Justifying the Iraq War and Managing the Media: A Comparative Historical Analysis

Abstract

The pulling down of the statue of Saddam Hussein in Fardus Square on 6 April 2003 was an iconic moment in the opening stages of the Iraq War. It was also a stage-managed event in the sense that a neighbouring US engineering team had the presence of mind to assist a small group of demonstrators to create one of the lasting images of the invasion. It was distinct from the more frequent practice of defacing or blowing up effigies and portraits of Saddam in that it was a joint effort: the American military were assisting the Iraqi people to topple Saddam — literally. For Western audiences, it was the justifying idea of the war, with the West assisting the rest of the world to be free of tyrants. It appeared at the time to be the culminating moment of the campaign, reinforced by President George W. Bush’s arrival on the carrier USS Abraham Lincoln on 2 May with a banner that announced: ‘Mission Accomplished’. Despite media claims, Bush had not used the phrase himself, instead stating that: ‘The transition from dictatorship to democracy will take time … Our coalition will stay until the work is done.’¹