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Ari Fleischer’s Freedom’s
Watch Involved In ‘Marketing Sessions’ To ‘Sell’
Iran War
You
Tube
Wednesday November 21, 2007
In September, the New York Times reported that the
White House front group Freedom’s Watch, led by former White
House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer, was considering a “national
advertising campaign” to make the case for war with Iran,
claiming that “Iran poses a direct threat” to U.S.
security. Previously, Freedom’s Watch doled out $15 million
to flack for the Iraq escalation.
While 63 percent of Americans oppose to military action in Iran,
Freedom’s Watch apparently believes it can coax the public
into another war. Laura Rozen reports that Freedom’s Watch
is involved in test-marketing “language” to sell war
with Iran. Laura Sonnemark, an attendee of the sessions, describes
her experience:
After joining a half dozen other women in a conference room,
she found, to her surprise, that she had been called in to help
some of the country’s most prominent hawks test-market
language that could be used to sell a war against Iran to the
American public. […]
“He was asking questions about [Iranian president Mahmoud]
Ahmadinejad going to speak at Columbia University, how terrible
it was that he was able to go to Columbia and was invited,”
Sonnemark says. “And he used lots of catch phrases, like
‘victory’ and ‘failure is not an option.’”
[…]
“After two hours, [the leader] asked three final questions,”
Sonnemark recalls: “How would you feel if Hillary [Clinton]
bombed Iran? How would you feel if George Bush bombed Iran?
And how would you feel if Israel bombed Iran?”
(Article continues below)
While the focus group was commissioned by another organization,
Freedom’s Watch reportedly “shared information”
produced by the session.
In the next step of their PR campaign, the Freedom’s Watch
announced a redesigned website yesterday, complete with a new
blog, “guest posts by prominent conservative figures,”
and ways for visitors to be “heard directly by their members
of Congress.” In an e-mail blast to supporters today, President
Bradley Blakeman states, “our efforts have just begun.”
These attempts to sell war with Iran smack of the White House’s
efforts to sell the Iraq war. In August 2002, Karl Rove chaired
the White House Iraq Group, whose mission was to “develop
a strategy for publicizing the White House’s assertion that
Saddam Hussein posed a threat to the United States.” At
the same time, Fleischer was propagating these false assertions
to the public.
As a founding member of Freedom’s Watch, it is no surprise
Fleischer is importing his White House propaganda tactics for
war with Iran.
UPDATE: Phoenix Woman at FireDogLake has more.
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INFOWARS:
BECAUSE THERE'S A WAR ON FOR YOUR MIND
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