ARGHHH! I've been contacted to design a website promoting the "good side"

[wtmusic]

of the Iraq war...

I'm a little torn here. I'm tempted to take the money (pretty good $$, too) and donate it to the ACLU. Or is that just a net zero, and a lot of time wasted?

What would you do?

[DS1]

1. Don't ask any Congressmen for stock photos

;-)

[Richard Steele]

2. Take the money...design the site HONESTLY...

KEEP the money when the design is rejected.

Just my 2¢.

[Nickster]

4. Ahhh, I like your thinking. n/t

[wtmusic]

18. Hmm

I don't think I could do that. The man has been a good client for other projects. I actually like him, and was surprised when this came up.

He wants to put a forum in it, and I think even he might be surprised at how few good things show up in the forum. Unless he's a total dictator about it and censors posts, it could even be a positive thing.

These are the factors I'm weighing.

[kaygore]

22. Seriously, take the money and contribute it to verified voting

Give us the URL for the forum and DUers will certainly populate it with the truth!

[Horse with no Name]

49. What good would that do?

If you don't NEED the money, why accept the responsibility of carrying water for evil people?
If ONE kid looked at that website and made a choice to go to Iraq and got killed, how does a contribution to something totally unrelated help?

[SoCalDem]

36. There are ways to do it, and do it honestly

and STILL inject some conscience into it. You will find a way :)

When you compare the before, just make sure you emphasize the DATES and reference them to the Reagan/Bush1 era.... and the mass graves issues?? well those graves were filled with a lot of Kurds who stood up (like Poppy told them to) and we all watched them massacred when Poppy looked the other way..

and the nerve gas? WE sold it to him..


If you use factsm you can never be faulted :)

[Nickster]

3. I'd turn it down. Bigger stakes involved here than whether you do good

with the cash or not afterwards. I couldn't help catapult the propaganda.

[gatorboy]

5. If you need help.

We've collected tons of Instanbul pics over the past few days you could use. :P

[Imalittleteapot]

6. Well, if there is really a good side

and you're not asked to use lies or fake photos, do it.

[AndyA]

7. Will you have creative and content control?

If so, I'd take the job. Show things accurately and honestly. If they attempt to censor you, tell them your standards will not allow you to cooperate with them.

Make sure your contract allows you to keep the money, though.

[Redstone]

8. You have the right idea. If you don't do it, someone else will, and they

wouldn't put the money to good use as you propose to.

You can't keep the site from happening, but you can make some good come of it. Good thinking on your part.

Redstone

[harpo]

9. show pics of all the men dying in Iraq...that's the good side when

compared to showing all the CHILDREN dying in Iraq ;)

[MADem]

15. Show pictures of servicemen who were later wounded or worse

...doing good things before they got their limbs blown off. Pretend not to have known when these sad facts are later revealed....take the cash.

[The_Casual_Observer]

10. Who is asking for such a thing?

[wtmusic]

28. A well-to-do, Kool-Aid inebriated individual nt

[tanyev]

42. Tell him to go over there and take photos of anything good

he can find and you'll be happy to put it on a website for him.

[SammyWinstonJack]

45. Excellent idea!

[Horse with no Name]

11. Money is hard to come by these days

So nobody can accuse anyone of making a living--however they have to do it.
Personally, I wouldn't help with the propaganda.
I wouldn't want to be responsible for sending anyone's kid over to that quagmire because they relied on something that I put out there.
But you gotta do what you gotta do. You have a family to feed too.
:hug:

[NashVegas]

46. Integrity, Even Harder

Apparently. This is disappointing.

[rodeodance]

12. Kaloogian has some pics for you

[LSK]

13. there is no good side

I'd take it but then keep causing problems for it. Be a pain in the ass to them.

[stray cat]

14. If there are good things happening why not let people know.

As long as people are given accurate true information I think its a good thing. Its great when sources can keep politics out of establishing facts. The question is how much control would you have in keeping spin out of it?

[wtmusic]

21. It's hard to tell how honest he wants the site to be

and I likely would have little control over content. My stomach turns at what it might become.

[hyphenate]

16. I would sit down and think

How much do you need the money? Is your cash flow in need of funding, fast?

If it were me, since I'm largely broke anyhow, I would take the job, but I would definitely try to find out what is so "good" about it. If you can not look at it with a somewhat of an objective look, then decline it with regrets to those who want it. Tell them the truth--you can't honestly find anything "good" about the war or our being in Iraq--period.

On the other hand, focusing on the troops there, and the little bit of good PR which is coming out of that conflict, will give you a unique insight to the war, and find ways to support the troops without crediting the chimp and the neocon influence.

[gatorboy]

17. Here's a start...

[kaygore]

19. There are a lot of good sides to the war in Iraq

You just need to shift your focus.

For example, there is always the population-reduction-in-an-over-crowded-planet perspective. An this isn't just immediate casualties but also the long-term effects of UD and other banned weapons.

Then there is the medical upside. With all the soldiers with head wounds who would have died in previous wars but now live there will, no doubt, be a positive response from the medical industry that will help those idiots who ride their motorcycles with no helmets and survive crashes but with serious head trauma.

Next, but probably first, are all those crony companies of the administration that are making billions in this war.

Also, the war is uniting the Muslim world. This could give rise to a Muslim Renaissance.

Don't forget such entertainment as the Daily Show. This war and the administration that spawned it have been a real boon!

Additionally, the war has been used to better control the minds of the American sheeple. After all if we weren't fighting them (whoever the them is) over there, we'd be fighting them over here.

I could go on, but if the money is good, then why not take it and donate it to verified voting efforts. Right now, a group is in court fighting Diebold in California. I bet they could sure use the money.

[IChing]

20. What does it profit you if you gain the world and lose your soul?

Money is pretty good eh? So you would "catapult the propaganda" for them?

I really do not see the issue of why you would want to even think about this job.
Unless you think that there is a "good side" to any war.

I morally cannot.

[wtmusic]

26. I wouldn't gain a penny

The site will get designed whether I do it or not. At least the money would go to a good cause.

But you're right. On one level, my conscience would have a very hard time with this.

[IChing]

29. The money would be tainted

and yes "somebody" would do this anyway, but really is that an argument?
Well then, I might as well work for the neo-cons because someone else will if I don't and I can put the money to good use.

I find that justification

morally bankrupt.

[wtmusic]

30. You're right

The buck has to stop somewhere.

Done. Ain't gonna happen. :thumbsup:

[IChing]

34. Good Choice

I was offered in the early 70's a contract silkscreening for the NFL by members of CREEP, if we would organize and protest against Nixon
They wanted 100 or more protesters agitated "dirty hippies" for a media play....I told them to fuck themselves

NFL silkscreening contract, yeah right(like they could deliver)......but then again......i might be rich now.

[bunkerbuster1]

44. I was gonna say... if you can afford to decline this project, do it.

Your client probably doesn't want someone whose heart isn't in it anyway. It's the ethical thing to do from both ends.

[Dawgs]

23. Tell him the truth.

Tell him you are against the war, but will do it if he doesn't use it for propoganda.

[Jacobin]

24. Are they supplying the information/pictures?

Might wanna check it out for accuracy to keep your cred...

If ya know what I mean.

On the good side, it should be a very very brief project

[bluerum]

25. Jeezz - I would tell them you draw the line at journalistic dishonesty

and ask what material they have.

Personally I would not take the job but I can sympathize with economic necessity.

[sandnsea]

27. Do it, here's how

In the interest of producing a credible resource, make them back up every single bit of "good news" with on the ground documentation. Since you already have sources, every time they try to run some bullshit past you, you can respond with the facts that contradict them. They end up with nothing to put on the web site, you end up getting paid to inform somebody that they're an idiot. And keep somebody else from putting up a bunch of propaganda that hasn't been fact-checked.

[annabanana]

31. very, very good. . . this is not dishonest, could be a learning

experience.. You would be doing "due diligence" and you would get paid.

[Warpy]

32. I don't think I could do it.

Either I'd tell the whole story or I'd tell them to go piss up a rope.

Yes, there's rebuilding, a lot of it. They've even gotten smart enough to hire Iraqi contractors instead of waiting for Halliburton to get off its corporate ass. However, those rebuilding projects are often sabotaged or decorated with blast marks from other anti occupation or civil war action.

I don't think I could do anything that would just add to propaganda and happy talk about the worst tactical blunder this country has ever made.

[BurtWorm]

33. If you're not even going to keep the money, why torture yourself doing the

work?

On the other hand, donating it to a cause that opposes the war, like United for Justice and Peace, would be pretty cool...

Tough dilemma. :evilfrown:

[simonm]

35. Raise your retainer fee

Have a strong contract and a good retainer before starting. That way, if things go south (i.e. false presentation) you will still be compensated.

[vanboggie]

37. Web designer perspective

As a fellow web designer, will the constant rise in blood pressure and knot in your stomach as you design be worth it? Of course you could throw in a little Flash with "Pugs are corrupt" as a subliminal messsage (kidding). This is a tough call since you do other work for the guy, but I really don't think I could do it. Can you really do your best - e.g, optimizing for search engines - or will you be too tempted to sabotage it, jeopardizing your own ethics? If you must take the job, you have come up with the best option by donating proceeds to the ACLU. Good luck with your decision.

[wtmusic]

43. yep

the thought of coming up with all the flag/stars/pseudo-patriot graphics for such a rotten cause, or the idea that you could influence someone's decision to support it, or even go there and get hurt--has made up my mind. Sabotaging it just seems petty and stupid.

It's not going to happen. Thanks for the input.

[vanboggie]

52. Bravo for you

Perhaps when you explain to your client why you cannot in good conscience do the site, he will learn something about values. I do hope he keeps his other work with you. I know I would not have been able to resist subtle sabotage, and had I started it I doubt I could have completed it - I get too angry. I think you made the right decision for yourself and for him.

[chill_wind]

38. Good news is hard to come by.

Even after three years. Good luck getting it from the channels you would actually expect to have it and would think would by dying to provide it.

I keep thinking of the recent Tal Afar farce.


And this very recent analysis (good read):

Facts, Fudge & FOIA
Brian Palmer
3-25-06

President Bush is smack in the middle of another Iraq public-relations blitz, citing the city of Tal Afar as a success story. In the April issue of The Atlantic, journalist Robert Kaplan touts one US Army unit's work in Mosul as a qualified triumph. I have not traveled to Tal Afar, nor have I been to Mosul, but I am skeptical to the bone of both stories, particularly the President's, given what I have read about these places and what I have witnessed on three trips to Iraq.

(snip)


The State Department is just as bad. I FOIAed State in June 2005 for documents about their International Police Liaison Program, State's great push to train Iraqi cops to take over security from the US. Earlier in 2005 at the Marine base in Babil, I asked one of State's cop trainers how many of his number were assigned to the province. Five, the gentleman told me. FIVE American cops to rebuild Iraqi police forces in a swath of the country with 950,000 people, and with more than a dozen separate police forces. The absurdity of this blew me away. Five? That's not even a token effort; it's a joke. (The current police-training flavor-of-the-month is the US Army's program to embed Military Transition Teams with Iraqi police forces, a policy settled on after news broke that rogue Shi'a police units were allegedly acting as death squads.) More than nine months after FOIAing documents on the liaison program and a dozen-plus follow-up calls, I have received nothing from State. The FOIA department is horribly backlogged and in disarray, I am told.

It's tragic: the very information that might help Americans determine whether Bush Administration promises are being kept is either being withheld or, if I accept USAID's explanation, is stuck in the clogged FOIA pipeline.



(more)

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/brian-palmer/facts-fudge-foia_b_17888.html

It goes without saying that in my mind, there is no good side.
It's a propaganda task I can't imagine wanting to attempt.

[fed-up]

39. Look how easy it is to turn to the DARK SIDE when $$$$ is involved. :(

edited to add that I am glad you listened to your conscience.

[simonm]

41. Nothing personal, just business.

[EC]

40. If there really are some good things being done

of course show them...even those of us against the war, pray something good will come of all the deaths and injuries...


But if it is all falsehoods and wishful thinking just don't do it, what would be the point of pushing propaganda? Selling out to give a contribution doesn't negate the existence of the propaganda....

[johnnie]

47. I agree with EC on the post above

I think that I would ask the client in all honesty to help you collect all the "good side" information. If the client can come up with enough to fill up his site, then go for it. I don't think that "getting some electricity in a few spots for the first time since we blew the shit out of them" is really considered a "good side" right now.

[Gabi Hayes]

48. no advice here, but when I moved back home, a school district

that was being struck called me to ask if I'd teach there.

they assured me that I'd be a full time hire when the strike was over, cause they were getting rid of certain 'troublemakers'

I told them no way would I be a scab

EDIT: I didn't have a job at the time

[warrens]

50. I have lots of good news for you to use

Many Iraqi children have only had ONE limb blown off.

Fresh water in Baghdad is approaching half the availability of prewar Iraq. Same with electric power.

Car bombings have settled down to a mere 50 a week.

Civil wars are actually good for a country. Look how great ours was.

Many of our wounded troops may be able to work again in a few years, with proper medical treatment.

60 percent unemployment isn't THAT bad.

Many schools in Iraq have been repainted by our troops. It will only be a few years before they have windows, books, teachers, heat, electricity and all the other frills.

Etc. I could do this all day.

[Jose Diablo]

51. Do the job and make sure you get paid very well AND

remember the mysterious password that no one else knows about that will allow remote access for changes at a later time. But whatever you do, never go back later and change something, that's something we would never do. Especially from a location that dead-ends a trace back like a IP that couldn't be sourced to a name.

I'd never do that, it's unprofessional and I am sure, like me, you are also a professional with the highest ethics.