Control Room: Propaganda Iraq War 2003

The documentary Control Room directed by Jehane Noujaim shines a light on the use of media bias and war propaganda during the Iraq war of 2003. US forces liberated the Iraqi population from the reign of Saddam Hussein. From an American vision Iraq was successfully freed, however an Iraqi perceives the opposite. The war caused many civilian causalities and media controversy. Nowadays, warfare does not only depend on advanced ammunition but also the power of media. I would say that the media has become a prominent weapon to contemporary warfare as to using propaganda to their advantage in fighting the opposition. It is almost impossible to incorporate objectivity in cases such as reporting about the Iraq war, including both American and Iraqi journalists. As an Al Jazeera journalist claims: “The word objectivity is almost a mirage.”

On this note, I will be evaluating the following prompt with regards to topics discussed in the documentary Control Room and the Iraq war of 2003: “The term propaganda always refers to a negative message.” I disagree with this statement, as I was enlightened by the media insights of several journalists, correspondents and generals in Control Room. We often find ourselves shining a light unintentionally on one particular side of the story due to our different ethnic backgrounds and ideological beliefs. It is in the nature of a human being to unconsciously defend that, which is valuable to our individual or collective value systems. Such behavior goes by the name 'polarization'. In addition to this realization, Samir Khader Senior Producer of Al Jazeera mentioned the following: “You can not wage a war without rumors, without media, without propaganda.” Media is exposed to the majority of the world and its people. Warfare has become extremely reliant on the media and the way war is exposed depending on the origin of the news station. Presenting military offenses and their causes to the public will undoubtedly evoke a personal response from the audience and with that the operating forces have become much more vulnerable to the allegation of war propaganda and media bias.

The term ‘always’ is the trigger in this statement and applies suitably to the instance in Control Room when the US troops were entering Baghdad in their final attempt to liberate the Iraqi from Hussein’s dictatorship. On this day they used Jessica Lynch’s rescue as a façade to conceal their invasion. It was a successful and strategic use of propaganda and media coverage according to a CNN Correspondent: “Seems like they manage the news in a pretty unmanageable situation. They buried the lead and they are pretty good at it.”

Additionally, Khader spoke wise words at the end of the documentary that had a lasting impact on me and shaped my vision towards the validity of the concerning statement of this blog. He said: “History is written by the victors. People like victory. Once you are victorious you don’t have to justify.” This contributed to the defeat of Iraq and the way of the US troops showcasing their conquest. America played an intelligent media performance when they ‘liberated’ Iraq from Saddam Hussein. They brought in men who were supposed to be Iraqis celebrating the liberation – according to Samir Khader they were not Iraqi – and broke down the statue of Saddam Hussein, as people would remember this image for a long time and forget the horrors that preceded their victory. This form of war propaganda indubitably demoralizes the virtual filter through which the news is presented to the public, yet in various cases it can stimulate a positive effect. It is more a matter of questioning the extent to which one can be objective about a case that involves your nation and your people. Which in turn sparks debate on the morality of using propaganda in warfare.