Between Iraq and a Hard Place

In the weeks leading up to the first Gulf War in January 1991, the media found themselves at an incredibly weak position in terms of accessibility. As explained in chapter 1 of John MacArthur's Second Front, news outlets were at the mercy of foreign and domestic governments to try to cover the impending conflict.

The Saudi Arabian government has been one of the strictest when it comes to issues of journalist freedom. When it seemed that war was imminent after Saddam's Iraqi forces invaded the neighboring nation of Kuwait, the news outlets tried to petition the Saudi government to issue more Visa's. This was crucial because Saudi Arabia would become a major staging ground for U.S. forces. The media met hard resistant to these requests.

As you would expect they should, the media then petitioned the U.S. government to intervene on their behalf to try to secure more access. What they failed to realize was that the U.S. government was of a similar mindset as the Saudi's. They had learned valuable lessons steaming from conflicts such as Vietnam and were looking for ways to contain and monitor coverage of this new war. As such, the Saudi government's denials provided them a means to this end as well as the grounds to claim innocence. The domestic government wasn't censoring the press; a foreign sovereign nation was.

Another critical disadvantage of the media's position was the supportive popularity of the upcoming war. By this time the news market had become as crowded as ever. With such high competition, media corporations could not afford to fight this censorship and lose. The marketing money would simply switch channels to the next of many news stations.

Because of these factors, news outlets had to submit to extremely restrictive practices such as media pools which would control their movement and in effect, content. Many journalistic principles had to be compromised in order to get the story.

Desert Shield

In chapter one of Macarthur’s “Second Front” we learn that the United States finally learned from its mistakes in previous wars. This is not to say the new learning’s would prevent causalities or make use of new fighting techniques, rather, it would restrict media coverage in an attempt to prevent unpopular opinion of the war from the public. These new policies were put forth to “manage the information flow in a way that supported the operation’s political goals and avoided the perceived mistakes of Vietnam” (Macarthur 7).

Annex Foxtrot and Operation Desert Shield would become some of these policies which made restrictions such as “news media representatives will be escorted at all times, repeat all times”. The government also went as far as to limit the amount of reporters allowed access to Saudi Arabia and did so in a way that convinced the news corporations that the government was on their side, willing to help in any way it could. The games being played by the pentagon entailed putting the blame on the Saudis saying they would only allow one visa per news organization while the Saudis proclaimed that they did not have a problem with it and it was the pentagon making the restrictions.

The restrictions of news coverage by the military would prove to be “a devastating and immoral victory for military censorship and a crushing defeat for the press and the First Amendment”. It seems to me that if the government is afraid of what the media might report then it must be hiding something.

"Beg the Saudi Prince."

"Second Front"
by John R. MacArthur

If the citizens of a civilized nation are shown the real picture of how and what the war exactly is, most likely, they all would call to disarm all military sectors, and take allegiance to never talk about war again. However, the governments cannot allow such notions to rest in the minds of all citizens, for if all citizens believe in "peace" and "no war," how will the government mobilise its citizens to rage a war against the enemy?

As Mr.MacArthur mentions in his book, that the Vietnam war was a war of its time. Fought far away from home, but allowed the press and journalist to bring back explicit war pictures, that showed dead American soldiers and laid out almost every dirty feature of the war. These War paparazzi did not hesitate to expose the truths of how the war is fought. Many claim that such news reports contributed to the failed military operation in Vietnam. So basically, the government learned from the Vietnam war, that journalists cannot be left alone to roam around the battlegrounds free of any protocols.

When the first Gulf War was authorized, the war specialists replayed the Vietnam war video, and captured the flaws, in which journalists were not controlled. This called for a system in which the government would "mobilise" the journalists. The government organized a system, in which "selected" journalists would be allowed at "selected" location to interview the "selected" troops. Besides this "pool system," getting into the Gulf area required the American journalist a visa, which the American government claimed that "they cannot do anything about." Especially at that time Defense Secretary Dick Cheney said that "Saudi Arabia is a sovereign nation, with its own rules," and that we cannot interfere in their visa system. (It is quiet fascinating how the government officials can at times call a nation "sovereign," and after a while, call for a social and political reform within that "sovereign" nation.) The journalists were now left at the grace of the Saudi prince, Bandar. They would visit his mansion in Virginia, only to beg for a visa to visit the gulf in order to inform the American citizens about what exactly was happening there.

The great informers (journalists) to the most democratic society decided to set their foot on the door step of a figure, who did not believe in a well-informed citizens theory. The irony was that a piece of democracy was being begged from a dictator or a royal figure who did not fully understand the concept of democracy. The directors and the orchestrator behind these scenes were the government officials of senior Bush. They purposely wanted the journalists to struggle with the visa system, for two reasons, one being that it would make it hard for them to reach the Gulf area, and second reason that MacArthur mentions is,

"it initiated a program of playing off the various media companies against
one another - newspaper against newspaper, network against network, and
television against print - all of whom were competing for the meager
carefully doled out table scarps to be known thereafter as access."

We have read several World War I and World War II readings, including the Spanish-American war, in which the government would use the journalist to mobilise the American citizens, and portray "journalism" as a way of informing citizens with the information they need. However, during the Gulf War era, the government used leaders of opposite ideals and principals to blockade an access to "information" for the same American journalists and news reporters.

Do Your Best....And Be At Your Best

During World War II it was important for men, women, and children to be strong and healthy. There were two magazine articles named Do Your Best.....And Be At your Best from the Cosmopolitan magazine in 1943. Both of these articles advertised Listerine antiseptic for oral hygiene.

"On the production line, or in the home, wherever your serve, today you have an added obligation to "Do your best...Be at your best." America needs you to be strong as well. Now, of all times, it's your duty to care for yourself......for your country!!! Yes, America needs you healthy....but she also needs you cheerful, friendly, cooperative. So put on a smile."

The Lambert Pharmacal Company in St. Louis, Mo is using the war to help them advertise Listerine antiseptic for oral hygiene. Both of the articles puts emphasis on being healthy, strong, and cheerful. The article states "That putting a smile on your face will help you make new friends and cultivate your old friends." One of the pictures from the article shows a women smiling with four men surrounding her who are also smiling. It is obvious that all of the people advertised in that photo seem to be happy and look healthy with clean white teeth.

The article also states that" It is important to always have trustworthy antiseptic and germicide for prompt use in the thousand minor emergencies that continually arise." The message that they are trying to convey is that not only will this product keep your teeth clean and breath smelling fresh. It can possible save your life in regards to minor emergencies that may take place in and out of your household.

The article also states that " In the later years it has established a truly impressive record against America's No. 1 health problem. The ordinary cold, and its frequent attribute, sore throat." Having a bottle of Listerine antiseptic will keep people healthy, happy, and strong. The article made a small notice to the public stating that " Because of wartime restrictions you may not always be able to get Listerine antiseptic in your favorite size. However, we will make every effort to see that this trustworthy antiseptic is always available in some size at your drug store." They made sure that everyone regardless of their situation will have access to a bottle of Listerine antiseptic. It is obvious that the war was used to advertise Listerine antiseptic.

Attack attack IRAQ

«We must remember that in time of war what is said on the enemy’s side of the front is always propaganda, and what is said on our side of the front is truth and righteousness, the cause of humanity and a crusade for peace.»
— Walter Lippmann

The Gulf War was perhaps the most efficient war in American History, at least when considering the cost in American lives. It proved that U.S. technology and U.S. military doctrine is a potent force when applied to the world stage.

The Gulf War was given greater media coverage than any war ever before. There were twenty-four hour news coverage on some stations, regularly extended news bulletins on others, news which, unlike during the Vietnam War, was not a day old, but a couple of hours only, even just a few minutes. But the US authorities had learnt their lesson from Vietnam, in which television reporting and photographs of body bags was widely held to have turned public opinion against the war.

In the Gulf, the authorities adopted the 'pool system' which had been developed by the British for coverage of the Falklands conflict. There may have been over two thousand journalists in the Gulf, but only a few were selected by the military every day to visit selected positions under carefully controlled conditions, on their return 'pooling' their story with the others who had not been selected.

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In the second chapter in John MacArthur's book Second Front, it says that the invading Iraqis ripped babies from their incubators in Kuwaiti hospitals and left them to die. The story was a complete fabrication by the PR firm Hill & Knowlton, who were paid by the Kuwaitis to improve their image. The truth eventually became known, but by then Congress had held its vote.

Women's Movement and their influence on Propaganda

While America was fighting overseas during the World War II, the only people that could work were the women. This was the beginning of what would become the Women's Movement. They took jobs that were once considered to be men's jobs. Women were foind in factories and steel mills. But would this have a negative effect on the country? Would we be considered weak if other countries realized that women were doing mens jobs?

"The campaign for women workers, therefore, was framed by a larger effort to persuade the civilian population that what happened on the home front was crucial for victory overseas. Given the relative isolation of Americans from battle and the fact that their country had not been bombed or invaded, the government feared the connection would not be made without clear, persistant, emotional appeals by the media for collective action and personal sacrifice." (Remembering Rosie, page 84)

During a time of war, Americans do not want the image of being cowardly. We did not want propaganda to say that women were capable of doing mens jobs. At that time, it was not proper for women to go back to work. But during World War II, women had no choice. The character of Rosie the Riveter was created. It will always be known as a symbol of women's rights.