Zarqawi PSYOP program: Difference between revisions

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			{{War on Terrorism}}

	==References==		==References==

Revision as of 07:31, 8 July 2006

File:Zarqawi.jpg

Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

The Zarqawi PSYOP program refers to a US Psyop program, or propaganda campaign, as part of the War on Terror, exaggerating the importance of Al Zarqawi in Al Qaeda and the Iraq insurgency.

One of the goals was to set up local citizens against him by portraying him as a foreigner and key actor in the insurgency. Another goal was to ensure continued support for the War on Terror by keeping "terrorist actions" in the news.

Rise to power

Several incidents turned him from an unknown and unimportant individual to the well-known voice of Al Qaeda in Iraq. Following the allegation he was a link between Saddam Hussein and al Qaeda, before the UN Security Council, by Colin Powell in 2003, he became the embodyment of resistance against the US in the Muslim world. Another stimulus for his popularity was the invasion of Iraq by the Bush administratuion. After the capture of Sadam Hussein every mishap was blamed on Zarqawi. The repeated use of his name in relation to the insurgency turns out to be a well orchestrated campaign by the Pentagon.

Program

The Washington Post reported on April 10, 2006, that in order to ensure continued support for the US led War on Terror, the role of Zarqawi was magnified by the Pentagon in a psychological operations 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.

Also the Washington post cites Col. Derek Harvey who said at a meeting by the Army in Fort Leavenworth:

"Our own focus on Zarqawi has enlarged his caricature, if you will - made him more important than he really is, in some ways."

Citing an internal memo by Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt the Washington Post states:

"The Zarqawi PSYOP program is the most successful information campaign to date."

According to the same article:

A goal of the campaign was to drive a wedge into the insurgency by emphasizing Zarqawi's terrorist acts and foreign origin, said officers familiar with the program.

Part of the goals was to inflame Iraqi citizens against him.

General Kimmitt was the senior commander in charge of this program. The idea would be to desribe enemies as terrorists that is "enemies of America," in order to mislead the public into supporting the current US administration's Middle East policy. The raison d'être of the continued "War on Terror" is the presence of a casus belli in the form of Al Zarqawi, Osama bin Laden and other "evil doers," as President Bush calls them.

Individuals	Osama bin Laden Hamza bin Laden Anwar al-Awlaki Sirajuddin Haqqani Jalaluddin Haqqani Anas Haqqani Khalil Haqqani Hafiz Saeed Mahmoud Mohamed Ahmed Bahaziq Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi
Factions	al-Qaeda al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula Abu Sayyaf Al-Shabaab Boko Haram Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami Hizbul Mujahideen Islamic Courts Union Jaish-e-Mohammed Jemaah Islamiyah Lashkar-e-Taiba Taliban Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan Islamic State

Conflicts

Operation Enduring Freedom	War in Afghanistan OEF – Philippines Georgia Train and Equip Program Georgia Sustainment and Stability OEF – Horn of Africa OEF – Trans Sahara Drone strikes in Pakistan
Other	Operation Active Endeavour Insurgency in the Maghreb (2002–present) Insurgency in the North Caucasus Moro conflict in the Philippines Iraq War Iraqi insurgency Operation Linda Nchi Terrorism in Saudi Arabia Insurgency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa War in Somalia (2006–2009) 2007 Lebanon conflict al-Qaeda insurgency in Yemen

Policies

^ Military Plays Up Role of Zarqawi By Thomas E. Ricks, The Washington Post, 10 April 2006
"Mission Accomplished" in a business suit 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, Salon, June 15, 2006
^ Was There a Legal Basis for His Assassination? The Story Behind Zarqawi's Death by Jennifer van Bergen, CounterPunch, June 12, 2006
Who was Abu Musab al Zarqawi? by Michel Chossudovsky, Global Research, June 09, 2006,
^ America Put Him in the Big Time The Short, Strange Career of Abu Masab al-Zarqawi, Patrick Cockburn, Counterpunch, June 9, 2006
^ Who is behind "Al Qaeda in Iraq"? Pentagon acknowledges fabricating a "Zarqawi Legend" by Michel Chossudovsky, GlobalResearch, April 18, 2006
^ Hyping Zarqawi by Tim Dickinson, Rolling Stone, April 11, 2006
Updated: Anatomy of a Lie: The Zarqawi Psy-Ops, and an opportune death by DelicateMonster, Daily Kos, June 10, 2006
The Death of Zarqawi: Targeting the “US Home Audience” By Sunil K. Sharma, Uruknet, June 8, 2006

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