Can we make the concept of liberating countries via military aggression outdated?
The war in Ukraine has suddenly started everyone talking about the Russian propaganda machine – for very good reasons.
For some, this might have been the first time when the role of media in warmongering was brought to their attention – but can it be extended to noticing it in the Western media?
Naturally, it’s easier to think propaganda is something “the others” do. The “bad countries”. “Regimes”. It’s easier to see state-owned media in Russia as advancing Russia’s agenda than to apply the same logic to, for example, the BBC. And it’s definitely easier not to notice warmongering in our own countries than to actively point to it and engage in potentially uncomfortable conversations.
On a psychological level, I think a lot of this stems from a very simple desire to hold onto dichotomies (“good” vs “evil”, “liberation” vs “military occupation”) and to see ourselves as being heroes rather than villains of our own lives. But on a collective/political level, holding onto these dichotomies – and rosy glasses – can mean missing out on what’s right in front of us.
I saw this post on Twitter that I thought captures so well how warmongering can seemingly slip into the mainstream media if we’re not careful. And only if we realise that it can come from countries whose political systems we don’t call “regimes”:
My comment here is simple: if we think it is only RT and not the Western media that is engaging in war propaganda, try replacing all the names of countries in this post with “Ukraine” and see how it sounds.
And if “Russian bombs make Ukraine stronger” makes you uncomfortable but “American bombs make Iraq stronger” doesn’t, this is where you can find space for reflection.
Now, the question is: will we see a further opening in people’s curiosity toward how consent for wars gets manufactured?
Will we agree now that bombs, destruction, and killings don’t liberate people?
Or will we continue distinguishing between what those bombs do to white and non-white populations?
I surely hope for the former.
Added on March 20, 2023:
Today marks the 20th anniversary of the Iraq War. I invite you to reflect on its enormous human cost, the suffering, the trauma, and the illegality of it all.
Don’t stand with empires. Stand with our friends in Iraq.
Find my episode on political education below:
Don’t miss my posts – receive them directly to your inbox:
Latest from the Blog
An Interview on Iran and Israel You Have to See
This is an absolute must-watch: Jeremy Scahill, one of the few journalists who interviews and is trusted by various actors, including the Iranian government, talks to Samir Mohyeddin about the U.S.-Iranian negotiations and Israel’s “fragile ceasefires” in Gaza and Lebanon. It’s a conversation good for our brains and conscience.
Continue reading
When Words Become Both The Representation And The Represented
The simplest propaganda technique – blatant lies – might be all that Israel and its supporters have left in their toolbox. Yet words with no meaning is what our leaders, too, have been resorting to for years now, following Israel itself.
Continue reading
Israel: The Only Country Whose Actions Never Represent Itself
If it is not its ministers, navy, police, prison guards, people marching on the streets, nor settlers protected by the army, who, then, actually represents Israel?
Continue reading
Updates On The Global Sumud Flotilla: Saif and Thiago Are Free
After their kidnapping and illegal detention in Israel, Saif Abu Keshek and Thiago Avila have been released. Our global pressure worked. But our work is far from over.
Continue reading
On The Global Sumud Flotilla, What The World with Israel in It Looks Like, And What It Does to Our Nervous Systems
To exist in the world where Israel, too, exists – to physically be and function in such a world – is hard on our nervous systems. The new horrors of the kidnapping of Thiago Avila and Saif Abu Keshek are yet another reminder of how that heaviness won’t go away, as long as Israel -…
Continue reading
How Did Jon Stewart Miss The Greatest Piece of Satire on His Show?
Here’s a reminder that choosing to interview someone who history – and, hopefully, the ICJ – will remember as a war criminal and a genocide enabler, like Annalena Baerbock, is very much not cool. Especially when you have a massive platform.
Continue reading
The Exploding Head Media 