Why countering pro-war propaganda is important
There is a reason the media spits out so much pro-war propaganda- it works.
Many anti-imperialists such as myself often get accused by critics of defending any state that is opposed to America. I cannot speak for anyone else but this is a fundamental misunderstanding of my mission. I am not interested in defending or representing any state around the world but am trying to dispel propaganda that will lead to people supporting wars that will cause horrific harm to citizens in the targeted countries. U.S. media will also print anything critical of official enemy states whether it be based in fact on not.
A recent poll found that 52 percent of Americans support war with China if they invaded Taiwan. War with China would of course be disastrous for people all over the world as it could very likely result in Nuclear war. But this poll is a direct result of American propaganda. Take for example the talking point that was repeated non-stop in mainstream media that China was breaching Tiwian’s airspace. The Washington Post's headline on this said “Chinese jets menace Taiwan, pressuring U.S. support of island’s defenses” BBCs headline reads as “Record number of China planes enter Taiwan air defense zone”. This is a great example of how mainstream media misrepresents information in order to manufacture poll results like the one mentioned above. What these articles do not mention is that a large portion of this “Taiwanese airspace” is actually part of mainland China and that Tiwian’s air defense zone is not actually part of it’s national airspace.
But the manufacturing consent does not stop here the mainstream media has been printing opinion pieces advocating for war with China over Taiwan such as an insane piece recently written in The Hill by a retired C.I.A officer entitled “America must prepare for war with China over Taiwan”. If the people in the poll who supported war with China learned this important context the support would most definitely go down. The Poll would also most likely go down if Americans knew the real reason China is being portrayed as a threat is because they will not be bullied or pushed around by the United States empire. Noam Chomsky recently broke this down in an interview where he said “The 'China threat' is China's existence. The US will not tolerate the existence of a state that cannot be intimidated. That does not follow US orders but pursues its own course."
Propaganda like this without the proper context can lead well-meaning people to support horrific wars. For example, take the first Gulf war where a false testimony claiming Saddam Hussien was throwing babies out of incubators led Americans to support a war where 200,000 civilians died. Another great example of this is the Americans who were led to believe the NATO regime-change operation in Lybia was a humanitarian one leading many to support a war that turned one of the most successful African countries into a failed state with open slave markets. These examples show the importance of outlets like The Grayzone or Mint Press News that provide the context and show where the mainstream media is lying about official enemy countries. We have now gotten to a point where not debunking these talking points could lead to Nucler War and the end of civilization as we know it.
Why countering pro-war propaganda is important
Great piece exposing the propaganda for a new Cold War with China