Zarqawi PSYOP program: Difference between revisions

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	~~{{mergeto\|~~Abu Musab al-Zarqawi}}		#REDIRECT ]

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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 allegedly 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"> By Thomas E. Ricks, The ], April 10, 2006</ref>
	<ref name="Salon"> by ], ], 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"> by 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>
	The article goes on to explain:
	<blockquote>''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.''</blockquote>

	The goal of the program 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," Rumsfeld and the White House resisted degrading Zarqawi's image for "domestic political reasons,"<ref name="Salon"/> Which an article hosted by ] describes as:
	<blockquote>''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></blockquote>

	==Program==
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	The ] reported on ], ], that the role of Zarqawi was magnified by the ] in a ] campaign started in 2004. In the words of the Washington Post:
	<blockquote>''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"/></blockquote>

	The article goes on to explain that a slide created for a briefing by Army Gen. George W. Casey Jr,
	<blockquote>''describes the "home audience" as one of six major targets of the American side of the war.''</blockquote>
	Nevertheless, the slide did not specifically assert the program targeted U.S. citizens. Although other parts of the briefings did suggest it was directed at the U.S. media to alter the view of the war.

	Another slide in the briefing noted a "selective leak" to ] reporter Dexter Filkins, about a letter boasting of suicide attacks in Iraq and allegedly written by Zarqawi. Contacted by the Post Filkins commented he was skeptical at the time, and still is, about the document's authenticity.

	Responding to the articles reported psychological operations aimed at Americans, Army Col. James A. Treadwell, commander of the U.S. military psyops unit in Iraq but no longer present as the program was started, said that ''"It is ingrained in U.S.: You don't psyop Americans. We just don't do it,"''. Another officer commented in the Post that, although all material provided was in Arabic, the campaign probably ''"probably raised his profile in the American press's view."'' The Post continues that, according to an officer familiar with the case, this program was not related to another program which was linked to the ].<ref name="WaPo"/>

	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, remarked, according to the Washington Post:
	<blockquote>''"The Zarqawi PSYOP program is the most successful information campaign to date."''<ref name="WaPo"/><ref name="RollingStone"/></blockquote>

	==Rise to power==
	{{main\|Abu Musab al-Zarqawi}}
	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 indicidual into the well-known voice of Al Qaeda in Iraq.<ref name="CounterPunch2"/><ref name="Newsweek"> 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 ], 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:
	<blockquote>''"No sooner had Saddam Hussein been captured than the US spokesmen began to mention al-Zarqawi's name in every sentence."''<ref name="CounterPunch2"/></blockquote>

	Articles in the Wahington Post, Newsweek and Counterpunch Newslewtter suggest his increased notoriety was the resilt of an orchestrated effort involving psychological operations.<ref name="WaPo"/><ref name="Newsweek"/><ref name="CounterPunch2"/>

	In the wake of his assasination, which had erroneously been reported several times before, the United States military produced a video showing him to be the opposite of what the media previously advocated him to be.

	==Quotes==
	The Washington post cites Col. Derek Harvey who said at a meeting by the Army in ]:
	<blockquote>''"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"/></blockquote>

	] observed in ]:
	<blockquote>''The internal military documents leaked to Washington Post confirm that the Pentagon is involved in an ongoing propaganda campaign which seeks to provide a face to the enemy. The purpose is to portray the enemy as a terrorist, to mislead public opinion.''<ref name="GRca"/></blockquote>

	==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