Phil Taylor's papers
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BACK TO : PROPAGANDA AND THE GWOT Year 3 - 2004 (mainly Iraq)
U.S. hopes TV adverts will sell democracy to Iraqis by Fiona O'Brien 
Reuters, 08 Apr 2004 08:57 U.S. hopes TV adverts will sell democracy to Iraqis By Fiona O'Brien BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Despite Iraq's spiralling violence, its U.S.-led occupiers insist the transition to democracy they have planned is the best thing to happen to the country for decades. And with three months to go until the transition begins, they hope a $5.8 million advertising campaign will help convince Iraqis they are right. On June 30, the U.S.-led occupation authority is due to hand sovereignty to an Iraqi government, the start of an 18-month process that should end in full democratic elections. Resistance to the U.S.-led occupation is picking up, with occupation forces fighting Shi'ite and Sunni militants in pitched battles across central and south Iraq that have left more than 200 people dead since Sunday. The U.S. led-coalition insists the insurgency represents only a tiny percentage of Iraqis. The military says it will wipe out the insurgents, and the civilian authority hopes the ad campaign will help transmit the message that the political transfer of power will run on schedule. "Operations are targeting a miniscule percentage of the total Iraqi population," Dan Senor, the main U.S. spokesman in Iraq, said on Wednesday. "They are representing individuals and organisations that have a fundamentally different vision of the future of Iraq from our vision and the vision we believe the majority of Iraqis have." Adverts will start screening this month, aimed partly at informing the public about how the transitional process will work, but mostly at winning over Iraqis, eliciting a sense of national pride and getting people excited. "You can inform and educate until you are blue in the face but now we need to encourage Iraqis in national pride, encourage them to participate," said Almarah Belk at the Coalition Provisional Authority's (CPA) strategic communications office. "We already have posters, handbills, press briefings, but that's just getting information out. There's another element -- you also have to evolve a sense of emotion." WIDER AUDIENCE The new campaign -- details of which remain secret -- is not the first advertising the CPA has done. Billboards across Iraq show the smiling faces of the new security forces, or run slogans like: "All of us participate in the new Iraq". U.S. troops also hand out information leaflets, and the U.S.-authorities run democracy workshops and publicise through newspapers and radio stations which they fund. The CPA hopes that by bringing in professionals and airing ads on the pan-Arab satellite channels watched and seen as credible by a majority of Iraqis, they will penetrate a wider audience both in Iraq and across the Arab world. The campaign contract was awarded to a consortium of London-based Bell Pottinger Communications, Bates PanGulf of the WPP Group and the Baghdad-based services firm Balloch & Roe. Bell Pottinger's Mark Turnbull said the aim was to make people believe that democracy is truly just over the horizon. The message must also be presented in a way that does not smack of U.S. propaganda. "Naturally there's a deep suspicion about the motives and legitimacy of the CPA and the (U.S.-appointed) Governing Council," he said in the CPA headquarters in Baghdad. "But this isn't about spin, it's just about telling a straight story and getting it out. So that people believe it, that there will be a day when for the first time in the history of this country people go out and cast a vote and have a say." Turnbull is right that there is deep suspicion on the streets. Humiliated by the occupation, fearful of the bombs and violence that have not let up since the war, used to a government that never listened, Iraqis are sceptical. The violence now swirling through much of the country may represent the most extreme form of opposition, but many Iraqis have little faith in the U.S. plan for their future. Many people have not read the constitution and do not trust the Governing Council that signed it into law. Some are unaware of the June 30 handover date, others don't feel involved in the political decisions taken on their behalf. Even those who follow politics more closely doubt that the U.S. is sincere about passing back the baton. "Even if the constitution is applied, it won't be applied properly," said money changer Sarmat Khalil. "This is basically a constitution that comes from outside. There are some things that are good but it is all written to serve the Americans. "Nothing will change after June 30, things are already worse than before. The occupation won't end, they will still be here in five years." PROTESTS, FEARS Iraqis have many fears. They worry that federalism could split the country, that American troops will never leave, that chaos will ensue if they do. Shi'ites want their majority status reflected in politics, minorities fear being sidelined. Regular protests call for elections, an end to the occupation, better security. People are glad of the right to express themselves -- itself a sign of democracy at work in Iraq -- but still doubt the power of the electorate. The advertisements, to be screened in Arabic and Kurdish and backed up by print, radio and billboards, hope to convince people that this time round, things can change. "Our job is trying to persuade (Iraqis) that what will happen in this election is the most important thing in the history of this country and that nothing is going to happen without them," Turnbull said. "This campaign is partly about explaining the process but much more about bringing people with it. We need to get people to come to the party and take the future in their own hands." |