War and Public Relations

The first Gulf War gained irreversible momentum with reports that Saddam Hussein's soldiers were tearing infants out of their incubators and throwing them to their deaths. Congress and the rest of America were shown the passionate pleas by a Kuwaiti peasant girl in October of 1990.

But the incubator raids never happened.

When contemplating war, beware of babies in incubators csmonitor.com

The Kuwaiti peasant was the daughter of Kuwait's Ambassador to the US. And the Washington D.C. PR firm that put together the story for President G.H.W. Bush was led by a former staffer for then-Vice President G.H.W. Bush.

How PR Sold the War in the Persian Gulf Center for Media and Democracy

Two weeks ago, G.H.W Bush's son was seen on Television shaking hands with "Sheik Abu Risha," who, we were told, had united Sunni tribes in Anbar Province against Al Qaeda and other insurgents, and provided ample evidence to Congress that "the surge is working."

Then it was announced last Thursday that "U.S. Ally Sheik Abu Risha" had been Killed in Anbar Province. President Bush was choked up over the report.

Problems:
(1) Sheik Abu Risha wasn’t a sheik.
(2) He wasn’t killed by Al Qaeda.
(3) The new alliance with former insurgents in Anbar is as fake as the sheik - and a murderous deceit.

This according to BBC reporter Greg Palast. His dauntless cameraman, Rick Rowley, went into Anbar where network cameras dare not go, to see the Sunni militias -- alongside the U.S. militias -- guarding against insurgents.

And taking vengeance on the Shia.

And "whacking" the "Sheik."

The General Petraeus Show was not as effective as the "Kuwati Babies" Show, but about as genuine. "Sheik" Abu Risha had been paid millions by the U.S. government, something other tribal leaders may not have been enthusiastic about. The former Sunni war criminals have also been paid by the U.S. to turn against "al queda," with promises that after their probation they will be given jobs with the Iraqi government.

With the U.S. bribes, "al queda" has disappeared!

You can view Rowley's report on the Al Jazeera website.

As you view the Al Jazeera report, notice that:

• The Al Jazeera reporter, Samah El-Shahat, is not wearing a burqa.
• The people seen on film are not nomadic Bedouin tent-dwellers. A couple of aerial scenes look like shots of San Bernardino, Calif. Before U.S. bombing and destruction, Iraq was a highly-developed nation.
• Children are carrying machine guns.
• General Petraeus told Congress that the U.S. was not giving them weapons. But weapons can be bought with the money the U.S. is admittedly giving them.
• Rick’s film shows US commanders placing their headquarters in the homes abandoned by terrorized Shia -- terrorized by the Sunnis being paid by the U.S. military.
• Notice how easily the "insurgents" are bought off. Western money and western goods are more highly valued by many in Iraq than the religion of Osama bin Laden.
• Rick followed the Shia to refugee slums, a result of U.S. policy.

I wish every voter could watch these films instead of O'Reilly and Hannity. Just for one evening. Then ask yourself if you're happy you're paying somewhere between $3,000 and $6,000 for each member of your family for the U.S. to overthrow Saddam, bomb hundreds of thousands of Iraqi homes and hospitals, destroy the lives of children, and now to pay off Sunni insurgents' "protection money."

Part One


Part Two


Amy Goodman interviews Rick Rowley