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Amelie Sundberg

Panetta Speaks at King's

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By Amelie Sundberg

To most of my friends beyond the War Studies Department at King’s Leon Panetta doesn’t quite achieve celebrity status or the description as ‘cool’. But Friday morning was definitely cool. As I battled through the snow to the Strand building I couldn’t help but notice the big men in overcoats with ear pieces - not the common tourists at Somerset house. I felt very privileged to be one of the lucky students about to see Panetta’s ‘Big Speech’ of his European Tour, probably one of his last major speeches as US Secretary of Defence.

To be honest, I realised that I had no idea what to expect from the man in charge of the world’s strongest defence establishment and former director of the CIA. His affable composure surprised me. Perhaps I am simply a victim of good speech writing, but I felt I saw a glimpse of Leon the human, just like us, which made his career even more inspiring.

Panetta’s speech in many respects was predictable. After a few words on the current hostage situation in Algeria, his main focus was on the Transatlantic relationship and NATO. Particularly predictable was his frequent referral to the ‘special’ US-British relationship. Having said that, I enjoyed Panetta’s historical anecdotes. Recalling his memories as a little boy during the last years of the Second World War, he said that Roosevelt and Churchill’s personal friendship and “clear-eyed resolve” had inspired a generation in war and continues to inspire us today. He sees NATO as the fulfilment of their dreams to ensure that “the world would never again descend into turmoil”. Panetta thinks that the transatlantic alliance is today facing a turning point, where it might retreat from its responsibilities due to altered priorities and fiscal restraints or could demonstrate creativity and the commitment to remain resolute.

On the one hand, the world is witnessing a period of conflict coming to a close - the Iraq war is over, NATO has declared troop withdrawal from Afghanistan by 2014, Al Qaeda has been largely dissembled and the intervention in Libya is drawing to a close. On the other hand, Panetta challenged Britain, warning us to “make no mistake” about the threats posed, to both the US and Europe, by Al Qaeda affiliate terrorist groups, the continuing conflict in Afghanistan, nuclear intentions of North Korea and Iran, and the consequences of the fall of the Assad regime in Syria - which, “make no mistake”, will fall.

Panetta also paid considerable attention to the “fiscal austerity in full force on both sides of the Atantic”. He seemed worried about the implications of defence spending cuts (as high as 20%) in most European countries over the past couple of years. The US is facing similar hurdles, required to meet $487 billion in budget reductions over the next ten years. Not only did Panetta stress that the new US Defence Strategy of last year shall seek to invest in a leaner, more agile force, developing fields such as intelligence, space, cyber capabilities and special operations in order to make up for reductions. He confidently asserted that the US must remain the strongest military force in the world. He also emphasised that no one state can meet these threats alone, and so alliances must move beyond the cold war frame work and modernise into a flexible and rotational model. Duplication is no longer necessary, and “the time has come to share”.

One of Panetta’s biggest fears is the cyber threat that could cripple our economies and infrastructure instantaneously. Thus NATO must develop a role within cyber defence. Lastly, Panetta boldly asserted that Europe should not worry about the US turning away from us in its “pivot” towards Asia- rather, we should join them in developing new regional partners.

The message that I found most harrowing in Panetta’s speech was his observation that he will probably be the last US Secretary of Defence to have direct memories of the Second World War. This really is a new generation, a dawn.

Although a cynic might interpret Panetta’s calls for collaboration, quoting Churchill’s assertion that ” our friendship is the rock on which to build the future of the world”, as mere rhetoric for the declining US ability to act alone. But the bleak reality is that gone are the days where we can afford to pick and choose our allies - we must strive to foster defence friendships throughout the world if we are to prevent sinking in today’s sea of fiscal austerity and unpredictable threats. I am inclined to agree with Panetta’s strong, but still positive, challenge to Europe to adapt to the reality of the 21st Century.

Weapons of Mass Deception: The Uses of Propaganda in Bush's War on Iraq

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By Amelie Sundberg


Rampton, Sheldon and Stauber, John, Weapons of Mass Deception: The Uses of Propaganda in Bush’s War on Iraq (Hodder Headline, Australia, 2003)

Amazon, Paperback New from £4.99

 

For those of you Chomsky-haters, do not be deterred by his praise for Sheldon Rampton and John Stauber’s bold work, ‘Weapons of Mass Deception: The Uses of Propaganda in Bush’s War on Iraq’. This is a refreshing eye-opener into the Bush administration’s ‘public relations’ campaign following the 9/11 attacks and the ensuing War on Terror, particularly the US invasion of Iraq 2003. I have already used a couple of the scandalous propaganda stories to spice up a few lagging dinner conversations over the holidays.

The authors collect convincing evidence to answer questions surrounding notorious war reporting that has been suspected of US propaganda. The first chapter conjures up the vivid scene of Kuwaitis waving US flags after their ‘liberation’ that dominated the US press in 1991, and quickly moves on to point out that US soldiers handed out these flags, effectively staging the famous photographs. Similarly, the authors question the objectivity of the widely circulated images of Iraqis pulling down the statue of Saddam Hussein - only around 200 people took part and Reuters long shot images show that the rest of the square was empty. So much for the Washington Post’s headline, “Iraqis Celebrate in Baghdad.”

The book’s strongest selling point is how it details the corporate edge to the administrations PR campaign post-9/11; blaming this business-like approach for losing the ‘battle for hearts and minds’ in the War on Terror. Charlotte Beers, former executive for a corporate advertising firm was appointed undersecretary for state for public diplomacy. The book paints a good picture of the disconnected attempts to ‘sell’ the US to the Middle Eastern ‘consumers’. It is doubtful that US officials trying to persuade local editors in the Middle East to publish positive stories would ever soothe anti-US sentiment or that simply dropping leaflets would divide the Taliban. Unsurprisingly, promoting the message of US freedom clashed with previous US policies of support for repressive regimes, such as Iraq during the Iran-Iraq war. Interestingly, the Iraq Public Diplomacy Group (set up by the US) coached anti-Saddam Iraqis to look good on talk shows and write opinion pieces as early as 2002. Fabricated stories were also used, such as when a 15-year-old Kuwaiti girl falsely told of the story of Iraqi solders pulling hundreds of premature Kuwaiti babes from their incubators. This was published in a press release by Hill & Knowlton (then the world’s largest PR firm) in their ‘Citizens for a Free Kuwait’ campaign.

Rather, ‘shared value’ television advertisements featuring attractive American Muslims going about their daily lives were much more successful as ‘perception management’ tools on the home front. Such shows reinforced the US population’s trust in an accepting and ‘free’ US. Propaganda was so successful that as a result of the Pentagon’s attempts to foster support for the invasion of Iraq, an astounding 66% of US citizens believed that Saddam was involved in 9/11. Further ‘newspeak’ helped to rally the population around the flag. For example, the phrase ‘axis of evil’ was reminiscent of the axis powers during WWII and ‘coalition of the willing’ misleadingly implied that there was enthusiastic support for the war in Iraq beyond that of the US and the UK. Television news coverage of the war was accompanied by patriotic music such as drumbeats, images of the American flag, maps, graphics and constant banners declaring the ‘Operation Iraqi Freedom’. The politician Jesse Ventura said that the phenomenon reminded him of the Super Bowl.

One of the key scenes that I will take with me from this book is the description of a reporter asking then US Secretary of Defence, Donald Rumsfeld, whether he lied after 9/11 to encourage support for the war effort. Asking not to be quoted, he responded by quoting Churchill: “sometimes the truth is so precious it must be accompanied by a bodyguard of lies.”

‘Weapons of Mass Deception’ is definitely selective and overtly seeks to cast the Bush administration in a bad light. Some would argue that in so doing, the book is hypocritical by itself propagating a strong anti-Bush message. But let’s be realistic, any book that hopes to act as an exposé has to be presented in this manner – in my view this does not undermine the validity of the arguments being made.

Considering our daily dependence on news I think a fresh dose of re-examining the role of the press is healthy - just read it a pinch of salt. If any of you are cynics like me, this is great read; well researched and offering more than just conspiracy theories.

Small Wars Permitting: Dispatches from Foreign Lands Book Review

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By Amelie Sundberg

Lamb, Christina, Small Wars Permitting: Dispatches from Foreign Lands (London: HarperPress, 2008).

Paperback RRP: £8.99

 

 

 

Many of us who can’t seem to get enough of reading and writing about conflict are lured by the romanticized life of a war correspondent. Wouldn’t everyone like to travel to the far corners of the globe, witness history unfold itself in front of their eyes and in the process expose and vanquish the evils of our world by the stroke of our pen? The dream job. For me that is exactly what it has become – a dream, gathering dust in the face of other considerations such as a guaranteed decent wage and the reluctance to risk my life for an article that will be lining tomorrow’s dustbins. However, Christina Lamb’s Small Wars Permitting: Dispatches from Foreign Lands is a healthy dose of indulgence in the belief that maybe, one day, we could be as awe-inspiring as her.

Having won the Foreign Correspondent of the Year four times there is little doubt that Christina Lamb is a talented journalist. But after reading this book it is clear that she is also a surprisingly gifted storyteller. Personal memories are interspersed throughout this compilation of her reportage, chronicling not only her search for adventure but also her development as a writer with a concern for those whose everyday lives are disrupted by war. “To me the real story in war is not the bang-bang but the lives of those trying to survive behind the lines”(5).

Christina Lamb’s story begins in Pakistan. After attending Benazir Bhutto’s wedding in 1987 she managed to persuade the FT to let her return to Pakistan and pay her for whatever they published. She was only 21. Once there, in order to cover the Afghan resistance to Russian occupation Lamb smuggled herself into Afghanistan with the Mujahideen 14 times. She now felts that she fell in love with the Afghan war. It is difficult to not be impressed by the image of this English girl dining with Afghan tribesmen and riding on the back of Hamid Karzai’s motorbike. Clearly there is more to Christina Lamb’s book than the stereotypical journalistic bravado of hacks sipping whisky in exotic hotel lobbies.

As one of the few reporters to witness the battle for Jalalabad, Lamb is harrowed by the memory of driving past women and their injured children, who had mistaken her for a nurse, without offering to help. “It was the ugliest thing that I had ever done and made me realise what an ugly thing war is” (45). This exemplifies Lamb’s honest and modest writing style that sets her narrative apart. Many of her articles to follow dealt with untold issues of human rights and corruption. Forced to leave Pakistan in 1989 Lamb was later based in Brazil and South Africa. During this time, among many other issues she wrote about the murder of street children in Rio, Mugabe’s land reform and the oil curse of Nigeria.

After 9/11 Lamb was excited to return to Afghanistan to cover the Western ‘intervention’, but was quickly disillusioned by the regional destruction and oppression. Her tale of sewing-classes that acted as a cover for women’s education in Afghanistan is particularly enlightening. I was struck by how early on in the conflict Lamb voiced insights into the international political dynamics that many of us now only appreciate with the benefit of hindsight. In particular she criticises the ignorance of the US and British troops and holds that mistake as responsible for the escalating regional anti-Western sentiment.

Not only does Lamb open our eyes to the plight of others as a result of conflict in a candid and compassionate manner, she repeatedly demonstrates striking pluck and humour. One memorable scene takes place when journalists were stopped at the border into Iraq during the 2003 US invasion. Lamb managed to smuggle herself across by inserting her Land Cruiser in between a tank and APC, pretending to be part of the passing US convoy. One of the US vehicles was ironically named “Road to Paradise” (260). Still, two sobering events bring home the hardships that are part and parcel of her line of work. In 2006 she narrowly escaped death when the Taliban ambushed the British Parachute Regiment on a ‘Hearts and Mind’ mission in Afghanistan with whom she was reporting. And in 2007 she was on board Benazir Bhutto’s bus when it was bombed, luckily avoiding serious injury.

After reading Small Wars Permitting I have found myself a new heroine, and I am convinced that whoever reads her book will be cast under her spell. As for a career in journalism, I have to admit that I am quite relieved that I did not have to butter an inordinate number of sandwiches for my sons eleventh birthday party only hours after a close shave with death at the hands of the Taliban.