The Origins of America's World Wide Image Problem in Bush's Embrace of the 'Science of Lying'

[Demeter]

http://existentialistcowboy.blogspot.com/2007/11/origins-of-americas-world-wide-image.html

Successful lying has become a science. Highly paid consultants taught Bush officials the new science of effective lying at the outset of Bush's new regime. The cost, however, will be picked up by US taxpayers; it is no coincidence that new studies show US prestige declining as the world learns the truth about Bush's hidden agenda. Typically, the US responds with promises of more spin and PR, more ludicrous attempts to put a smiley face on torture, lies, and aggressive war. The US will try to spread the guilt around and "reframe" the issue.

They've wasted no time. As I write this, Colleen Graffy, of the US State Department, is telling Stephen Sackur, of BBC's Hard Talk, that other nations maintained GITMO-like facilities where people are held indefinitely in legal limbo. She failed to name one. It's unfortunate, she says, but some people ought not be afforded what Americans have always called Due Process of Law.

America has an "image problem" because the rest of the world knows America by the lies Bush tells the world.

A new report by an influential policy group in America says the US Government needs an urgent public relations overhaul to improve its image in the international community.

.............

Bush failed because, by definition, no government propped up by US forces is legitimate. Having failed the fundamentals, Bush had hoped to paper over them with "fresh meat". He would not hesitate to throw US troops into the grinder. Tragically, he may never be held to account for the lives he so eagerly and gleefully sacrificed. The lies he has told about the nature of their sacrifice and the nature of his criminal fraud upon the American people is enough in itself to try him for high treason. If all the war criminals in his administration should ever hang for the capital crimes for which they are culpable, it will be ironic that it will be for the foreign troops killed in his wars of aggression. It will be a tragic injustice if Bush himself should escape charges for the lives ofUS troops that Bush so eagerly sacrificed.

.... As any idiot will tell you: you cannot wage a war on terrorism upon everyone but terrorists and expect to win. What was originally called "Operation Iraqi Liberation" failed to achieve the publicized objectives because those were not the real objectives. Bush either lied or he is stupid or both! Iraq had nothing to do with 911 and, until the US arrived in Baghdad, there were no "terrorists" in that nation. Even now, the point is debatable. Initially, the US deliberately mislabeled a "resistance" to US occupation "terrorist" or "insurgent".
In the long run, the United States and its allies are far more likely to win this war than al Qaeda, not only because liberty is ultimately more appealing than a narrow and extremist interpretation of Islam but also because they learn from mistakes, while al Qaeda's increasingly desperate efforts will alienate even its potential supporters.

[flashl]

1. PR spending doubled under Bush

PR spending doubled under Bush

The Bush administration has more than doubled its spending on outside contracts with public relations firms during the past four years, according to an analysis of federal procurement data by congressional Democrats.

The administration spent at least $88 million in fiscal 2004 on contracts with major public relations firms, the analysis found, compared with $37 million in 2001, Bush's first year in office. In all, the administration spent $250 million on public relations contracts during its first term, compared with $128 million spent for President Clinton between 1997 and 2000. The analysis did not examine what the Clinton administration spent during its first term.
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[Lisa]

2. I think the situation where they hired Karen Hughes for PR really summed it up

They saw the whole thing in terms of "we need to convince more people", rather than "we need to stop doing the bad stuff that's making other countries dislike and mistrust us".

And -- the icing on the cake -- one of her big projects was a promotional (propaganda) video to showcase how friendly and beautiful the US is ... turned out that they used some footage shot in Canada!