How PR Sold the War in the Gulf
by JOHN STAUBER AND SHELDON
EDITORS NOTE: Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR) warns that "the
fraudulent story of Iraqi soldiers throwing Kuwaiti babies out of
incubators during the occupation of Kuwait in 1990 is depicted as if it
were true in 'Live from Baghdad,' the HBO film premiering on the cable
network this Saturday that purports to tell the story behind CNN's coverage
of the Gulf War. HBO and CNN are both owned by the AOL Time Warner media
conglomerate. ... In the film, the story is turned upside down, portrayed
as a deft public relations move by the Iraqi government, who grant CNN
access to Kuwait in a calculated attempt to discredit the rumors that their
soldiers were pulling babies from incubators. ... 'Live from Baghdad' is a
dramatization, not a documentary, but it is being presented by HBO as a
'behind-the-scenes true story' of the Gulf War and is being released at a
crucial political moment." TV critics including Tom Shales of the
Washington Post are giving the PR scam new life and a new spin. Shales
writes that in the HBO film "The horror wreaked on Kuwait is brought back
vividly during a sequence in which [CNN producer Robert] Wiener and his
team travel to Kuwait to investigate allegations that Iraqi troops had
ripped babies out of incubators as part of their plundering -- remember?
Too late, Wiener realizes that he and CNN have been duped by the Iraqis for
propaganda purposes and that they were allowed into Kuwait only so the
Iraqis could use them to help discredit the incubator allegations." But who
was and is duping whom? Hill & Knowlton PR duped Shales and the rest of the
nation back in 1990 and now tonight's HBO piece will reinforce that Big
Lie. For the real story we reprint here a chapter from John Stauber and
Sheldon Rampton's groundbreaking book, Toxic Sludge is Good for You.
MORE ON...
http://www.counterpunch.org/stauber1207.html
