7 ms·

These people really do behave like characters from a third-rate movie script that gets rejected for being too over-the-top. At the point where you're actually

These people really do behave like characters from a third-rate movie script that gets rejected for being too over-the-top. At the point where you're actually hiring consultants for a PR campaign to improve the public image of war, should you not be thinking: how far have I strayed from the pack? I could totally see a misguided yet defensible attempt to convince the public of some specific war you really like, such as Iraq. But just any war, generically? (That's not to mention that no amount of psychological profiling could ever make a dent in the public's attitude towards war with the budget John Bolton could muster. Those facebook ads are, after all, competing with quite a few high-profile war movies every year, not to mention history books and grandparent's stories)

tlb 9y ago
From the military's point of view, the public's willingness to support a war is at least as important as better planes and bombs. Every military parade and Blue Angels flyover are the military spending money to convince the public that war is glorious. The shift from promoting a particular war to promoting war generally has to do with the number and frequency of small wars. In 1940, it was sufficient to get the public hating Hitler and Hirohito. Now, there are too many enemies for the average person to keep straight.
- lisper 9y ago
  I think it also has something to do with the fact that every war the U.S. has fought since WWII has ultimately turned into a disaster.
  - khc 9y ago
    depends on what you mean by disaster, I think a lot of South Koreans are thankful that US participated in the Korea War
    - romwell 9y ago
      OK, OK, since the Korean War then.
      - ponzisatoshi 9y ago
        Y'all young or something, desert storm was only what 30 years ago?
    - lisper 9y ago
      The Korean war is not over. But OK, fair enough, I'll revise my claim and say that every war since Korea (i.e. in the last 65 years) has been a disaster. (And Korea was not exactly considered an unalloyed success even back in the day.)
      - oh_sigh 9y ago
        US invasion of Grenada in 1983?
      - m_mueller 9y ago
        I find Ex-Yugoslavia is entirely defensible and should have been cleanes up by EU members, US came in because noone stepped up. But that’s about the only sensible foreign military effort since Korea I can think of, and Korea was saved from having overly hawkish generals mess it up.
  - seanmcdirmid 9y ago
    The first Gulf War was successful if they had just left it at that.
wmeredith 9y ago
Are you kidding? This is Warhawk 101 stuff. PR has its origins in the military industrial complex. Public relations and the generation of modern propaganda on a mass scale were born during the world wars of the 20th century. Read up on Edward Bernays: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Bernays https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Bernays

tlb 9y ago

From the military's point of view, the public's willingness to support a war is at least as important as better planes and bombs. Every military parade and Blue Angels flyover are the military spending money to convince the public that war is glorious. The shift from promoting a particular war to promoting war generally has to do with the number and frequency of small wars. In 1940, it was sufficient to get the public hating Hitler and Hirohito. Now, there are too many enemies for the average person to keep straight.

lisper 9y ago
I think it also has something to do with the fact that every war the U.S. has fought since WWII has ultimately turned into a disaster.
- khc 9y ago
  depends on what you mean by disaster, I think a lot of South Koreans are thankful that US participated in the Korea War
  - romwell 9y ago
    OK, OK, since the Korean War then.
    - ponzisatoshi 9y ago
      Y'all young or something, desert storm was only what 30 years ago?
  - lisper 9y ago
    The Korean war is not over. But OK, fair enough, I'll revise my claim and say that every war since Korea (i.e. in the last 65 years) has been a disaster. (And Korea was not exactly considered an unalloyed success even back in the day.)
    - oh_sigh 9y ago
      US invasion of Grenada in 1983?
    - m_mueller 9y ago
      I find Ex-Yugoslavia is entirely defensible and should have been cleanes up by EU members, US came in because noone stepped up. But that’s about the only sensible foreign military effort since Korea I can think of, and Korea was saved from having overly hawkish generals mess it up.
- seanmcdirmid 9y ago
  The first Gulf War was successful if they had just left it at that.

wmeredith 9y ago

Are you kidding? This is Warhawk 101 stuff. PR has its origins in the military industrial complex. Public relations and the generation of modern propaganda on a mass scale were born during the world wars of the 20th century. Read up on Edward Bernays: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Bernays https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Bernays