NOW "FOUNDATIONS OF DEMOCRACY" ENOUGH FOR US TO PULL OUT OF IRAQ

HOW BUSH CO. USES INFORMATION MANAGEMENT TO CONTROL THE NEWS

The US Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice said the United States’ goal is to see an Iraqi government capable of providing basic services and security to its people.

“It does not mean that the United States has to be there until Iraq is a full-fledged democracy. That's going to take some time. But the foundation has to be laid for democracy in Iraq,” she said.

“We have to be sure that we're not turning the country over to al-Qaida. … We're not leaving a situation that is so chaotic that there is no one who can bring order.”

Consider the above and then consider the whole 'story' and quotes were sourced from the State Department's own 'International Information Programs' website.

This kind of crafted ready-to-use media story is little more than a creative press release. It's written like a basic newspaper article that some journos would see no need to rewrite. But it's propaganda. A soft-ball media release, stating a vastly downgraded definition of "stable Iraq".

In a transcript handily linked on the State Department. Secretary Rice gave an interview to 'Morning In America', where the host thanked her heapingly for consenting to an interview, praised her some more, then asked if he may talk to her about Iraq.

He asked if it was okay to talk about Iraq. No hard questions. The host stated his position clearly :

"We are big supporters of the president - this war."

Rice uses the interview to again spell out the Reality version of how the US will exit Iraq, even without the 'victory' celebration and the official opening of the George W. Bush Freedom Square in downtown Baghdad.

Secretary Rice : "The stakes are really for an Iraq that is stable and on a democratic path...

The interviewer, Bill Bennett, is a most gracious and accomodating host. He seemed to have run out of questions after a fast handful and gave Secretary Rice the floor :

"We have 30 secondss left. I'll let you say whatever you want - a message to the American people."

It was a message that included two references to 9/11, and one plea that the 'War On Terror' must continue, if only for the sake of "the children".

This is the way the Bush government, the UK Blair government and the Australian Howard government would love most media to be. Non-confrontational, no eye-bulging surprise questions, no dissent, nothing uncomfortable, no research, no problems.

The kind of journalists, or radio hosts, or TV interviewers, who would just say :

"Hell, I don't care, here's the mic, say whatever you want. You can do no wrong here. I can't even remember the distortions and deceptions you guys have pulled on the American people. Say what you want, your among friends here. This is Bush Country."

There will eventually no need for most of the journalists now employed by megapresence media entities like News Corp. Rupert Murdoch has said, many times, that he wants to see a future media filled with, if not dominated by, blogs.

But blogs can be built to be self-publishing, sucking in the latest information product and packaging it in a way that will pass the "plant" test for most who come across it.

The State Department are aggressively pursuing their "information management", and kindly now provide an RSS Feed option so you can have headlines from their 'Washington File' media product pipeline published in a neat box on your site.

Pure media product, with a touch of dissent amongst the pages and news portals, that seems real, seems to be the real thing, but at best are substance-free junk food for the mind.

You think you're getting something worthy of your attention, but they are stealing your time and dulling your brain.

In the meantime, Secretary Rice is downgrading Americans' expectations of what actually constitutes the "free and democratic" Iraq that needs to be in place before the US can exit the war.

A "stable Iraq" and a "stable government" is now enough for a low-ball victory to be declared.

If only the United States could get even these reduced expectations out of Iraq.

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