Zarqawi PSYOP program: Difference between revisions

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	The '''Zarqawi PSYOP program''' refers to a US ] program, or propaganda campaign 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>

	The goals was to alienate local citizens from 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"/>

	==Rise to power==
	Prior to the involvement of Zarqawi in the Iraqi insurgency, he was jailed in Jordan for attempting to overthrow the government. He was arrested while in possession of explosives and given a 5 year sentence. Upon release from the Jordanian prison in 1999, Zarqawi's involvement in an attempt to blow up the Radisson SAS hotel in Jordan was exposed and he fled the country. According to court testimony by Zarqwai followers he was able to secure funds from al-Qaeda to setup a training camp near Herat. <ref name="WPBio">{{cite news \| title=Al-Zarqawi's Biography \| date=], ] \| publisher=] \| url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/08/AR2006060800299.html?nav=rss_world/africa }}</ref>

	Several incidents turned him from an unknown and unimportant terrorist 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. Then the ] by the Bush administration became another boost for his popularity. 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"/>

	==Program==
	]

	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"/>

	The article goes on to explain:
	:''That slide, created by Casey's subordinates, does not specifically state that U.S. citizens were being targeted by the effort, but other sections of the briefings indicate that there were direct military efforts to use the U.S. media to affect views of the war.'' Such efforts include selective leaking of factual information to reporters.

	By focusing on his terrorist activities and status as a foreigner the US tried to inflame Iraqi citizens against him.<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"/>

	==Effect of US PSYOP on domestic audiences==
	{{see\| Psychological operations (United States)\| Psychological warfare}}

	The ], adopted in 1948, explicitly forbids information and psychological operations aimed at the US public.<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> Nevertheless, the current easy access to news and informatioon from around the globe, makes it difficult to guarantee PSYOP programs do not reach the US public. ] reported on such US propaganda campaigns 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 ], but fails to offer any way of limiting the effect this program has on domestic audiences.<ref name="NSA"/><ref name="Lamb"/><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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	==References==
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Latest revision as of 17:37, 11 March 2007

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Abu Musab al-Zarqawi