Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search
 

Purveyor

(29,876 posts)
Fri Mar 28, 2014, 02:21 PM Mar 2014

The Danger of False Narrative

By Robert Parry

The American people got a nasty taste of the danger that can come with false narrative when they were suckered into the Iraq War based on bogus claims that Saddam Hussein was hiding weapons of mass destruction that he planned to share with al-Qaeda.

Nearly 4,500 U.S. soldiers died in the conflict along with hundreds thousands of Iraqis. The war's total financial cost probably exceeded $1 trillion, a vast sum that siphoned off America's economic vitality and forced cutbacks in everything from education to road repair. Plus, the war ended up creating an Iraqi base for al-Qaeda terrorists that had not existed before.

But perhaps an even more dangerous problem coming out of the Iraq War was that almost no one in Official Washington who pushed the false narrative -- whether in politics or in the press -- was held accountable in any meaningful way. Many of the same pols and pundits remain in place today, pushing similar false narratives on new crises, from Ukraine to Syria to Iran.

Those false narratives -- and their cumulative effect on policy-making -- now represent a clear and present danger to the Republic and, indeed, to the world. The United States, after all, is the preeminent superpower with unprecedented means for delivering death and destruction. But almost nothing is being done to address this enduring American crisis of deception.

Today, Official Washington is marching in lockstep just as it did in 2002-03 when it enforced the misguided consensus on Iraq's WMD. The latest case is Ukraine where Russian President Vladimir Putin is accused of committing "aggression" to expand Russian territory at the expense of noble "democratic" reformers in Kiev.

more...

http://www.opednews.com/articles/The-Danger-of-False-Narrat-by-Robert-Parry-False-Accusations-Of-Terrorism_False-News-Reports_Hypocrisy_Neocons-140327-144.html

5 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
The Danger of False Narrative (Original Post) Purveyor Mar 2014 OP
k&r for exposure. n/t Laelth Mar 2014 #1
Extraordinary read. Parry again demonstrates his genius as a reporter of reality. hedda_foil Mar 2014 #2
+1 n/t Catherina Mar 2014 #4
Good. But can't we just say 'lying'? FiveGoodMen Mar 2014 #3
Let me take a wild guess clg311 Mar 2014 #5
Latest Discussions»Issue Forums»Editorials & Other Articles»The Danger of False Narra...