Former Sec. of State George Shultz. along with other notable politicians are members of the new committee.New Group to Peddle War
In a desperate public relations move, the administration is backing a new group called the Committee for the Liberation of Iraq (CLI). This committee's purpose is to sell war on Iraq, along with "regime change," to the American public through meetings with opinion makers, journalists and mass marketing. According to the Washington Post, a White House spokesman described the CLI as a "new phase" in the administration's attempts to build fresh public support for war on Iraq. Critics, however, view this as anything but new. The administration has attempted for months to peddle its war despite an enormous amount of public and international resistance.
The establishment of the CLI show that it is obvious that the administration is wary of public discussion of this issue on its own merits, and without the influence of a PR machine. Those pushing for an invasion of Iraq must have come to the conclusion that, when given the facts, the American public doesn't find the arguments for war very compelling.
The creation and aim of the CLI is a carbon copy of typical corporate strategy. When a company discovers that it is losing market share due to a faulty or maligned product, it immediately deploys its PR teams to create campaigns that will "fix" their image in the public eye. The same mobilization of forces is being used by the White House to whip the American public into line with the administration's agenda, even at a time when public opinion is moving in the opposite direction.
And this isn't the only similarity between this PR tactic and corporate malfeasance. Consider the Committee's chairman, Bruce P. Johnson. A brief look into the employment history of Mr. Johnson reveals that in 1997 he was the Director of International Development for Lockheed Martin and as recently as 1999 he held the position of Vice President in the office of Corporate Strategic Development. While some might call this a conflict of interest, for the White House this is a win-win situation. Mr. Johnson gets to sell a war that will further enrich his associates in the weapon building industry, and the White House gets a more manageable public.
Other members of the Committee for the Liberation of Iraq include former Secretary of State George P. Shultz, Sen. John McCain, and former senator Bob Kerry. National Security Advisor Condoleeza Rice and deputy advisor Stephen Hadley will be in on the workings of this committee as well.
Poll numbers on America's support for the war are once again on the slide for the Bush team, dipping to their lowest levels since the issue was first raised. The most recent poll from the Pew Research Center reports that only 55 percent of Americans are generally in favor of a war with Iraq, down from 64 percent in August. Beyond these blanket support/opposition numbers, a recent Gallup Poll found that 60 percent of Americans think the U.S. should give diplomatic efforts more time, while only 25 percent believe that we ought to invade immediately.
All of this, not to mention the masses numbering in the hundreds of thousands that have protested in the streets, has brought to light the weaknesses inherent in the White House's campaign for war. As if reading from a shrewd corporate "how to" manual, the administration has fallen back on its last line of defense: the spin game.
Decision makers in the Bush administration are obviously more interested in out maneuvering the will of the American public than considering its calls for diplomacy. Since the pro-war forces can't convince America to go to war on its own merits, the CLI has been put in place to sell it to the public. But the public isn't buying it.
The average American is much more informed now on the consequences of an attack on Iraq than even a few months ago. We know this is a matter of life and death, national security, and international stability. An ad hoc publicity vehicle, even of this magnitude, isn't going to candy-coat war.
Launch Your Own P.R. Campaign
Write a letter to the editors of your local paper.To find out more about media outlets in your community use the media guide at congress.org
You can find tips on writing a letter to the editor in our How To... section.
Here is a sample letter you can use.
To the Editors:
In a desperate public relations move, the Bush administration is backing a new group called the Committee for the Liberation of Iraq (CLI). The committee's purpose is to sell war on Iraq, along with "regime change" to the American public.
A White House spokesman described the CLI as a "new phase" in the administration's attempts to build fresh public support for war on Iraq. Critics, however, view this as anything but new. The administration has attempted for months to peddle its war despite an enormous amount of resistance from the American public and the international community.
What those behind the CLI haven't calculated is that the average American is much more informed now on the consequences of an attack on Iraq than even a few months ago. We know that this is a matter of life and death, national security, and international stability.
An ad hoc publicity vehicle, even of this magnitude, isn't going to candy-coat this war.
Sincerely,
(Your name)
