— The Erimtan Angle —

The Listening Post: Selling the first Gulf War

09 01 11

‘More than two decades after Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait, we take a look back at the media’s role in selling the Gulf War, the military’s attempts to control the story and the ’round-the-clock’ coverage that changed television news forever. In part one we look at what was on television and in print in the five months between August 1990 – when Iraqi forces invaded Kuwait – and January 1991 – when the bombs started falling on Baghdad. President George H.W. Bush said he was drawing a line in the sand; that the invasion of Kuwait would not stand. But the US administration had to sell a war in a distant region and convince sceptics at home – and in the countries that made up the coalition – that the war was about more than just oil; that a former American ally, Saddam Hussein, was now a danger to Western interests. The administration had help: the Kuwaiti government in exile hired a Washington public relations firm called Hill & Knowlton to get the plight of the Kuwaitis to resonate with the American public. Our starting point is the PR campaign that became a case study in how to rally people – through the media – and get them behind a controversial cause: the first Gulf War. The UN-imposed deadline for Iraq to withdraw from Kuwait passed on January 15, 1991. War was coming and most news outlets with reporters in the Iraqi capital pulled them out. Part two of Listening Post’s Gulf War special looks at the media coverage once the fighting started’.[1] 

‘Live reporting of bombs exploding in the Baghdad night, Tomahawk missiles blasting off American warships and gas-masked correspondents all transfixed audiences. But the journalism left plenty to be desired. The Pentagon kept reporters at a distance and the pool system they used to do that has since developed into the embedded reporter model they use in Afghanistan and Iraq today. And a 24-hour news channel, one of the very few that existed at the time, rode its wall to wall coverage of a war that lasted only six weeks, and changed the news game forever. Listening Post‘s Jason Mojica, on the way the war was covered, and the impact it has had on journalism in the two decades since. It may seem odd to end a show dealing with war on a lighter note, but our video of the week – although humorous – may have had political consequences. The New York Times‘ Jason DeParle reported that when NBC’s satirical programme Saturday Night Live decided to parody the behaviour of over-eager reporters at US military briefings, it convinced the Bush administration – which had been considering easing restrictions on reporters covering the war – that the public was not on the side of the press. Watch as a young Mike Myers, Dana Carvey and Conan O’Brien act out their generation’s version of the five o’clock follies, but remember that it was the Pentagon who had the last laugh. Listening Post‘s Gulf War special features interviews with: John R. MacArthur, Robert Wiener, Pete Williams, Vaughan Smith, Steven Livingston and Claude Salhani. This episode of Listening Post aired from Friday, January 7, 2011’.[2]  

 

The First Gulf War was over quickly (Iraq invaded Kuwait on 2 August 1990 and Allied operations ended on 28 February 1991), but nevertheless also has its share of atrocities, the BBC at the time reported that ‘estimated 25,000 to 30,000 Iraqis were killed during the ground war alone’, adding that the ‘civilian death toll – dubbed collateral damage by US military officials – rose as allied forces continued to fly tens of thousands of sorties. Frightened refugees arriving at the border with Jordan reported civilian deaths and said water and electricity supplies in Baghdad had been cut off. Controversy flared about a destroyed factory, which Iraq claimed had been a baby milk plant. US chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Colin Powell, said the US was sure it was a biological weapons facility. On Wednesday 13 February [1991], a US stealth bomber dropped two laser-guided bombs on what the allies had pinpointed as an important command and control bunker. But it turned out to be a shelter used by Iraqi civilians during the air raids. At least 315 people were killed, 130 of them children. Meanwhile Saddam Hussein exploited the allies’ mistakes to maximum propaganda effect, and also detained more Kuwaiti civilians as human shields at key military and industrial sites in Iraq’.[3] 

In ‘the hours leading up to the ceasefire that would end the first Gulf War Jarecke was traveling along the Iraqi – Kuwait highway when he came upon a lone truck destroyed by American bombardment. The picture Jarecke took features the charred remains of an Iraqi Soldier with his last expression imprinted on his face, his arms slumped over the window of the truck almost staring at the camera. Jarecke was travelling with a military public affair officer who allowed him to make the picture. The image was removed from the AP wire effectively removing being shown to the American press. Although it was published around the world, it remained unseen in the United States. Vincent J. Alabiso, former Associated Press executive photo editor regretted his actions and says that if the image was again transmitted now he wouldn’t censor it, “That picture today would go out”’.[4] 

[1] “Selling the first Gulf War” The Listening Post (08 January 2011). http://english.aljazeera.net/programmes/listeningpost/2011/01/2011187029114467.html;

[2] “Selling the first Gulf War”.

[4] “Kenneth Jarecke” Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_Jarecke.

Category:

Americana, Current History, Iraq, Middle East

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