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Paper Abstract: Ways in which president "sold" the war to the Amer. public. Paper Introduction: This study will examine the ways in which the George Bush Administration "sold" the 1990-91 Gulf War to the American public. The study will include consideration of the reasons that Bush chose to mislead the American public and to convince them that the war was in the nation's best interests. There is no doubt that just prior to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1990, Bush's popularity was low and that public perception of his leadership qualities were similarly diminished. As Shogan writes, Bush had realized that his invasion of Panama had boosted his poll ratings, but since the doubts about that military action had begun to be aired, the polls had once again dipped. As Shogan writes, prior to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, "the most striking measure of how little impact the public believed Bush was having on the government he headed was that Text of the Paper: The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper. Bush set forth as one of his major aims in the war the restoration ofthe "legitimate" government of Kuwait. In other words, military censorshipallowed Bush to show the American public a war of his definition ---bloodless, for the most part, and marked by precise bombing which hit onlymilitary targets or targets which could be used by the military of Iraq. "Flacking for the Emir." The Progressive. 113). As soon asthe fighting started, the screen was removed, and the reality of a U.S. 'As was the case in the193 s, we see in Saddam Hussein an aggressive dictator threatening hisneighbors . In fact, U.S. As Shogan writes,"Frustrated by the complex problems that faced him [domestically], Bushseized upon [Hussein's] aggression not only as an outlet for the ambitionwhich was one of the dominant features of his character but also as awelcome distraction from domestic issues. The effortsin this area extended to the very chambers of the United Nations SecurityCouncil: "Walls of the Council . There is no doubt that just prior to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in199 , Bush's popularity was low and that public perception of hisleadership qualities were similarly diminished. An army with such technology has anoverwhelming advantage over an army without it, much as an army equippedwith tanks would overwhelm an army with horse cavalry" (Perry 64). "Desert Storm and Deterrence." Foreign Affairs.Fall 1991. New York: Knightsbridge, 1991.Shogan, Robert. The first piece of disinformation, then, was that Bush hadconsistently taken a strong stand against Iraq's belligerence againstKuwait, when in fact the precise opposite was true. Momentarily, the effortsachieved their goals. Clearly, Hussein of Iraq had given Bush the chance toredeem himself, and he grabbed that opportunity eagerly. Kuwaiti hospital authorities .... January 6/13,1992. 12-14.----------------------- 1 Every device was used by Bush --- from exaggerating andmanufacturing Iraqi atrocities in Kuwait to gathering a false U.N.-frontfor what was essentially an American war. Though many accounts ofIraqi atrocities were probably correct, all were relayed without questionas accurate---often with an assist from Hill & Knowlton" (Rowse 2 -21). " Thanks to Bush'sportrayal of Saddam, the American public "could view (the Iraqi leader) asa demon who deserved devastation and the Iraqi people as part of theIslamic horde that had given rise to anti-Western terrorism" (Falk 112). In addition, the high-tech treasures warehoused by themilitary had never really been fully tested in war-time circumstances, andhere was the opportunity to test them --- and to test them against an enemythat never really had a chance to fight back effectively. Key tothis capability is a new generation of military support systems ---intelligence sensors, defense suppression systems and precision guidancesubsystems---that serve as 'force multipliers' by increasing theeffectiveness of U.S. This study will examine the ways in which the George BushAdministration "sold" the 199 -91 Gulf War to the American public. The desperate, criminal efforts by Husseinto inflict reciprocal pain --- the wildly inaccurate Scuds sent againstIsrael and Saudi Arabia, and the ecological terrorism of setting Kuwait'soil wells on fire and dumping more than a million barrels of oil into theGulf --- amounted to flailing at the wind . The disinformation campaign, then, attempted to portray Hussein notonly as a monster, but as a monster who was threatening the entire worldwith his aggression and power, just as Hitler had done "in the 193 s." However, as was evidenced by the reality of the war itself, thisportrayal of Hussein's military as an invincible machine was another pieceof disinformation: "Saddam Hussein was portrayed as a potent militarythreat to oil and Israel. February 3, 1992. 283). The threat to the oil supply meant two things: Bush would havethe opportunity to help his top supporters --- the oil industry; and hewould be able to bring together the nations of the world (through theUnited Nations) who were also threatened to various degrees by the Iraqitakeover of Kuwait and its concurrent threat to the oil fields of SaudiArabia. What we witnessed in the war against Hussein, then, was a barrage ofmisinformation, disinformation, and propaganda designed to build supportfor the war. When it became clear that the American public was not buying such PR"flack," Bush's administration began talking about influencing the Kuwaitigovernment --- after liberation --- toward a more democratic form of rule.In fact, nothing of the sort has occurred, with the Kuwaiti Emir fullyrestored to power and all dissident, prodemocracy factions effectivelysilenced by the forces of the Emir. While the media, willingly or unwillingly, helped Bush hide the factof massive Iraqi suffering, Bush on another front was emphasizing thehorrors visited upon innocent Kuwaitis by the invading Iraqi hordes. At theend of the war, however, .... Awar was needed to restore the sense in the American public that a bigmilitary and big military budget were absolutely vital to the security ofthe nation. 282-283). In his first eighteen months in theWhite House, as polling results indicated, Bush had succeeded in loweringpublic expectations to the level where he could easily meet them. The Rape of Kuwait. Perhaps the most widely publicized accusation byPresident Bush .... weapon systems. However,this relativist attitude toward presidential leadership could last only solong" (Shogan 281). . were covered with oversized colorphotographs of Kuwaitis of all ages who reportedly had been tortured orkilled by Iraqis .... Implied in this aim was that Kuwaithad some sort of government which somehow deserved restoration. was the charge that Iraqi soldiers had let 312 babiesdie after removing them from their incubators at three hospitals. warwas fully exposed" (Ibid. Saddam's War. . As Hussein survived, however, and asthe truth about the suffering of the war was exposed, the sheen wore offthe illusion and Bush was revealed once again as a weak and directionlessleader. military forces,immediately after the war, were utilized by the Emir to ensure his securerestoration to power. Bush used this pieceof disinformation --- which was later revealed as false when secret cableswere released --- to both bolster his claim about Hussein's Hitler-liketendencies and to hide the fact that he had been responsible in large partfor practically encouraging the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. 66-82.Rowse, Arthur. . May 1991.2 -22.Sasson, Jean P. Bush had every reason to do everything he could, then, to "sell" thewar to the American public. A security interest was claimed, tied to thelikelihood that Iraq would soon possess a nuclear bomb. "What War?" The Nation. Thestudy will include consideration of the reasons that Bush chose to misleadthe American public and to convince them that the war was in the nation'sbest interests. In fact,Kuwait was run by billionaires who had not been elected by the people.Here again, the PR firm of Hill & Knowlton was responsible for trying tooffset this reality: "One of the firm's main aims was to offset unfavorablepublicity about Kuwait's form of government and human-rights record" (Ibid.21). The Bush Administration, in the name of troop security, was able toimpose on reporters in the Gulf severe restrictions which resulted in asanitized and sterilized portrait of the war and its casualties being sentinto the homes of the American public. Works CitedBulloch, John, and Morris, Harvey. First, he needed the war personally andpolitically --- to define his presidency in terms of world leadership andto soothe his battered ego after once again being seen as a "wimp."Second, it was fortuitous that the Iraqi invasion threatened the world'soil supply---although to what extent this threat was real is still inquestion. In short, prior to the opportunity to go to,war in the Gulf, Bush'spresidency was floundering without direction or purpose. . As Shogan writes, Bush hadrealized that his invasion of Panama had boosted his poll ratings, butsince the doubts about that military action had begun to be aired, thepolls had once again dipped. As we now know,the 'war' was not a war at all; it had the one-sidedness of torture.Casualty ratios [that is, Iraqi casualties to 'allied' casualties]approached 1 to 1; at least one-third of coalition casualties werecaused by 'friendly fire' [Another fact of the war which the BushAdministration sought to hide]. Therefore, while Bush was portraying Hussein as a monster, he wasconveniently ignoring the fact that he had supported Hussein for years atevery opportunity, up to the days immediately preceding the invasion ofKuwait, during which Bush had Ambassador Glaspie tell Hussein that theUnited States had no opinion on Arab-Arab conflicts such as was occurringbetween Iraq and Kuwait (Tesich 13). As we read in Bulloch and Morris, the capstone of Bush'sdisinformation and misinformation campaign was his ongoing effort toportray Hussein as a monster: "Bush was uncompromising; he accused Saddamof an 'outrageous and brutal act of aggression' and indirectly compared himto Hitler: 'Appeasement does not work,' he said. "A Government of Lies." The Nation. 112- 113.Perry, William J. Another major piece of the disinformation puzzle set up by Bush wasthe effort to portray the war as a battle between the United Nations andIraq, when in fact the war was essentially an American war waged by atechnologically superior enemy against a backward and ill-equipped enemy.As Falk writes, no nation---Israel, Saudi Arabia, France, Great Britain, orany other country --- had more than a fraction of the involvement of theUnited States: "It becomes harder and harder to recall that this wassupposed to be a 'United Nations war' . As Perry writes, "In Operation Desert Storm the United Statesemployed for the first time a new class of military systems that gaveAmerican forces a revolutionary advance in military capability. Another important factor in the disinformation and misinformationcampaign against Hussein waged by Bush was the fact that the Soviet Unionwas rapidly disintegrating in late 199 , the Cold War was evaporating, andthe military was under heavy pressure to have its budget severely cut. The Riddle of Power. By his response Bush sought totransform the perception of himself from that of a temporizing caretaker, aweak and indecisive figure who was in danger of losing his grip on his ownparty, into that of a dynamic and forceful world leader" (Ibid. . .'" (Bulloch and Morris 11 ). . Bush, in other words, was willing to do whatever he had to do to takeadvantage of the situation. London: Faber and Faber, 1991.Falk, Richard. Thispropaganda blitz about Iraqi atrocities in Kuwait was engineered throughthe offices of the public relations firm of Hill & Knowlton. claimedthat charge was false or grossly exaggerated .... . New York: Dutton, 1991.Tesich, Steve. Although Hill & Knowlton denyinvolvement, the so-called Citizens for a Free Kuwait group, with Hill &Knowlton associations, did publish the book and all its completely uncitedcharges. His disinformation and misinformation campaignwas also based on his desire to hide the fact that his own policies andthose of the ReaganAdministration (of which he had been a leading part) were responsible forhaving built up Hussein in the first place to the point at which he wascapable of making such a threat to global order. . The only point ofsuccess or power in his administration had been a military move --- againstlittle Panama. We now realize that the U.N.provided only the screen behind which the real players stood. Bush's popularity soared to an all-time high, themilitary was once again a beloved and honored institution, and the Americanpeople "felt good" about the country. Even when there was a grain of truth to the charge at hand, then,Bush tampered with that truth and exploited it mercilessly to gain supportfor his war. As Shogan writes, prior to the Iraqi invasionof Kuwait, "the most striking measure of how little impact the publicbelieved Bush was having on the government he headed was that when askedwho has the most power in Washington, 53% of those interviewed saidCongress, only 15% the President. As Shogan writes, "To Bush, the Gulf crisis appeared to representa 'crucial opportunity to define his presidency'" (Ibid. Another important piece of disinformation --- chronicling in detailevery alleged atrocity acted out by Iraqi soldiers in Kuwait---was the"quickie" paperback The Rape of Kuwait, published just before the outbreakof the actual hostilities in early 1991. If this paper is not what you are looking for, you can search again: Search for: or Click here to request an essay written just for you.