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Having
conducted an intense global psychological warfare to intimidate the enemy, one
of the unexpected side effects of using global media is that the American
public also got the same dosage, and now the Bush team is once again busy lowering
expectations. - KWC Bush Moves to Prepare
Public for a Harder War
By R. W. Apple Jr., NYT, March 24, 2003 @ http://www.nytimes.com/2003/03/24/international/worldspecial/24ASSE.html WASHINGTON, March 23 — Like a coach seeking a psychological
advantage, President Bush pressed an effort today to temper public anticipation of an early, relatively painless victory
in the fighting in Iraq. "It
is evident that it's going to take a while to achieve our objective," the
President said on the White House lawn after returning from Camp David. …The administration has always expected that there would be
setbacks before the war's end, especially in the environs of Baghdad, where the
Republican Guard is concentrated and where the use of chemical and other
weapons of mass destruction is thought more likely. As that phase of the war draws closer, an overconfident,
easily shaken public could be a problem for the administration. Washington has ample reason to try to dampen the
excitement. A New York Times/CBS News poll, based on interviews
Thursday through Saturday, shows that Americans' expectations have been rising
as they watched, read and listened to accounts of wide swaths of Baghdad set
ablaze by coalition bombs and missiles and American tanks racing easily and
thrillingly across undefended sands. Early this month, with war
clearly looming on the horizon, 43 percent of those interviewed said they
expected a quick and successful campaign, as opposed to 50 who said they
foresaw a protracted struggle. But late last
week, 63 percent — almost two-thirds — told interviewers that they thought the
war would end quickly. More
than half said that they thought the war would end in a matter of weeks rather
than in months. Part
of the reason is the way that the war is being reported.
Any large-scale conflict can be viewed through several lenses, with
subtly different results. The correspondent moving forward with a company or a
battalion of combat troops will usually get the most vivid picture, with the
most telling detail, but it may show little about the overall flux of the
battle. Often he or she, lacking the broad view, will be too optimistic or too
pessimistic. In Vietnam, reporters were able to move from level to level,
if they could find transportation and if they were brave enough. In the 1991 Gulf War, they had almost
no access to the front-line soldier's perspective. This time, the system is
more like the one used in World War II, except that correspondents are said to
be "embedded" with small units rather than accredited to them. (end of excerpts) |
Title: Having conducted an intense global psy0
