.
After this was started, "intelligence" was manufactured to make the case.
"but I think this report is conspiracy-mongering and not ultimately constructive" - B.S. praktike. Did you actually read it? Although it is full of grammatical errors and guilty of bad form, it is completely accurate. Quoting Time, Newsweek, NYT, the Washington Times, Rumsfeld, and other Pentagon officials with deceptive statements we know they actually made is not conspiracy-mongering. He even addresses that issue in the intro. Documenting war lies is constructive. Explaining the medias complicity is constructive.
I think people can easily make the case that this is the biggest cover up in history.
We have more power than Germany before WWII. Our media spans the globe and has influence in high places. Germany would admire our propaganda machine. Colin Powells (the guy who lied to the UN, remember) son heads the FCC and is pushing for media conglomeration. Want to see our 1,000 year Reich plan? Click over to www.newamericancentury.org Its signed by the guys in the White House. Hell, over half of our "informed" public still believes 9-11 and Iraq are connected and that we found WMD's. We aren't building up along the Rhine, thats chump change. We currently have strategic control over the world's major oil resources, and the ability to strike anywhere. The sun never sets on the American empire and no one mentions it. We don't need concentration camps, our laws enforce our right to have 14-year old malaysian girls to make our shoes. Our military budget is larger than our education, healthcare, welfare and public housing combined.
This is big-time. The strongest power in history has the support of its public to wage wars of aggression, based on lies that the media won't reveal. Conspiracy to wage a war of aggression was the first count against the Germans in Nuremberg. Crimes against humanity was another.
wetzel: Did he include a copyright symbol on the PDF? I sure hope so, or someone else is going to beat him to press with his own work.
While a (c) makes the claim stronger, a work is copyrighted "the moment it is created and fixed in a tangible form that it is perceptible either directly or with the aid of a machine or device."
http://www.copyright.gov/help/faq/faq-general.html
The war is not a series of discrete scandals
too true. the range of it all is really shocking. it's probably too much for your average non-interested person to even believe, if you were to lay it all out for them.
also, somewhat OT, but 60 Mins II had a pretty damning piece tonight on the lies in Powell's PowerPoint Prevarication.
drip drip drip.