Propaganda Analysis Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Propaganda Analysis - Assignment Example This was dictated to journalists in a top-down fashion. After the media carried these dubious official stories without cross-checking facts, it was disseminated horizontally among Iraqi citizens as well as abroad. There are also instances of misattribution of sources (black) as well as intended ambiguity with respect to certain sources of information (gray). If the details presented in the report were to be true, then Saddam Hussein had had employed every technique, trick and nuance to enhance his own position and interests. As per the report, Saddam Hussein employs the entire gamut of propaganda techniques there are. This includes producing falsified on-the-record information, staging suffering and grief, restricting movements of journalists, self-inflicted damage, false man-in-the-street interviews, etc. The report even claims that Saddam showed self-inflicted damage in order to garner the sympathy of the international community. Documents were fabricated, the media censored, and military assets were located in proximity to civilian residences. The latter ploy was to use civilians as human shields and protect military installations in this fashion. The report goes on to say how Saddam exploited religious sentiment for political ends. Though an atheist in practice, his photos of praying and religious obeisance were circulated both within and outside Iraq. Through such techniques Saddam manipulated the psychology of the masses of Iraq, who are easy victims for their leader’s feigned piety. Another area where Saddam attempted a massive cover-up was regarding the effects of economic sanctions. He spread the impression that the massive malnutrition and infant mortality after the end of the Gulf war was entirely the consequence of sanctions. This claim is questionable, especially since the military expenditure continued to grow during the period, just