Logic Times

The Audience Goebbels Wanted

Commentary by Aslan, 12/09/05, 11:16pm. Comments (3)

"If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it." – Joseph Goebbels

Even today, Joseph Goebbels remains the acknowledged master of propaganda. He understood the devastating effect of British propaganda in WWI, particularly surrounding the fictional Belgian atrocities, and resolved that Germany would never again be victimized by words. At the end of 1943, a very difficult year for the Third Reich, Goebbels brazenly proclaimed:

"The enemy did not succeed in the past year in affecting in a serious way our war effort in any critical area. If the great test of a war is that it brings challenges that can only be met by using all moral and material resources, the German people passed the test in the past year. It will doubtless go down in history as the most glorious of this great struggle for our existence.

"It will forever be the greatest shame of the century that England and the United States joined with Bolshevism in their hate-filled battle for military success against our venerable continent. They will also not gain victory; to the contrary, at most they will ruin the economic foundations of their own nations. Only shame will remain. Perhaps it must be that way to speed along the inner decay of this rotten plutocratic government system."

Compare the master’s words to that of another propagandist, Dr. Ayman Al-Zawahiri:

"We want to tell all the Muslims and the mujahidin al-Qaida, thank God, is expanding and increasing in strength…All the lies that Bush tries to delude the Americans with, saying that he destroyed half, or three quarters of al-Qaida are but nonsense merely in his own head.

"Iraq is a catastrophe for America and Americans will leave, it will only be a matter of time.

"I say to (President) Bush: you entered Iraq with lies, you will lose Iraq and lie about it and you will leave with the pretext that you have completed your mission ... America only has to decide on the number of (troops) it wishes to lose before withdrawing."

Two enemies reeling from strategic defeats, each in their third year battling the United States, employing propaganda in a last ditch effort to convince the public that good things, not bad things, are happening. The only difference is that in 1943, no one in the United States of America echoed the words of Joseph Goebbels or even dignified his New Year’s Eve broadcast with a response. In 2005, not only does Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri hear an echo in the United States, he hears a chorus from the political Left.

"The idea that we're going to win the war in Iraq is an idea which is just plain wrong.

"Bring the 80,000 National Guard and reserve troops home immediately. They don't belong in a conflict like this anyway. We ought to have a redeployment to Afghanistan of 20,000 troops, we don't have enough troops to do the job there and it's a place where we are welcome. And we need a force in the Middle East, not in Iraq but in a friendly neighboring country to fight Zarqawi, who came to Iraq after this invasion. We've got to get the target off the backs of American troops." - Howard Dean

"And there is no reason, Bob, that young American soldiers need to be going into the homes of Iraqis in the dead of night, terrorizing kids and children." - John Kerry

"Our military is suffering. The future of our country is at risk. We can not continue on the present course. It is evident that continued military action in Iraq is not in the best interest of the United States of America, the Iraqi people or the Persian Gulf Region." - Jack Murtha

There are, at this very moment, thousands of men and women fighting an enemy whose motivation comes directly from the words of Howard Dean, John Kerry and Jack Murtha.

Some of these soldiers, sleeping on concrete and dirt in a foreign country defending our freedom, will die because of the hope that the words above gave to a Muslim fanatic. And Dean and Kerry say what they say for one reason: political opposition to George W. Bush. They are the elite "superior leaders" who cannot grasp being out of power and refuse to acknowledge the damage they do with words.

"Propaganda is a means to an end. Its purpose is to lead the people to an understanding that will allow it to willingly and without internal resistance devote itself to the tasks and goals of a superior leadership." – Joseph Goebbels

Comments

1: Trekram

December 10, 2005 1:09am EST

Spot on. It’s been evident to me that many on the Left have been rooting for America to lose the war in Iraq before the war even started. Indeed, it is the combination of their hatred not only for conservatives but of America and their thirst and quest for power at any means or cost. Using the shield of free speech and with shame never being an obstacle, the Left attacks with blatantly irresponsible rhetoric. One only has to look back at the Left’s ranting supported by the slanted media coverage just prior to any major political or military event in Iraq: the doomsday predictions of tens of thousands who will die during the initial stages of the war; the naysayer blitz prior to every historical Iraqi election declaring “It won’t work” and “We should postpone”; the constant comparison to Vietnam and Soviet Gulags after military setbacks; the storm of protest and marches at the every count of soldiers’ deaths; revisionist history.

Looking back over the past 3 years at the trend of Pavlovian responses of the Left, we can observe and recognize their modus operandi: every anticipated high point of success must come with a barrage of negative attacks and misinformation campaigns to make certain Iraq is a failure.

Now, as we approach the greatest success milestone with the election of a permanent Iraqi government, predictably the Left is right on schedule. A guaranteed success of greater than 60% participation in this historical event, which is also a critical victory objective of the mission, has brought an equally defeatist negative response from the Left. So here we are, as in a last ditch effort to ensure a loss at any cost, the Left is demanding and rallying around pulling out: a slam dunk strategy for failure. One can only come to the conclusion that the Left’s overall plan is to try and try again to “snatch defeat out of the jaws of victory” in Iraq for one purpose alone: to get back in power.

And to those of the Left who are offended by these statements, I suggest they do some soul searching and ask themselves the question “Do I feel better when I hear good news or bad news on Iraq?” If it’s the latter, you’re the problem.

{Aslan: A commentary that says it all. Nothing to add, except to highlight, in a big way, this salient question:

"'Do I feel better when I hear good news or bad news on Iraq?' If it’s the latter, you’re the problem."}

2: Larry Horacek

December 10, 2005 1:15am EST

You could easily have subtitled your essay "The Press that Goebbels Wanted," too. The extent to which our media has become a propaganda tool for the Democratic Party is a national disgrace. We have no agency to hold our press accountable... they hold themselves accountable, which endorses the Fox in the hen house. If we do not level the playing field in the way that news is reported, the propaganda will only get worse.

I am reminded of your previous article about the Media Heisenberg Principle (here). Good call.

{Aslan: And it is still a curious phenomenon – I am sure every conservative has noticed this – that when you begin a conversation in the presence of a liberal with “The liberal media bias…” they scoff and roll their eyes as if this point was open for debate. The ultimate demonstration of bias I think just happened, with the Murtha/Lieberman Iraq statement coverage. Case closed.}

3: Sam P

December 10, 2005 8:39am EST

Could there be anything more on target?

I've never understood how one can support the troops' lives and the cause of the insurgents who are trying to take the troops' lives.

Maybe the better way to spin it for the left is to simply say they support the troops, and want to win the war, but hate Chimpy. That'd at least be more honest.

I do wonder though...whatever happened to:

"Now, more than ever, with our soldiers in harm's way, we must stand together and succeed in Iraq and win the war on terror." - Sen JohnKerry concession Address to Supporters at Fanueil Hall 11/3/04

Wow! The world marvels at that man's resolve!

{Aslan: Simply great observations! Your second sentence is brilliant, which I have highlighted.}