Zarqawi PSYOP program: Difference between revisions

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	The '''Zarqawi PSYOP program''' refers to a US ] program, or propaganda campaign, implemented as part of the ], exaggerating the importance of ] in ] and the ].

	The program was primarily aimed at, but not limited to, the "Iraqi and Arab media" along with the "U.S. Home Audience," which was part of a "broader propaganda campaign."<ref name="WaPo">, The Washington Post, 10 April 2006</ref>
	<ref name="Salon"> Ignoring U.S. intelligence, Bush inflated Zarqawi, then made a pointless trip to Iraq to pose as a heroic dragon slayer. It doesn't work anymore, By Sidney Blumenthal, ], June 15, 2006</ref><ref name="CounterPunch1"> by Jennifer van Bergen, ], June 12, 2006</ref><ref name="Global_Research"> by Michel Chossudovsky, Global Research, June 09, 2006,</ref><ref name="CounterPunch2">, Patrick Cockburn, Counterpunch, June 9, 2006</ref><ref name="GRca"> by Michel Chossudovsky, ], April 18, 2006</ref><ref name="RollingStone"> by Tim Dickinson, ], April 11, 2006</ref><ref name="Daily_Kos"> by DelicateMonster, ], June 10, 2006 </ref>

	One of the goals was to set up local citizens against him by portraying him as a foreigner and key actor in the insurgency. <ref name="WaPo"/> However, ] reported that, according to a "military source," this campaign ultimately revolved around "domestic political reasons."<ref name="Salon"/> Which an article hosted by ] describes as:
	:''It builds the case for war out of whole cloth. Zarqawi has become the central justification for the ongoing occupation; a threatening, spectral figure who embodies the evils of terrorism.''<ref name="ICH"> By Mike Whitney, Information Clearing House</ref>

	==Rise to power==
	Several incidents turned him from an unknown and unimportant individual into the well-known voice of Al Qaeda in Iraq.<ref name="CounterPunch2"/><ref> By ], ], June 30, 2006</ref> Following the allegation he was a link between ] and ] (used as ]<ref name="GRca2"> by Michel Chossudovsky, GlobalResearch, May 15, 2006</ref>), by ] before the ] in 2003, he became the embodiment of resistance against the US in the Muslim world. Another stimulus for his popularity was the ] by the Bush administration. After the capture of Saddam Hussein the Bush administration accused him of being behind the continuing mishaps in Iraq, or, as Patrick Cockburn commented in an editorial for Counterpunch Newsletter:
	:''"No sooner had Saddam Hussein been captured than the US spokesmen began to mention al-Zarqawi's name in every sentence."''<ref name="CounterPunch2"/>

	In the wake of his assasination, which had erroneously been reported several times before,<ref> By Kurt Nimmo, Kurtnimmo.com, June 8, 2006</ref> the US produced a video showing him to be the opposite of what the media previously advocated him to be. ] from the ] made this observation:
	:''The video portrays "Terror Mastermind" Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi acting in a "foolish" and "incompetent" fashion.''<ref name="GRca2"/>
	The article suggests that this might also be part of "successful propaganda." It continues with:
	:''What is rarely mentioned is that this outside enemy Al Qaeda is a CIA "intelligence asset", used in covert operations.''

	==Program==
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	The ] reported on April 10, 2006, that the role of Zarqawi was magnified by the ] in a ] campaign started in 2004. In the words of the Washington Post:
	:''For the past two years, U.S. military leaders have been using Iraqi media and other outlets in Baghdad to publicize Zarqawi's role in the insurgency. The documents explicitly list the "U.S. Home Audience" as one of the targets of a broader propaganda campaign.''<ref name="WaPo"/>

	Part of the goals was to inflame Iraqi citizens against him by focusing on his terrorist activities and status as a foreigner.<ref name="WaPo"/><ref name="RollingStone"/><ref name="CounterPunch1"/>

	Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt, the senior commander in charge, said according to the Washington Post:
	:''"The Zarqawi PSYOP program is the most successful information campaign to date."''<ref name="WaPo"/><ref name="RollingStone"/>

	] in an editorial for the ] suggested that the intend was to mislead the public by giving them a tangible enemy in the form of terrorists.<ref name="GRca"/> He remarks:
	:''"Without Zarqawi and bin Laden, the "war on terrorism" would loose its ]. The main ] is to wage a " war on terrorism."'' <ref name="GRca"/>

	] reported on propaganda campaigns in general that:
	:''The Pentagon acknowledged in a newly declassified document that the US public is increasingly exposed to propaganda disseminated overseas in psychological operations.'' <ref name="AP"> by Agence France Presse, January 27, 2006</ref>
	US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has approved the document, which is called "]." <ref name="AP"/> The document acknowledges the ], adopted in 1948, which explicitly forbids information and psychological operations aimed at the US public, but fails to offer any way of limiting the effect this program has on domestic audiences.<ref name="NSA"> by ], January 26, 2006</ref><ref name="Lamb"> by ], senior fellow in the ] at the ] and has been Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense, Resources and Plans.</ref><ref name="BBC"> By Adam Brookes, ], January 27, 2006 </ref>

	==Quotes==
	The Washington post cites Col. Derek Harvey who said at a meeting by the Army in ]:
	:''"Our own focus on Zarqawi has enlarged his caricature, if you will - made him more important than he really is, in some ways."''<ref name="WaPo"/><ref name="RollingStone"/>

	==See also==
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	{{War on Terrorism}}

	==References==
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Latest revision as of 17:37, 11 March 2007

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Abu Musab al-Zarqawi