Surviving Capitalism (Not) : The Propaganda Narrative of U.S. Withdrawal from Iraq

We’ve lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that “regular” citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.
—Frances Moore Lappé, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Monday, July 4, 2011

The Propaganda Narrative of U.S. Withdrawal from Iraq

Click here to access article by Jeremy R. Hammond from Foreign Policy Journal.

This is an excellent analysis of a current propaganda piece published by the most prominent "newspaper of record" in the US. Anyone who has any interest in how the ruling class shapes public opinion must read this article.

...the New York Times would have Americans believe that “Iraqis Hope U.S. Special Operations Commandos Stay”. Naturally, the U.S. mainstream media also stays true to the narrative that the U.S. is in the country to help Iraqis build “democracy”, the rejection of the views and positions of the overwhelming majority of Iraqis notwithstanding.

In order to maintain the fiction of an independent press, the control of mainstream media in the US is always handled informally and hidden from public view. Thus, control of the media is not done formally as when the Soviet authorities directed its propaganda organs such as Pravda to publish articles in a certain way, but control exists nonetheless.