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Fear is a powerful emotion that is easily exploited by politicians.

German Nazi Party member Joseph Goebbels, who became Adolf Hitler’s propaganda minister in 1933, giving him power over all German radio, press, and cinema output, knew very well how to create fear leading to compliance among a large population.

Goebbels stated, and I slightly paraphrase, “it is easy to shape the opinions of the masses. All a leader must do is to create an enemy, tell the people that they are in danger of being attacked, and state that you are the one who will protect them. The public will willingly give up their freedoms for what they perceive as safety.”

Goebbels had an opinion of the United States that he expressed in an essay in the newspaper Das Reich on 9 August 1942. Some of his comments seem as if they were made only yesterday.
I quote “We would not say anything if the U.S.A. were aware of its intellectual and moral defects and was trying to grow up. But it is too much when it behaves in an impudent manner toward a part of the earth with a few thousands years of glorious history behind it, attempting to teach it moral and intellectual lessons, whether out of innocence or a complete lack of genuine culture and learning. We can forgive the mistakes of youth, but this degree of arrogance gets on one’s nerves.”

I thought of Goebbels while watching BBC news a few days ago. An extremely tired and disheartened looking President Bush appearing before the Nato meeting in Riga was making his often repeated statement that American troops would remain in Iraq until the goal of creating a stable independent democratic nation capable of defending itself had been realized. As any informed reader must by now realize that could be for a very long time indeed.
At about the same time we had news clips of a dazed looking Tony Blair stating from a desert setting somewhere in the South of Afghanistan that “It is here, in this extraordinary piece of desert that the future of the safety of the beginning of the 21st century will be played” To make such a statement Mr Blair must have been mentally exhausted. His trip to the desert to pump up the moral of British troops and the rigors of even a quick trip to Afghanistan must have been just too much. Even for Blair this is an incredibily stupid statement.
Who in their right mind can possibility believe that the future of the Western world depends upon how we meet the challenge of the Taliban? After all they are the home team who in their view are defending their country against foreign occupation. Despite their brutal methods of ruling and their backward looking culture they seem to be regaining support among the general population as the effort to destroy them by Nato and US forces includes the widespread bombing of village after village. Destroying the civilians populations homes, businesses and crops is an ingenious way to win their hearts and minds, eh?

Of course the allied forces lump them all into the insurgent category so the more killed the more success the allied forces can claim.
President Bush and Tony Blair have used Goebbal like propaganda tactics to promote their “War on Terror” and continue shamelessly to do so. The long term problem with such tactics is that as time marches on they become less and less effective. Especially so when you are promoting a dishonest and flawed policy that events themselves prove to be just that - dishonest and flawed.

Yet these two leaders continue to warn everyone about the grave dangers that a ragtag bunch of terrorists pose for two of the world’s most powerful military powers. Yes, of course, terrorist attacks may be bad for your health. But the chances of you being personally killed or injured by an attack is considerably less than you being involved in an air disaster or especially an automobile accident.

There is just no way that a small group of radical Islamics or anyone else of their kind is going to bring down two of the world’s most advanced military and economic powers. Yet billions of dolloars and pounds continue to be spent on defending us from this marginal threat.
Fear mongering is nothing new. Goebbals was a master at it. However, to see Bush and Blair stagger on in the face of overwhelming evidence that their grand scheme to superimpose their will and a Western style democracy on a proud ancient part of the world well known for it’s fiercely independent and impossible to control desert tribes is a complete disaster for the region and the world. It presents a pitiful sight of dishonest politicians going about their culture of fear business.

As Goebbels wrote in another era but with words that still have relevance “this degree of arrogance gets on one’s nerves.”

How can a reasonability educated public elect such morally bankrupt people to high office? That is a topic we shall discuss in future blogs. If you have any good ideas on this topic feel free to pass them along.

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