America's Ministry of Propaganda -- Part Two

America's Ministry of Propaganda -- Part Two
By Gar Smith / The-Edge
November 7, 2003

Transforming Language to Market the 'Big Lie'
Iraq's 'Terrorist Death Squads'
Secretary of State Colin Powell warned the UN General Assembly that Iraq possessed chemical, biological and nuclear weapons of mass destruction. Was Mr. Powell merely advancing "stories of strategic influence"? To Gardiner, the "most serious transformation of language" involved Washington's directive to refer to Iraq's irregular troops as "terrorist death squads." The order apparently came down on March 25. -- Renaming the Iraqi defenders "terrorists" appears to have been part of the strategic influence campaign since it served to connect the Iraqi fighters with "one of the major themes of Gulf II -- Iraq = terrorist = 9/11." /more/