The Damage is Done?
Aside from being the fifth track on the debut, self-titled album by Foreigner, (loved that album … great concert too…), The Damage is Done is a reality we must face in a propaganda war that is being fought with the (at best) passive, complicit acceptance of the press. The latest example is stunning in its amateurish attempt to “enhance” a photo showing the aftermath of an Israeli air raid. Big tip of the cap to little green footballs and Bill Roggio of Counterterrorism Blog. I simply can not believe a professional photographer is so incompetent with cloning tools AND that Reuters didn’t even notice the photo was doctored.
And yet… The Damage is Done. How often have we seen, right here at home in political races, that the first lie can never be totally countered with a thousand truths that follow. Oh sure, bloggers know the truth, and in this rare instance Reuters has admitted a mistake; maybe even some in the mainstream media will jump on the wagon just to show how impartial they are, but what of our “friends” around the world who continually look for reasons to ignore the indiscriminate attacks on civilians by Hezbollah and find fault with Israel as they defend themselves in a way not unlike what we would expect from our government should terrorists start lobbing rockets and missiles from Mexico.
So how do we win the hearts and minds of folks in France, Germany, even Great Britain? We don’t. Not because we don’t want to; not because we just couldn’t be bothered or don’t care what anyone else thinks. We don’t because, frankly, we can’t… The Damage is Done.
So, what’s left?
- If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em? Not our style (unless you’re a liberal I suppose).
- Nuke ‘em all? Ummm, no, don’t think that’s such a great idea. What were you thinking.. sheesh.
- Do the right thing? Clever. No need to offer a solution; just “do the right thing”, whatever the heck that is.
I dunno. Quite a mess the world has gotten itself into with the help of some real nut cases who seem to have a growing mass of closet supporters, not unlike the cancer that invaded the Earth during World War II. Big difference here is that with no clear lines of battle, no one really knows how to fight this war or, more importantly, how to end it.
Maybe there is no real end; maybe we just keep stomping on fires and healing our burns. Maybe the end is THE end… let’s hope and pray it doesn’t come down to that. I think it is our nature to believe every problem has a solution, every battle can be won; we can not accept the concept of helplessness. But how do you kill the Hydra. We can’t just lay down and allow the Hydra to kill us, but every time we cut off a head, two more grow in its place.
The answer lies in the understanding of the enemy. Their strength is not weaponry; they are not braver than we are (crazier maybe, more zealous perhaps, but certainly not braver); do they have better tactics on the battlefield? no. So what differentiates our enemy from us? Like the heads of the Hydra, they grow in numbers as each defeat is turned into a propaganda victory.
So, do we stop fighting back because, as my liberal friends tell me — after all, we are just getting them angry and creating more terrorists as we lose the hearts and minds of the Muslim street? I’m thinking no.. that would be a sign of weakness, of defeat, giving the Hydra room to breath and inviting our enemy to go back on the offensive right here at home.
Hercules knew the answer. You must cauterize as you cut. In this case, it means controlling the flow of information BEFORE the propaganda bleeds out, providing the catalyst for anger and hatred that inexorably leads to a swelling of the enemy ranks. Flooding the media with positive images helps, but doesn’t make news and will not be broadcast consistently and effectively. Flood the media with a combination of negative images of Iraqi’s being slayed by terrorists and preemptive media bulletins with all the photos and videos of post-op recon that the press can eat without having to pay for the meal and you may just have a chance of shaping the message before the enemy starts the flow of lies.
Of course, if the media is not interested in showing this particular side of the story, the Hydra lives and the media is it’s pet… until the day the Hydra turns and devours the freedoms we hold so dear, including freedom of the press.
If you have a better answer, I sure as hell would like to hear it.
Update: 8/9/2006: I need to add Michelle Malkin’s Blog to my favorites list. Love her on TV too. She has compiled a lot of examples that make the point that this is a propaganda war with the cooperation of the “independent” press.
Stumble it!