Bush unleashes propaganda in battle for support

With support quickly evaporating for a war, the "US yesterday sought to regain the political initiative over Iraq" with the release of a 30-page document of propaganda against Saddam Hussein, the Financial Times reports.

The report, "Apparatus of Lies: Saddam’s Disinformation and Propaganda 1990-2003," criticizes Iraq for its "highly developed, well disciplined and expertly organised programme designed to win support for the Iraqi regime through outright deceit." Nevertheless, to its credit, the FT story concedes that "the White House's own version of agitprop also skates over some aspects of history. For example, it describes the use of chemical weapons against the Iraqi Kurds of Halabja in 1988, but omits to mention that the US supported Iraq during the conflict with Iran at that time, and was reluctant to admit that Halabja had happened. The White House describes the horrific birth defects in Halabja since 1988, but does not address the failure of the international community to do anything about them."

Wow. Reporting that dares to challenge the claims of a government, by actually putting them into some kind of context. Ya don't see that often, do ya?