Military Plays Up Role of Zarqawi

[KGB_resident]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/09/AR2006040900890.html

The U.S. military is conducting a propaganda campaign to magnify the role of the leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq, according to internal military documents and officers familiar with the program.
...
The documents state that the U.S. campaign aims to turn Iraqis against Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a Jordanian, by playing on their perceived dislike of foreigners.
...
Some senior intelligence officers believe Zarqawi's role may have been overemphasized
...
The military's propaganda program largely has been aimed at Iraqis, but seems to have spilled over into the U.S. media. One briefing slide about U.S. "strategic communications" in Iraq, prepared for Army Gen. George W. Casey Jr., the top U.S. commander in Iraq, describes the "home audience" as one of six major targets of the American side of the war.
...
U.S. military policy is not to aim psychological operations at Americans, said Army Col. James A. Treadwell, who commanded the U.S. military psyops unit in Iraq in 2003.
...
It is difficult to determine how much has been spent on the Zarqawi campaign, which began two years ago and is believed to be ongoing.

But how many innocent Iraqis (including children) were killed in attempts 'to elimitate' the Jordanian?

 

[Biscuits_AB]

Not as many as the Chechan civvies you lot killed in your attempts to capture or kill your bogeymen. F*cking Russians, you 've got short memories.

 

[Gundulph]

Good answer AB, I actually fell into the trap of thinking KGB was a decent ARRSE Member, when in fact he is nothing but a NATO Western Countries hating Turd!!! you are officially a muppet fella...

Gundulph

 

[paveway_3]

Gundolph i have been saying the same thing about KGB for a while . He is a yank/ anyone west of Dover hater .

 

[Bugsy]

Not as many as the Chechan civvies you lot killed in your attempts to capture or kill your bogeymen. F*cking Russians, you 've got short memories.

Sorry, bics, but you can do much better than this! Just saying: "Ah, but look what yoooooo did!" doesn't in any way answer the question that Sergey put. Stay on track, man!

By the way, gundulph and paveway_3; have you ever thought of subscribing to mil.com? With your attitudes, I'm sure they'd welcome you with open arms there! Stronzi!

MsG

 

[Agent_Smith]

Afraid i have to agree with bugsy on this one.

Despite Sergey and his blatant yank baiting, the point is that we should not ignore the points he raises simply because his countrymen may have commited worse crimes. That course of action does nothing to detract from the issues that sergey raises.

Moral relativism is simplistic.


As for the issue at hand, i would agree with the article. The yanks operate on a 'bogeyman' principle. They require a singular target, at which they can direct their energy and attention. They did it with Bin Laden in Afghanistan (where is he now?), and have followed the same path in Iraq, by building Al Zarqawi up to be public enemy no1.

It's the way they work.

 

[KGB_resident]

Not as many as the Chechan civvies you lot killed in your attempts to capture or kill your bogeymen. F*cking Russians, you 've got short memories.

Biscuits_AB!

Apparently you are interesting in Chechen events. Unlike Iraq situation in Chechnya goes better.

http://news.rin.ru/eng/news///6041/2//

"Beauty of Chechnya-2006" contest will be held in Chechnya for the first time.

About 100 girls handed in applications for contest during 2 days of registration.

As for the theme of this thread then you may blame Washington Post. Probably it is not anti-American or anti-Western newspaper. As for my question then I refer you to...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3822973.stm

Residents of the Iraqi city of Falluja have disputed an American account of an air attack in which at least 20 people were killed.
They say women and children were among the dead, and that a second missile strike was aimed at rescuers trying to find victims of the first attack.

US forces say they were targeting members of a network headed by an al-Qaeda leader, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3840443.stm

Two US air strikes this week on suspected militant hideouts linked to Zarqawi in Falluja killed at least 40 people; residents and Iraqi security sources said civilians were among the dead.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3904151.stm

It said the attack targeted positions used by about 25 fighters loyal to a top al-Qaeda suspect, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

The operation was conducted with intelligence from both Iraqi and international forces and authorised by the interim Iraqi government, it said in a statement.

Local residents say the bombs hit a civilian home.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3619858.stm

At least 17 Iraqis have died in a US air strike on the city of Falluja, hospital officials have said.
Reports say the dead included three children and a woman.

US officials say the strike was a deliberate, "precision" attack aimed at followers of the wanted militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3688812.stm

At least eight people have been killed in US strikes on the volatile Iraqi city of Falluja, doctors say.
...
The US military said it targeted a meeting place for fighters loyal to terror suspect Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, blamed for masterminding many attacks.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3745124.stm

US forces have been carrying out intense air and ground strikes on the rebel-held Iraqi city of Falluja.
Hospital sources say at least eight people have been killed and several injured in the strikes, which residents described as the heaviest for weeks.

They follow a call by Iraqi leaders for residents to give up the country's most wanted militant, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

Maybe BBC is anti-American but definetly not anti-Western. So my question was founded on BBC's reports. Blame BBC, not me.

 

[paveway_3]

ITs not what KGB posts that is the drama , the subject could become an interesting thread .
However its his constant yank baiting that makes his stance so predictable . Bugsy please explain
, what is the problem with my attitude ?

 

[PartTimePongo]

Fellas take it to PM.

Back on topic.

Was the real reason he became a bogeyman and 'bigged up' was for the longest time, the US refused to release the unpalatable news that a good many Iraqis were actually engaged in Insurgent activity? Refusal to tactily admit where the bulk of the threat came from , in fact bit them on the Arrse.

Remember the 'It's all foreign fighters and Ba'ath party diehards"? I thought that faerie tale died at Najaf.

 

[KGB_resident]

ITs not what KGB posts that is the drama , the subject could become an interesting thread .
However its his constant yank baiting that makes his stance so predictable . Bugsy please explain
, what is the problem with my attitude ?

Paveway!

I'm mathematician. Looking at theorem I'm not interesting in ethnical identity or faith of an induvidual who proved it. It is absolutely irrelevant. A proof itself is the only relevant matter.

You have a wrong impression that your obeyed servant keeps on 'constant yank baiting'. It is simply not true.

Proof. Suppose that it is true and I use any possibility to laugh at our American friends. So (in this case) I would take part in this thread

http://www.arrse.co.uk/cpgn2/Forums/viewtopic/t=35633.html

Do Septics have no sense of irony?

But have you seen my posts there? The Amrericans (with rare exceptions) have exellent sense of humour and understand irony pretty well. And I never used this word 'septics'. It is softly speaking not polite.

 

[tricam]

Well for a mathematician you are pretty shite at maths and logic Sergey.

No one said you use absolutely every opportunity to bash yanks. But go and do a survey of your last 100 posts and rate them as 'yank positive', 'yank neutral' or 'yank negative'. Then compare your rate to the arrse average and get back to us.

Anyway enough of this therom rubbish... my head hurts...

Tricam.

PS - Please don't really do a survey, I'm just trying to illustrate the point in a suitably mathematical manner.

 

[KGB_resident]

Well for a mathematician you are pretty shite at maths and logic Sergey.

No one said you use absolutely every opportunity to bash yanks. But go and do a survey of your last 100 posts and rate them as 'yank positive', 'yank neutral' or 'yank negative'. Then compare your rate to the arrse average and get back to us.

Anyway enough of this therom rubbish... my head hurts...

Tricam.

PS - Please don't really do a survey, I'm just trying to illustrate the point in a suitably mathematical manner.

Tricam!

http://www.arrse.co.uk/cpgn2/Forums/viewtopic/t=27864.html

It is your thread

Discusses changes in American training...
www.economist.com/worl...id=5300181
The Key message seems to be that they've adopted many British techniques.

It is rather 'yank negative' thread showing that American military is worse that the British one.

As for 'negative' then vast majority of posts there are in fact negative.

 

[Agent_Smith]

Well for a mathematician you are pretty shite at maths and logic Sergey.

No one said you use absolutely every opportunity to bash yanks. But go and do a survey of your last 100 posts and rate them as 'yank positive', 'yank neutral' or 'yank negative'. Then compare your rate to the arrse average and get back to us.

Anyway enough of this therom rubbish... my head hurts...

Tricam.

PS - Please don't really do a survey, I'm just trying to illustrate the point in a suitably mathematical manner.

Same could be said in reverse about a lot of our 'colonial' cousins

 

[AndyPipkin]

Sergey obsessively spends every night trawling the internet for stories putting the US in a bad light, then posts them on here. I expect he's taking the decline of Russia pretty hard and needs to slag off someone else to make himself feel better.

As for the Zarqawi point, probably more for domestic consumption in the US. Having these bogeymen running around enables the US to pursue its real agenda - whatever that is - under the guise of hunting them down.

 

[KGB_resident]

Sergey obsessively spends every night trawling the internet for stories putting the US in a bad light, then posts them on here. I expect he's taking the decline of Russia pretty hard and needs to slag off someone else to make himself feel better.

Andy!

The story in news #1 in Washington Post - one of the leading American newspapers. The article was mentioned in many other news-sources (including Yahoo news). I mean that it is on the surface. And I disagree that this thread is only 'US-negative'. I would like to highlight that it demonstrates how freedom of speech works in USA. American press is free enough to publish this (apparently unwanted by Pentagon) material. So in whole this thread it is rather 'US-positive'.

As for the Zarqawi point, probably more for domestic consumption in the US. Having these bogeymen running around enables the US to pursue its real agenda - whatever that is - under the guise of hunting them down.

If it was only for 'domestic consumption' then why did you initiate this thread?

http://www.arrse.co.uk/cpgn2/Forums/viewtopic/t=20472/postdays=0/postorder=asc/vote=viewresult.html

...we have seen an intensification of attacks in Iraq by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's al Qaeda-linked faction...

...al-Zarqawi, facing the defection of large segments of his Sunni base of support, are engaged in a desperate attempt to reverse the course of the war.

 

[castlereagh]

Could not the US policy on Zarqawi be seen a number of ways

1) It provides a useful bogeyman for the US troops (as said by previous posters) and public in general to fix on and so makes the PR a hell of lot easier.

But negatively:

1) The US and the coalition become so entangled in the myth they forget that there are others out there blowing the heck out of them but resources are fixed in one direction.
2) The focus of Zarqawi means that other nationalist insurgent groups can blame him for the nastier say inter-religious atrocities and so confuse the situation further.
3) Disinformation just makes people angry.

 

[CarpeDiem]

My opinion, Nikolai Ivanovich Lobachevsky has started rather an interesting discussion here. Another problem with the US policy of raising one figure to be a "bogeyman" for the US public is that it has the reverse effect in the Arab world. Simplified generalisation, I admit, but where the Western public tend to view stories logically (what's wrong with this/story doesn't make any sense/we're being disinformed etc), the Arab world is a lot more emotional in it's outlook (Saddam: "I am the reincarnation of Saladin and will restore the glories of our history/I am the reincarnation of Nebuchadnezzer" etc). Raising a bogeyman in the West can lead to the creation of a figurehead for the OPFOR. If we find and kill the figurehead, we create something much worse: a martyr. If we start ignoring it, the bogeyman/figurehead that we have created still exists and can be used against us.

 

[AndyPipkin]

So Sergey, not content with trawling the net into until 4am looking for anti-US stories, you alse trawl arrse and drag up my threads from 9 months ago! You really are quite sad. The purpose of my thread was to discuss the Stratfor article, BTW.

 

[castlereagh]

My opinion, Nikolai Ivanovich Lobachevsky has started rather an interesting discussion here. Another problem with the US policy of raising one figure to be a "bogeyman" for the US public is that it has the reverse effect in the Arab world. Simplified generalisation, I admit, but where the Western public tend to view stories logically (what's wrong with this/story doesn't make any sense/we're being disinformed etc), the Arab world is a lot more emotional in it's outlook (Saddam: "I am the reincarnation of Saladin and will restore the glories of our history/I am the reincarnation of Nebuchadnezzer" etc). Raising a bogeyman in the West can lead to the creation of a figurehead for the OPFOR. If we find and kill the figurehead, we create something much worse: a martyr. If we start ignoring it, the bogeyman/figurehead that we have created still exists and can be used against us.

Huh? I think you will find that even we in the west can be hyper emotional things - its ingrained in societies of what ever form to revere the sacred be it a figure or an event. Also on 'simplified generalisation' point, I think you'll find that the avergae arab is just like the average westerner, they can be: logical sceptical, irrational and gullible at times. These traits do not conform to orientalist and occidentalist frame works, its one of those universal things.

 

[KGB_resident]

So Sergey, not content with trawling the net into until 4am looking for anti-US stories, you alse trawl arrse and drag up my threads from 9 months ago! You really are quite sad. The purpose of my thread was to discuss the Stratfor article, BTW.

Andy! I understand that many there don't believe that I'm Russian. But I indeed live in Moscow and local time zone is different. As for your thread then have you changed your attitude to Zarqawi?

I think that he is no more than one of many (one of many terrorists). And any article that underlines his 'role' is not serious.