A War in the Mind

The war in American hearts and minds Andrew Stroehlein 11 - 9 - 2006

Andrew Stroehlein, an American-born journalist who has worked in war zones around the world, returns to his homeland to find that the "conflict mentality" he has encountered in other global regions has taken root in the United States too.

Very telling. A couple of caveats: Stroehlein talks as though the media is merely giving the people what they want rather than manipulating people's fears. Surely it does both- the fear and the media manipulation of that fear are mutually reinforcing. The media also tends to very willingly convey government propoganda, believing that basing an article on a government press release is more "objective" than to talk to those opposed to or harmed government policies. Political manipulation has been more deliberate- the media have a commercial interest in stoking fear, but the government has a political interest. Of course they have already existing anxiety to work with- but this is what political demagogy does. A demagogue can’t manufacture fears or resentments out of thin air- he manipulates what’s already there, amplifying it- taking advantage of the mass media to engage in political manipulation.

Then there’s this quote: “US foreign policy has hardly been squeaky clean in the past, but even its greatest critics would admit it is very rare for the American public to silently sanction the deployment of hundreds of thousands of its young men and women to invade a country that did not attack first - and to continue that support despite heavy casualties, scandalous abuses and the extended deployments of its soldiers, which have put enormous stress on countless families.”

Well, it’s rarely been necessary to send hundreds of thousands of American troops anywhere since World War II , but none of the countries invaded by the U.S. attacked the U.S. first. As for Vietnam, it definitely did not attack the U.S. before hundreds of thousands of American troops came to call. Initially there was little public opposition to the Vietnam War, although by 1968 it had become significant enough to end Lyndon Johnson’s presidency. On the other hand, even then, a higher proportion of Americans supported that war than now support the war in Iraq. Even in 1972, Richard Nixon routed anti-war candidate George McGovern in the presidential election because Americans were afraid of “America” appearing weak and defeated on the world stage.

The difference, though, is that while large numbers of Americans were willing to march in the streets against the Vietnam War, and large numbers were even willing to do so before the 2003 invasion of Iraq, now that the Americans are apparently committed to be there, few people are actually standing up and shouting that they must leave.