Fidel Posted March 24, 2008 Report Share Posted March 24, 2008 The article from which the excerpt below is taken illustrates the way in which the American people held firm beliefs before the war which not only proved to be untrue, but were known at the time to be untrue by most literate and interested people outside America. How is it that such a large proportion of a nation can be manipulated like this, and how is it that many people STILL believe these lies to be true, to the point that they will fight and die for them? (Expecting a trashing for bringing this up ) This is an important topic for discussion, because someone clearly went about convincing the American people that these claims were true in order to gain support for the murder of countless thousands of people (clearly a crime against humanity), and because it is exactly this type of thing that gets Americans labeled as stupid. Some would say that the American people are being deliberately dumbed down, through the education system, TV etc. The aim of this deliberate dumbing down is to engineer a society which is easily manipulated and controlled. This has been going on in the US since the 1930s, when Freud's nephew, Edward Bernays, coined the term "Public Relations" and set about controlling the masses by appealing to their subconscious. Bernays (Wikipedia Article), though few of you will ever have heard of him, was named one of the 100 most influential Americans of the 20th century by Life Magazine. The claims/beliefs I'm referring to are outlined below: In a Jan. 7 Knight Ridder/Princeton Research poll, 44% of respondents said they thought "most" or "some" of the Sept. 11, 2001, hijackers were Iraqi citizens. Only 17% of those polled offered the correct answer: none. This was remarkable in light of the fact that, in the weeks after 9/11, few Americans identified Iraqis among the culprits. So the level of awareness on this issue actually plunged as time passed. Is it possible the media failed to give this appropriate attention? In the same sample, 41% said that Iraq already possessed nuclear weapons, which not even the Bush administration claimed. Despite being far off base in crucial areas, 66% of respondents claimed to have a "good understanding" of the arguments for and against going to war with Iraq. Then, a Pew Research Center/Council on Foreign Relations survey released Feb. 20 found that nearly two-thirds of those polled believed that U.N. weapons inspectors had "found proof that Iraq is trying to hide weapons of mass destruction." Neither Hans Blix nor Mohamed ElBaradei ever said they found proof of this. The same survey found that 57% of those polled believed Saddam Hussein helped terrorists involved with the 9/11 attacks, a claim the Bush team had abandoned. A March 7-9 New York Times/CBS News Poll showed that 45% of interviewees agreed that "Saddam Hussein was personally involved in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks," and a March 14-15 CNN/USA Today/ Gallup poll found this apparently mistaken notion holding firm at 51%. The significance of this is suggested by the finding, in the same survey, that 32% of those supporting an attack cited Saddam's alleged involvement in supporting terrorists as the "main reason" for endorsing invasion. Another 43% said it was "one reason." Full Article Discuss and KEEP IT CLEAN! P.S, the very fact that I'm apprehensive about posting this, since it will add to my anti-American label, is a disturbing sign in itself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fidel Posted March 24, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 24, 2008 Oh, and the Aussies are on the ball here too: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hugh_Hoy Posted March 24, 2008 Report Share Posted March 24, 2008 P.S, the very fact that I'm apprehensive about posting this, since it will add to my anti-American label, is a disturbing sign in itself. Only "disturbing" in that Dr. Faustian either has not been able to help you or he is a fraud. HH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fidel Posted March 24, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 24, 2008 You know, what I'm expecting is that some board members will try to stifle debate on this topic. Reasoned, logical, objective debate is dangerous and Communistic, I guess. Hugh, I would be genuinely interested in hearing your views on this topic as an American and someone who has significant life experience and exposure to different cultures. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hugh_Hoy Posted March 24, 2008 Report Share Posted March 24, 2008 Hugh, I would be genuinely interested in hearing your views on this topic as an American and someone who has significant life experience and exposure to different cultures. Fidel. I think most here would agree that you do not really care about our views on the article. At the end of the article a question about the media's role in reporting was asked. You merely used this article as a platform to base, and once-again, flail your tired and obsessive-compulsive anti-American crap. Like, who really gives a fuck anymore about your perception of Americans. We all know your belief by now. We've been brainwashed into believing that Americans are evil, stupid robots. We know that if we were dumbfuck Irishmen banished to a God-forsaken hell hole of a country would we truly appreciate the world we live in. We would be happy. Our lives would be enriched through an appreciation of another culture. Ah, the enlightenment we would enjoy. And the planet would be good. HH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mekong Posted March 24, 2008 Report Share Posted March 24, 2008 Fidel, Whilst I am probably as Anti-American as you are, my disdane is for the goverment / foreign policy and not the citizens, the majority of the Americans I have met are honest hard working down to earth folks. You are posting this on a Thai forum, and as such the majority of the Americans who post here are world wise and are not blinkered like some of the less travelled citizens, you cannot preach to the converted. A lot of Americans probably do empathise with your viewpoint but is it right to keep knocking all things American? It is not your country and I believe most Americans would prefer not to hear your issues but to resolve things internally. I never thought I would defend America but your postings on the matter are becoming rather tedious. A lot of the people you argue/debate with I have met in real life and shared a beer with them, as I said they are not evil people far from it, probably the most friendly open race going. Give it a rest, we all know your feelings, maybe you should share a beer with the guys sometime and get to know the real Americans. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fidel Posted March 24, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 24, 2008 Mekong, you're right. I post too much about this and this isn't the forum for it. I'll discuss it on a different board. Also, I'm unlikely to be going to Thailand for some time. Cheers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flashermac Posted March 24, 2008 Report Share Posted March 24, 2008 Munchie complained about too many threads on American politics, saying it should all be in one thread. Maybe we should limit American bashing to one thread too. Then folks can read it or ignore it as they choose. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Munchmaster Posted March 24, 2008 Report Share Posted March 24, 2008 Flasher, are you a mind reader? :smirk: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flashermac Posted March 24, 2008 Report Share Posted March 24, 2008 Nah, geniuses all think alike. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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