9/11 Symbolism Murky Backdrop for Report on Iraq
The nation will receive a long-awaited Pentagon report on the war in Iraq today - the day before the sixth anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Even though the bipartisan Sept. 11 commission said there was no credible connection between the terrorist attacks and former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, the anniversary of the attacks and the debate about what to do next in Iraq are once again blurring together in the media blender.
While Congress and the nation hear today from Gen. David Petraeus and U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker, television viewers in four states will see an anti-war ad featuring children dressed in military fatigues, training to be soldiers in an “endless war.”
Part of a $12 million summerlong anti-war campaign funded by liberal organizations such as MoveOn.org and private donors, the ad is running over the next week in four states represented by pro-war senators. It is focused partially at “security moms” - swing voters who supported Republicans in 2004 because the GOP appealed to their post-9/11 concerns, but who now may be disenchanted with the direction of the war. It never mentions Sept. 11. Instead, the ad’s deep-voiced narrator warns that if Republican senators don’t vote to stop the war, “Should we start training our children now?”
Meanwhile, a multi-spot, $15 million pro-war TV ad campaign continues across many of the same markets, with one showing the burning World Trade Center - an image that television networks rarely show. Produced by a conservative group fronted by former Bush administration spokesman Ari Fleischer, the ad is narrated by a disabled veteran who cautions viewers about the dangers of an unnamed “they.” “They attacked us,” the narrator says. “They won’t stop in Iraq.”
There’s more. Liberal filmmaker Robert Greenwald just released a new online video critiquing GOP front-runner Rudy Giuliani’s handling of Sept. 11 - the core of Giuliani’s campaign. Greenwald calls the seven-minute piece - long by online video standards - part of an “investigative series.” It shows the former New York mayor walking through the smoky chaos of lower Manhattan after the attacks.
These efforts reflect a continuing, perhaps permanent, war over the symbolism of 9/11, which analysts say is ironic given that al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden intended his attack to have huge symbolic resonance.
“Everybody is using 9/11 for their partisan political purposes because it is the most potent symbol of our lifetime. Osama bin Laden uses it, George Bush uses it and a variety of interest groups,” said Brown University political science Professor Darrell West. “The danger with that is it focuses the discussion on the emotional rather than the rational. People get so caught up in the emotions of what happened that day that it is impossible to have a rational discussion about Iraq or anything.”
As for bin Laden, a new video surfaced last week from the still-at-large terrorism mastermind. Presidential candidate Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., commented Friday on the video - as a means to address his support of the war in Iraq, which is central to his campaign.
“Al Qaeda terrorists and the violent, aggressive ideology they propagandize must be defeated across the globe, in Afghanistan and in Iraq, which bin Laden’s top lieutenant calls al Qaeda’s central battlefront against the United States,” McCain said. “My presidency will be al Qaeda’s worst nightmare.”
Whenever bin Laden has released a video railing against Western “infidels,” it has helped spread his aims - namely the removal of U.S. forces from the Middle East - with his core audience in the Muslim world.
Yet analysts say it gives the Bush administration and other Iraq war supporters a way to try to link the Iraq war to the terrorist attacks, creating a never-ending cycle of Sept. 11 spin and volley between bin Laden and Bush.
“The administration will point to the video and say, ‘Look, there is a “link” between 9/11 and Iraq,’ ” said Joseph Tuman, a professor of political and legal communication at San Francisco State University. “And who are the big losers in all this? The poor Iraqi people and the poor men and women in the U.S. armed forces.”
Indeed, Bush said Saturday that bin Laden’s video - which attacks the administration for starting the Iraq war - is a reminder of al Qaeda’s ambitions in Iraq and of the “dangerous world in which we live.”
“Iraq is part of this war against extremists,” Bush said. “If al Qaeda bothers to mention Iraq, it’s because they want to achieve their objectives in Iraq, which is to drive us out.”
Even the video by the liberal anti-war group that doesn’t mention 9/11 gets caught up in the false linkage, analysts say. “Just because it will be difficult for people to see those ads while they’re experiencing the anniversary of 9/11 and not think about 9/11,” Tuman said.
While Bush leveraged voter concerns about post-9/11 security during his re-election campaign, West doubted that the timing of today’s Pentagon report would help the president politically.
“Bush hopes that it will help his cause, but the Iraq war has taken over 9/11 in terms of people’s assessments of him,” West said.
A Fox News/Opinion Dynamics poll in August found that 56 percent of the respondents thought history will remember Bush negatively for the job he has done pursuing terrorists after 9/11.
A July New York Times/CBS News poll found that 46 percent of the respondents felt that most of the people causing violence in Iraq today are not under the command of Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda; 36 percent felt they were and 15 percent were unsure.
Yet recent polling from the Pew Research Center shows that many Americans see through the emotional attempts to link 9/11 to the Iraq war and realize the complexities of the situation in the Middle East.
In a recent report, Pew pollsters found that 58 percent see the chances of a civil war in Iraq increasing (only 6 percent foresaw a decrease), while 55 percent believe it to be more likely that al Qaeda would establish terror bases there. In an April Pew poll, 45 percent of the respondents said that if “the U.S. withdraws its troops while the situation in Iraq is still unstable, a terrorist attack on the U.S. would become more likely.”
But the politicization of the Sept. 11 attacks shows no signs of abating, not as long as Bush can continue to benefit politically from it. Said Tuman: “He has to squeeze as much milk as he can out of that cow.”
© 2007 The San Francisco Chronicle
Bush, Cheney, and Rumsfeld orchestrated 9/11 for their own means, to carry out the neo-cons agenda around the world and in the US. There is a mountain of evidence. Nothing can be right until this is addressed and they are thrown in prison for life.
And there is no arguing this, it is not a conspiracy ‘theory’ , it is FACT, look at the HARD EVIDENCE.
You’re missing the point, Happy Days. What does it matter who or what caused 9/11? It’s the way the iconography is being marketed that’s important now.
I agree that we cannot end the WOT until we go back and figure out the root cause, namely, the attacks of 9/11.
It should be blatantly clear to all those who have put in a sincere effort to analyze the evidence that the government’s “official” version is a laughable load of fallacies, manipulations, and obvious lies. Frankly, I don’t bother to attempt to convince anyone anymore that the “official” version has been overwhelmingly debunked. The evidence is simple to find, and the poor souls who still cling to the Big Lie, I see them as in abject denial (a la: a drug addict denying they have a problem) or paid disinfo agents. Attempting to rationalize with irrational people is a waste of time.
Anyone that has analyzed the information regarding the events of 9/11 and set them against what is occurring across the world could only reach one reasonable conclusion. The event was self-orchestrated.
The people that blast ‘conspiracy theorists’ are those that have not taken the time to analyze the events of that day or simply cannot face the awful truth. (In their defense I admit it is very disturbing to face)
Regardless of WHO or HOW, the WHY is the most important. WHY? For money. HUGE amounts of money. The official theory leaves out a motive. “They are crazy and hate our freedom” is ludicrous. Analyze the MOTIVE.
How much money did the ‘terrorists’ make off the event? How much power did Bin Laden get? How much money did he make? Did the attack further the cause of Islam?
Larry Silverstein made almost 2 billion.
Halliburton and Blackwater have made billions.
The Carlisle Group has made millions.
The bush adminstration is able to wiretap, torture, and imprison AT WILL because of 9/11. People are getting locked up just trying to see their own Senator! http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/09/09/3711/
Huge military arms deals for Saudi Arabia, Israel, and Iraq are taking place. Every freedom this administration takes is to protect our national security against the evil terrorists that are waiting to get us.
If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck it’s probably a duck.
I guess I’m a tinfoil hat wearing moron. At least I’m not blind.
Obviously YOU are completely missing the point Zoya!
What does it matter who was behind 9/11? Are you serious? It was a major crime, and the entire Bush agenda has been built around it.
The iconography is meaningless B.S., what matters is the guilty are brought to justice so we can BRING SANITY BACK TO THIS COUNTRY, instead of worrying about “marketing” and “iconography”.
Sadly, ilovelife is correct about too many people.
I feel I misrepresented my concern for people who have not come the realization just yet. I am willing to talk about this subject with people who have a genuine interest in exploring the evidence. I’m happy to talk with people who disagree as long as they are going to make the effort to seek answers to their questions and theories for themselves through research.
On the contrary, those persons who demand that I prove an alternative theory - looking for anyway to step me up, or calls me a “fruitcake” or some such inane comment, why waste my time? No one can help the drug addict until he is willing to help himself.
No, Zoya is completely right. Not that what happened or why does not matter but, now, how that event is being used to propagandize the American public is the critical concern for those of us who want to end this war immediately. The 9/11 iconography is akin to Remember the Maine or photos of destroyed ships at Pearl Harbor–persuasive and emotionally charged photos and words that, the NeoCons hope, will continue to fuel our thirst for war and revenge. Can the American public separate that event from the travesty now underway in Iraq? I’d like to think all of us can; on the other hand . . . we’re all the products of good old sheltered American education. www.changetheschools.com (not that this issue can be addressed until the WAR is OFF THE TABLE!)
How can we counter the propaganda, pkokinos? By finding and telling the truth! That’s why it very much does matter that we expose the criminals who attacked America! There will be no more justification for continuing the WOT when the public awakens the the truth at mass level. Which is what is happenning now, finally.
Of course, Ilovelife. Telling the truth is the most desirable thing, but sometimes not the most persuasive, which is why propaganda is so powerful. Also, our truth and their truth do not match, and the truth is sullied on all sides by political purposes. The real truth we want to tell, I think, needs to move beyond debunking and, instead, appeal to what you and I have both apparently perceived as a shift in the mood of the nation–toward ending this useless and self-serving war and, at the same time, working through the internet to create our own “propaganda,” if you will. (See article and comments at this link for more ideas: http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/09/10/3742 )
I guess I’m thinking an international ONE-like campaign aimed at bringing both national and world pressure to bear on our Congress, on our newspapers, on the UN–to do what is moral and humane, for a change, dragging the warlords kicking and screaming into the 21st century, including those at the head of our present government. Let’s figure out who has the resources and international presence to unite all of us who “love life” through a worldwide connection–applying the kind of synergy that I think would knock our socks off. So . . . how many groups like this are there, do you think (hundreds? with millions of members?)? And how would one go about creating a web-based critical mass? Interesting, huh?
pkokinos, you do realize, that when you can only lift 20 pounds, lifting 862 pounds is impossible in one go, right?
Our reality is an onion. Peal one layer back, and you are exposed to three new visible layers.
Right now, we really need to overcome that 9/11 layer. We need to peel it back, expose it for what it really is (and stop the slaughter of Middle Eastern people) before we can reach past the deeper levels to the rotten core.
You are, at best, too idealist when you say “Zoya is completely right”. I question why you are attempting to ignore and divert the most pressing issue at hand.
9/11 Truth ENDS the war of terror and send the real criminals to the Hague. If you are a peace-loving person, why do you attempt to make this issue blurred? Don’t you want to see an end to this war?
Have governments ever not used staged incidents to entering into unpopular wars???? The Lusitania incident for ww1, the pearl harbor standown for ww2, the gulf of tonkin for Vietnam. If 9/11 was not staged it would be a rareity. Why would thePNAC say “we need a pearl harbor type incident to propel america into the war in the middle east”. What exactly were they trying to say in that statement??? And then why did 9/11 just conveniently fall in their laps months after the neocons took office???? Coincidence?? highly unlikely. I was also just realizing how much Gooliani reminds me of Winston Wolf from Pulp Fiction where he comes in and cleans up afer the killers make a huge mess in their car. He disposes of all the evidence and then leaves without a trace. But any smart criminal knows you don’t go back to the scene of the crime. Even common criminals have higher scrupples then these neocon mass murdering thugs. It seems the more you compare these bastards in office to organized crime the closer you come to figuring out their MO
Peace
911 WAS AN INSIDE JOB!!!!
You: Question
You: Research
You: Explore evidence
You: Conclude
Me: Who cares what I’ve said? You’ve already asked the important questions, researched the evidence, and based on your research you’ve formed a rational, reasonable conclusion.
US: 9/11 was a self-inflicted wound.
Earth: Stop killing people forthe Big Lie.
pkokinos- war will never be off the table for America as long as people are duped into thinking we were attacked by foreign terrorists on 9/11! think about it! Do you think people would go along with the Patriot Act, wars in the middle east if they knew we were not attacked by “terrorists”? There would be no grounds for the Bush agenda at all, 9/11 is the root, as long as average Americans think we were “attacked by terrorists from the middle east” they will, and will continue, to go along with the program. A few people protest but most of America sits at home and does nothing, if they knew Bush/Cheney were behind 9/11 so many would not sit idly by. And others in our government would step forward and replace them, the Supreme Court still has some teeth. Until the “iconography” is proven false, of course Americans will eat it up and follow along like sheep, “we were attacked on 9/11, we have to stop these people”, etc.
Happy Days– I think the real issue is most people do believe that 9/11 was a fraud, but they are still to some degree in shock and just waking up to the realization. It’s almost like a collective form of post traumatic stress syndrome. As we all know people handle stress in diffent ways, some search for the fundamental and underlying cause of the stress(truth seekers), and others choose to run from the stress and absorb themselves in meaningless activities that give then a shallow sense of peace and security(majority of the populace). The only problem is that eventually you must face the demons.You can only medicate away or avert the truth for so long until it cannot be denied. It is almost like a new level of conscious awareness is entering into the pysche of mankind. Maybe almost like the 100th monkey syndrome. That is why it is imperative @ this juncture in the mass awakening to keep this issue alive and on the table. We cannot be silenced by people who refuse to view the evidence or choose to “label” us conspiracy theorist or nut jobs. We must be truly on the guard for another 9/111 style attack in the immediate future. The people who orchestrated this event are desperate. They realize the whole lie is coming unraveled as the awareness grows. Desperate people do desperate things. The whole denial and exceptance thing reminds me of when I was a child and believed in Santa Claus. I really wanted to belive because it was such a nice jolly story. Then as I grew wiser and more facts became available and my consciousness expanded I had a hard time believing that a 300 hundred pound man in a red suit and 8 flying reindeer could deliver presents to all the children in the world in one evening. What about the kids who weren’t Christian?? How did he fit through the chimeny?? Can reindeer fly?? blah….blah… blah.Think about it 9/11 is the same basic premise. Awareness expands, more facts become available, more questions develop, and eventually the old version of events is looked @ as complete lunacy. If I said I believed in Santa Clause today you would have me commited. The same will eventually be true for the official version of 9/11.
Peace
Matin Luther King from “Beyond Vietnam”
“We are now faced with the fact, my friends, that tomorrow is today. We are confronted with the fierce urgency of now. In this unfolding conundrum of life and history, there is such a thing as being too late. Procrastination is still the thief of time. Life often leaves us standing bare, naked, and dejected with a lost opportunity. The tide in the affairs of men does not remain at flood—it ebbs. We may cry out desperately for time to pause in her passage, but time is adamant to every plea and rushes on. Over the bleached bones and jumbled residues of numerous civilizations are written the pathetic words, “Too late.” There is an invisible book of life that faithfully records our vigilance or our neglect. Omar Khayyam is right: “The moving finger writes, and having writ moves on.”
We still have a choice today: nonviolent coexistence or violent coannihilation. We must move past indecision to action. We must find new ways to speak for peace in Vietnam and justice throughout the developing world, a world that borders on our doors. If we do not act, we shall surely be dragged down the long, dark, and shameful corridors of time reserved for those who possess power without compassion, might without morality, and strength without sight.”