The Gulf War Did Not Take Place
A theory based essay looking at the conspiracies and media cover ups involved in the gulf war and the recent Iraq war referring in detail to the work of John Baudrillard.
We are forever being subjected to this idea of an outside enemy, an evil force that needs to be stopped. An illusion is being created that western civilisation is constantly under threat. The ‘War On Terror’ is simply a propaganda campaign being used to drum up an atmosphere of fear and moral panic. This fear is then being exploited and used to legitimise the use of military action and the waging of fraudulent wars against ‘rogue countries’ and divert public attention from what is really happening. It is more of a war of terror than a war on terror.
The really sad fact is that all of this really boils down to one thing in the end, profit. Money is power, and the economical benefits of waging a war real and virtual/televised are so vastly beneficial for the government and such a large number of various industries and corporations that instigating certain agendas and prolonging them for as long as possible is actually a very positive thing to them in spite of what they try and make us believe.
“War is unpredictable, which is why it makes for an ideal tool to get away with murder while making a profit for years afterward. The people must never take their granting permission to wage war lightly. Once war is declared the status quo or life as normal rapidly changes. All wars are manufactured and those that benefit the most from war are the ones most complicit in instigating it; the ones that sell it the strongest”. Tribal Messenger. (2003). Order of Chaos. Available At: http://www.tribalmessenger.org/war/war-on-terror.htm. (Accessed On: 2008-06-11)
As well as the benefits that are created from the point of view of manufacturing a propaganda campaign, there is also a great economical benefit to waging a televised military campaign or virtual war. This is the pure and simple fact that it is not an actual war, it costs practically nothing. Real wars initially cost billions. The economical ramifications of waging a real war are outrageously obscene. For the recent Iraq war, “one estimate puts the total economic impact at up to $2 trillion.” http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11880954. Creating the illusion of war however is practically cost free. The cost of the necessary equipment required to elicit a televised war such as a T.V studio and cameras is miniscule in comparison.
There is also the publicity that is given whilst broadcasting a televised war to be taken into account. For one reason or another, people are fascinated by war. Millions of people tune in to watch developing conflicts oblivious to the fact that they are essentially buying a product, caught up in a cycle of publicity, promotion and propaganda. “the media promote the war, the war promotes the media and advertising competes with the war” (1991: 31).
We are living in an age where we are being constantly blindsided by the media, forever caught up in a reign of deception that is used to cloud our judgements and alter our perceptions. Feelings are manufactured and exploited. Propaganda is used to create moral panics as distractions just so governments can do as they please and hope no one will notice whatever the cost maybe, millions, billions, trillions or the greatest cost of all, the cost of humanity.
Liked it
