The slide appeared as an adjunct to the Washington Post's famous article from April 10, which described the psyop campaign to create a Zarqawi myth. Since that time, we have seen the emergence of a Zarqawi video of questioned authenticity, in which the oft-"killed" terrorist was seen conducting exercises in a landscape that resembled the American southwest.Previously, I asked a question that remains unanswered: If, in fact, Zarqawi conducted these maneuvers (which included the firing of anti-tank weaponry in open desert beneath a clear sky) within the borders of Iraq, why didn't American spy satellites catch sight of him immediately? Google Earth has spotted firefights on Baghdad streets. Surely, American overseers must scrutinize Iraq from the sky carefully and routinely.
Shortly after this video hit the net, the American military released outtakes which showed that Z handled his weapon in an amateurish fashion. Everyone was so busy giggling that few thought to ask questions about the source of this convenient footage. Supposedly, American soldiers found it during a raid. Which raid? Why not humor us with a few details?
On second thought, don't bother. Any details provided by officaldom would never convince, since so many recent events have justified cynicism. The Casey slideshow confirmed what many had already suspected: Zarqawi existed solely because he fulfilled a propaganda function. Once that fact became known, it was necessary to bury the revelation. First came the video. When that ploy failed, Zarqawi lost his value as bogeyman and thus had to die.
Maybe we should put quotation marks around the word “die.” Maybe those gruesome images of his corpse were photoshopped. Maybe they were real. Who can say? The only thing we can know for sure is that the scarecrow no longer performed its intended function and was thus subject to removal.
If you know classical music, you've probably heard Prokofiev's "Lieutenant Kije" suite, which originated as the score for a now-lost Russian film based on an old short story. (The same story inspired an early episode of MASH.) The Lieutenant was the fictional creation of a group of pankster soldiers who wanted to give their unit an heroic and inspiring figure. When the Tsar asked to meet this famed warrior, his "death" became mandatory.
The tale of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi is simply the latest variant of the Lieutenant Kije legend.
10 comments:
I especially liked the "before", "during", and "after" videos and photos.
The entire thing seemed far too choreographed, including the news reports, the footage, the details, the photos, etc., etc., etc. This event seemed to be one planned out by an elite PR firm, didn't it? Oh, so slick and well packaged for the public's consumption.
In other words, it stinks to high heaven.
Psy-ops, indeed.
The slide exemplifies how the right approaches reality: with the implicit belief that reality is not really real. That it is, in fact, as malleable as clay.
In the short run, this approach can bring desired results. That is because reality is rather like a rubberband; it stretches when stressed. It is not, however, plastic. You can distort it, bend or stretch it, but ultimately it snaps back on you.
It doesn't matter how many code words and manipulations the right uses in Iraq, or in the US. In the end, reality will re-assert itself.
The reality wars are coming.
small points.
one, pace has announced that zarqawi has been id'd by scars, tatoos, etc.,....
except that there is no mention of his prosthetic leg, AND islam forbids tatoos.
two, 'the matrix' in the slide. the note accompanying it says something about tracking iraqi trends, but i'd be inclined to give it a more meaningful bent by considering the film and its message. which was, succinctly, all about twisting reality to the breaking point.
finally, i'd like to see if the post at any point brings up this piece of theirs in the aftermath of this 'scene' in the production.
Apparently Zarqawi mumbled something as he died. I wonder if it was about being made a patsy.
cool. the independent is picking up this little psyops problem with the whole story.
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/article753708.ece
Wonderful. Very apt comparison with the Lieutenant Kije story. I have heard the LK archetypal myth before but had not associated it with the al Zarqawi BS until I read your post.
I might as well take this opportunity to tell the readers that they HAVE heard the Kije suite, even if they think they haven't. At Christmas time, the sleigh ride music becomes one of life's inevitabilities.
Also, the untranslatable Russian wordplay that gave "birth" to Kije actually has a pretty good French equivalent: "Lieutenant Tenant."
(In college, I spent a day in the library researching Prokofiev's film music. Yes, I was a TOTAL nerd. A really embarrassing sight.)
NO CONFIDENCE
Everyone tells me I should be glad Zarqawi is dead.
It is a little hard for me to talk with certainty about who he is. Some think he is largely a mythic creation of our own PR machine. His death was, in all likelihood, as much a fiction as his life. One necessitated by the other.
A strangely subdued president Bush has even admitted his death will certainly do nothing to stop or slow the violence in Iraq. Only Tony Blair and the Right wing talk show hosts are joyously proclaiming the death of al-Qaeda.
I have to admit to not having the slightest confidence in my understanding of what the hell is really going on in Iraq. The only thing I can come close to believing is: whatever seems likely is probably not likely at all. Everything must be examined through the lenses of contradictory premises which lend themselves to totally contradictory conclusions.
The situation, as we think we are supposed to see it and as it is portrayed in the mainstream press, is: Zarqawi is an al-Qaeda insurgent bent on stirring up civil strife between Sunni and Shia. Based on this premise, Z’s departure will be a good thing for the new Iraqi government. It removes one more irritant that is dividing Iraq and promoting sectarian strife. It is potentially a bad thing for our interests in that his absence now removes one of the main obstacles of llegitimacy from the native insurgency. Many local Iraqis and even the homegrown insurgents objected to his tactics. Without him the Iraqi insurgency may assume more legitimacy and less divisiveness. United, they are also more likely to target coalition troops and mercenaries. Since the vast majority of Iraqis want our troops out yesterday, the prospect of a growing legitimacy for an insurgency bent on making our troops as uncomfortable as possible can only be bad news for Bush/Blair.
I can celebrate no one’s death, but in this case I must say that my sympathies lie not with our troops we are so encouraged to support by our jingoists on the Right but with the insurgents. I abhor the violence on both sides, but like separating two scrapping 12 year olds on the grade school playground, the first question asked must be, “Who started it?”
I also see the timing of the killing of Zarqawi as an amazing and a not un-contrived piece of coincidental largesse for our embattled troops suffering under the critical scrutiny of press and public for their many war crimes. Have you noticed how the talk about these misdeeds is suddenly absent from your TV screens and newspapers. By the end of next week, when all the Zarqawi hoopla begins to recede, those stories of troop atrocities will not return. Like Gitmo and Abu Ghraib, we will have moved on. Nice – barely a blip on the radar.
Who knows what is really going on? If Robert Fisk knows, he is not saying. Here is one theory: we (Bush and Co.) have no intention of ever leaving Iraq. In fact I think one could even make the argument that this always has been a bipartisan arraignment based upon most of the leading Democrats’ determined reluctance to oppose the war. “Everybody knows it’s the oil, stupid.”
With the largest embassy on earth and numerous crusader castles under vigorous construction across the land, it seems obvious we are planning to stay for some time to come. Why then does Bush insist that “As the Iraqis stand up, we will stand down.”? Easy answer: the Iraqis will never stand up. We have a vested interest in civil war in Iraq. It is our presumed raison d’etre for staying. Better than admitting the truth. Why then kill off the number one poster boy for civil strife in this land? I don’t know. Perhaps he had outgrown his shelf life. Or we have decided to upgrade our plans to increase the scope of the Salvadorian-style death squads we have trained and funded – coming soon to a neighborhood near you! After all, they are more controllable than al-Qaeda. Who knows? Some days I am even of the opinion that international al-Qaeda is just a false flag operation. Those who claim to know probably don’t – or are lying.
What do I really know?
I (We all) know that the presidential elections of 2000 and 2004 were stolen and that there is little chance of this country ever having free national elections again at any time in our lifetimes. I have plans to loudly announce the end my career as a voter - in 2008. I already have my beautifully designed red, white and blue campaign buttons made up that say, “Vote for NO ONE in ’08!” I think I am on the verge of urging my fellow Americans to abstain from the ’06 elections as well. I know now that the Democrats have no serious plans to assume the majority in the House in ’06. Neither have they any interest in impeaching Bush or stopping his war and his crimes. I suppose I could vote Green, but what’s the point? I might as well vote for the Republicans who I respect for at least possessing the courage of their convictions.
I think a more significant message of hope to the world might be if there was only a ten percent turn out of eligible voters in a national election. That is a cause I really could get excited about. What a magnificent expression of NO CONFIDENCE in the whole stinking capitalist system. What if they had an election and no one came?
Bob Boldt
Also embedded in the Prokofiev score to Lieutenant Kije is the melody to the song we sing at Christmas and know as "Jingle Bells," but sung to Russian lyrics with entirely different meaning. One would have to believe in Santa Claus to believe the preposterious, official "al Zarqawi is now dead" story.
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