Why Facts on Iraq Don't Matter

[Emillereid]

Floating On A Dinghy

Why Facts on Iraq Don't Matter

By Isa F. Atkins
14 July 2003

I have read it twenty times and I still don't believe it. The latest PIPA Knowledge Networks poll shows that a third of the American public believes US forces have actually found weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. A further 22 per cent think Iraqi troops used banned chemical or biological weapons against US soldiers in Iraq.

Poll analysts, who go to great pains to appear to respect the subjects of their research, have come up with an interesting name for this surreal phenomenon. They call it 'cognitive dissonance'. When pressed to explain the meaning of this term in plain English, they admit -with a sense of humble discomfort- that it describes the lack of agreement between reality and a person's understanding of it. In other words, it describes one's inability, or even downright unwillingness, to grasp the truth.

Not surprisingly, the poll showed that the above erroneous beliefs were expressed primarily by those supporting the war on Iraq.

Now, it is true that ever since Antonio Gramsci's writings were smuggled out of his stingy Italian prison cell, educated liberals have accused media propaganda of being responsible for popular misconceptions throughoutthis century's wars. And, granted, with ample reason. From the paid lies of American Civil War correspondents, to the fraudulent nationalistic rants of reporters covering World War I, to the disgraceful, corrupt journalist intelligentsia of the Cold War, no modern institution is more directly responsible for the perpetuation of mass militarism than the corporate media -and this includes the military itself. ....

This essay concurs with my analysis that the phenomenon of cognitive dissonance explains why Americans believe that WMDs not only have been found in Iraq but were also used on US forces. We got a uphill battle folks to 'rescue' the minds of the American public.

[ameriphile]

1. Or how about

the 33% of respondents who think that "Iraq gave substantial support to al-Qaeda, but was not involved in the September 11th attacks", or the 20% who think that "Iraq was directly involved in carrying
out the September 11th attacks". Pretty disturbing stuff.

Here's the report:
http://www.pipa.org/OnlineReports/Iraq/7_24_iraqreport.pdf

[Ekaterina]

3. which of course

explains why they redacted all information about sponsor states out of the 9-11 report, right?? I mean, we all already KNOW Iraq did it so we have to cover that part of the report up with black marker.....and up is down and black is white and lies are the truth...it's all so clear now.......

[damnraddem]

2. Whatever pollsters may say, that's not the meaning of cognitive dissonance

Cognitive dissonance refers to incompatible ideas a given person may have, and to the mental reactions to try to reconcile them, isolate them from each other, or jettison one or both. Having views that conflict with reality has a simpler name: 'being wrong.' And in the current case, it has a name that considers the etiology: 'being spun by spin.'

Case in point: the 9/11 Congressional Report again debunks the idea that Saddam had links to Al Qaida and 9/11. Despite prior debunking of this, the Administration spouts spin that suggest such links, and many people buy it. Likewise, Dubya claims that U.S. forces have found WMDs, and people buy it, even though Administration spokespeople do damage control and change that to 'a weapons program' -- something that is unsupported by the evidence but which at least does not contradict the facts (i.e., 'have found'), as does Dubya's statement.

[wuushew]

4. www.m-w.com

One entry found for cognitive dissonance.


Main Entry: cognitive dissonance
Function: noun
Date: 1957
: psychological conflict resulting from incongruous beliefs and attitudes held simultaneously

[Emillereid]

6. The important thing about cognitive dissonance is that

the person is faced with incompatible ideas which results in the noxious state of dissonance. The original research that demonstrated cognitive dissonance had college students perform a god awful, boring task for either a decent pay or for very little pay. Afterwards they had to tell others about the job and whether or not they would recommend it. Those they had been paid well told the others that it was a boring job, but that they did it for the money -- they had an external reason for doing it. Those who got very little pay told others that the job was very interesting and that they recommended doing it. They couldn't justify their doing it for the money and they didn't want to feel used or duped, so they changed reality to fit -- the job suddenly became interesting and worth while.

In the case of those who believed in the Iraq war with it's mission to destroy WMDs, the admission that there are no WMDs or that they weren't used, means they have to admit that their support for the war was wrong, misguided and that they were probably duped. Or they can 'change' reality to fit their internal beliefs, ie, weapons were found, used, etc. and the world is safer -- everything is as it should be with W in charge. Dissonance avoided.

Cognitive dissonance is one of the most powerful motivators in the human psyche.

[Room101]

5. Words from Aldous Huxleys Brave new world....

Till at last the Childs mind is these suggestions, and the sum of these suggestions is the Childs mind. And not just the Childs mind only. The adults mind too all his life long. The mind that judges and desires and decides made up of these suggestions. But all these suggestions are our suggestions! Suggestions from the state.

<snip>
Moral education, which ought never, in any circumstances to be rational.

<snip>
Great is truth, but still greater from a practical point of view is the silence about truth. By simple not mentioning certain subjects,
by lowering an iron curtain between the masses and such facts or arguments as the political bosses regard as undesirable.