The Sound Bite Ambush

By: Lowell
Published On: 1/29/2006 2:00:00 AM

As a successful entrepreneur and marketing consultant to public companies, I am very troubled by the astounding marketing and public relations tactics of lies and deceptions that have been used by the Bush administration in the handling of the war in Iraq and the war on terror. The purpose of this article is to shout "WATCH OUT" for the present sound bite ambush by the Bush administration. At the Murtha-Muran town hall meeting January 5th  Congressman John Murtha emphasized his frustration with the media for their continually using the rhetoric by
the Bush administration instead of seeking the truth and substantive information. There are four phases to a sound bite: 1) purpose; 2) reaction; 3) results; 4) consequences. For example:

 

"Weapons of mass destruction"

Purpose: Convince the nation and the world there was no choice other than to attack Iraq immediately.
Reaction: Democrats were bullied into authorizing presidential power to go to war and agreed (ONLY AS A LAST RESORT). To deny the president the power to wage war was painted as unpatriotic.
Results: British intelligence has proven that the Bush administration manufactured evidence to deceive our country into going to war. The bipartisan Intelligence Committee of the US Senate has reported that the Bush Administration attacked Iraq based upon faulty information about weapons of mass destruction
Consequences: 9/11 commission proved that Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11 and gave he Bush administration an "F" on their report card of December, 2005 concluding that we are NOT SAFER. More than 50% of Americans now believe that President Bush misled the nation by selectively showing evidence of WMD and ignoring any evidence that was counter to their point of view.

  "Freedom and democracy for Iraq"

Purpose: Convince the nation and the world the war with Iraq was justified.
Reaction: Promote support for the war by appealing to patriotism.
Results: Hatred in the hearts and minds among millions of Muslims and non-Muslims all over the world after almost the entire Muslim and non-Muslim world sympathized with the United States after 9/11. Al Qaeda expansion into as many as sixty countries all over the world including our own, and thousands of young Muslims all over the world now want to become suicide bombers in order to kill Americans.
Consequences: According to Congressman Murtha, more than 80% of Iraqis want us to leave and more than 40% of Iraqis want to kill Americans. An estimated 30,000 Iraqi civilian deaths, illegal torture that violates the Geneva Convention, terrorizing Iraqi citizens in their homes and assassinations of minority citizens by US-trained Iraqi police and troops back to their own communities.

  "Support the troops"

Purpose: Maintain support for the war by telling the nation the troops needed our support.
Reaction: How could anyone be against our endangered troops?
Results: No plan for how to win the war. Not enough troops that they were told were needed, inadequate body armor and military equipment.  Approximately 2200 + US soldier deaths. AND veteran health benefits have been CUT!!!
Consequences: Many military leaders are saying that the war is not winnable. As a result, a potential long term quagmire is possible with the US troops in Iraq for years to come.

When sound bites are based upon lies and deceptions they are the enemy of truth. Now, after more than three catastrophic years, the Bush administration has launched another sound bite ambush. "Victory in Iraq" and "Don't Cut and Run" are the new sound bites being used as tactics by the Bush Administration to hide the truth from the American people. The result has been a massive abuse of power and has trampled of our beloved democracy. Our founding fathers worked very hard to create a democracy that would protect the nation from abuse of power by a strong executive. Unfortunately, war is necessary at times. However, the Iraq war was NOT. President Eisenhower warned the nation of the "military industrial complex". President Johnson lied about the Gulf of Tonkin. Richard A. Clarke, in his book "Against All Enemies" wrote "it is as if bin Laden were engaging in long-range mind control of George Bush chanting "invade Iraq", you must invade Iraq". Benjamin Franklin wrote "There is never a good war or bad peace." The overall consequences of this war have been a weakened military and a trashing of our democratic principles with the whole world watching in dismay.

I believe that Tim Kaine, with his victory in the Virginia gubernatorial race, has provided America with a glimmer of hope by showing that the way to combat sound bites and lack of substance is by providing the following pragmatic approach.

1 - Reject negative sound bites as lies and misrepresentations with the help of the press.
2 - Lead by example with faith in ourselves and faith in our morality and democratic principles.
3 - Reach out to allies and opponents in order to understand all points of view before developing and implementing plans.
4 - Develop comprehensive, pragmatic realistic plans for complex issues before taking action.

Hopefully the Tim Kaine method can provide an example for America.

The citizens of the United States must NOW DEMAND the following:

1 ? The Bush administration define what their new sound bites "Victory in Iraq" and "Don't cut and run" mean. We must have a plan to achieve that victory.
2 ? The bipartisan Intelligence Committee of the Senate release the second part of their report to determine just how far the Bush Administration went to "manipulate or manufacture intelligence presented to the Congress and the American people" in their investigation of prewar intelligence failures.
3 ? The Bush administration STOP lying about the war, using torture, illegally wiretapping our citizens, violating international treaties, blurring the line between Church and State in government and attacking freedom of the press.
4 ? The Bush administration implement the recommendations made by the 9/11 commission and guarantee us that the safety of the American people will be their NUMBER ONE priority.
5 ? The Bush administration begin a massive program to require automobile manufacturers to increase mileage per gallon and to support and help implement strategies for the development of alternative energy sources in order to end the United States from being a hostage to foreign oil.

A guest column by SAF

Comments



I wish our governmen (Maggi Heilweil - 4/4/2006 11:31:45 PM)
I wish our government was able to think so clearly and put forth issues as succinctly and pragmaticly as this article.  Alas,,,
I think about all we can do is blog.  Sad.  The people have less and less to say about government, as shown by the last election.



On #4, resonable in (Teddy - 4/4/2006 11:31:45 PM)
On #4, resonable in itself, I expect the Bush administration will say that's exactly what they are doing (protecting the American people) with their no-warrant wiretapping and surveillance. Their point will be this is to increase our safety, and to reveal more about it will give aid and comfort to the enemy; therefore, Bush is justified in his illegal activities and anyone who opposes him "doesn't understand security." i.e., Democrats don't understand security and can't be trusted to protect the people.

This tactic and sound bite has worked very well for Republicans in the past, and will be used agai.



Impeach the chickenh (JC - 4/4/2006 11:31:45 PM)
Impeach the chickenhawk bastards!