Login Here(We were joined in comments tonight by Dr. Maryam, an Iraqi Pediatric Oncologist. The discussion allowed us to hear a very clear voice from Iraq, a voice missing in the news we normally read - the conversation begins below the fold.)
Jim Wolf of Reuters had a catchy story that caught my eye earlier this week:
Like the maker of an out-of-favor car or sneaker, the U.S. military needs a new "branding" campaign to earn civilian support in Iraq, Afghanistan and other hot spots, a report for the Pentagon said on Tuesday.
"We will help you" could be the pitch, said the 211-page survey by RAND Corp.,
snip
"Like commercial firms that must update unattractive brand identities, so too should the United States consider updating its military's brand identity to suit current and future operational environments," the report said.
snip
"It is a promise that can be kept," the authors said. "And because it positions the United States as a partner of indigenous populations, it does not usurp their authority, dignity or responsibility."
Later in the week, the full report became available - Jeffrey Feldman over at Frameshop discusses it and has the PDF. Titled "Enlisting Madison Avenue: The Marketing Approach to Earning Popular Support in Theaters of Operation" the report cost $400,000 and was written by Todd C. Helmus, a clinical psychologist who included the warning "Certain things do not translate well." Karen deYoung of the Washington Post however seems to like the new marketing which she sees as part of a "new Bush Iraq strategy:"
Helmus and his co-authors concluded that the "force" brand, which the United States peddled for the first few years of the occupation, was doomed from the start and lost ground to enemies' competing brands. While not abandoning the more aggressive elements of warfare, the report suggested, a more attractive brand for the Iraqi people might have been "We will help you." That is what President Bush's new Iraq strategy is striving for as it focuses on establishing a protective U.S. troop presence in Baghdad neighborhoods, training Iraq's security forces, and encouraging the central and local governments to take the lead in making things better.
But given reports like yesterday's of the U.S. bombing of the district of al-Husseiniya in northeastern Baghdad late on Friday night where casualties rose to 23 including women and children, Lurch of Main and Central offers the definitive response:
Isn’t it a perfect example of the age of Bu$h that we plan to swarm the civilians with a new propaganda campaign even as we’re killing them off?
So anyone know if those guys are still giving out the Shinola Awards for "the world's worst rebranding?"
We may be joined tonight by Maryam who is an Iraqi pediatric oncologist and who has written here and here. If she is able to participate (esp given the time zones involved) please welcome her - we have so much to learn from her.
h/t to Ran at Moon of Alabama for Reuters link. YouTube of "Sell, Sell" by Alan Price Group from O Lucky Man - a surprisingly prescient film - scheduled to finally be released on DVD this summer along with If...
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gotta be close!
uno
Ha, first time to be first!
Great post Siun
Friends - please welcome our guest Maryam who has forgone sleep to join us.
Thank you Maryam - we’re honored to have your here tonight.
D’oh!
No Zed for me.
Congrats, nonplussed (love that handle, btw).
Diva
The CEO presidency —- sell it all to us and make a huge profit. Look out for the stockholders rather than the customers or the employees.
The “rebranding” effort had better start with the Coalition of the Billing,
because they’re pretty fed up.
A very warm welcome, Maryam. I wish I could describe how horrible about what George Bush has done to your country.
Thank you for your welcome.
What shall we talk about today you and I?
Maryam @ 10
Are you and your family safe? are you still in iraq or have you managed to get out?
Ah Maryam - you quote a very wise young man.
Welcome to Firedoglake.
Perhaps you could tell us a bit about how you see things these days in Iraq?
nonplussed @ 3
does this mean you are plussed now?
Maryam, do you live in Baghdad? If so, please describe a little of what life is like. We are being told that neighborhoods are being “cleaned up.” Is that true?
Welcome, Maryam! My husband and I have been talking about how to counter arguments from people who say our forces need to stay in Iraq and “finish the job.” What do you recommend we say in response to “The Iraqi people want us there.” other than “No, they don’t.”
No I am in Europe buying and arranging for supplies of medications to be brought. When I am in Irak I live in and run a refugee camp for children whose parents have been murdered by the American war against my people. I will be back there in a few days. For obvious reasons I will not under any circumstances detail my movements to any American.
Welcome Maryam. Anything you wish to tell us, we would appreciate.
oddmommy @ 13
I shall remain without plus until the cabal is safely ensconced in that special corner of hell on Earth (I like Devil’s Island, myself) reserved for War Criminals. I am not irrevocably bound to the on Earth part.
Everywhere you look, nothing but death. The Bush cabal are like vampires.
Bring in Karen Hughes again. She’ll make everyone like us in the Middle East.
We can win these people with chocolate bars and cig’s. Makes as much sense as that Pentagon baloney. I have an idea. Why don’t we try a pull-out. We’ve banked enough hatred for us in the Arab world to last a thousand years.
Let’s also give Maryam some time for response - it is the middle of the night/very early AM and we tend to stack up so many questions for our guests!
Maryam @ 16
What a wonderful thing to do. I have read somewhere that orphans in Iraq are regarded as outcasts. Is that accurate?
Maryam I work with refugees from all over the world who come to Texas. What a shame that the United States accepts so few Iraqis when we are the ones who caused the war that prompted them to flee.
Speaking of ‘branding the war’: what black hole did that War Czar fall into?
Maryam - we have talked here before during my posts about sending donations to Red Crescent to support their work. Does that continue to be the best way for us to help - besides doing everything we can to end the occupation?
Excellent post, Siun! It reminds me of the notion that no amount of lipstick or rouge you plaster on a pig, it’s still a pig!!!
Someone has pointed out that no self-respecting Iraqi would ever believe a country would do anything selflessly for another country. They have experience with only exploitative behavior. Madison Avenue is hopelessly stuck in their own cultural prison.
TexB @ 7
I was grocery shopping with a girlfriend this afternoon. She picked up my box of granola and said “Hmmm. Do you think this is what Cheney did to get so powerful?”
On the back of the box:
“Buy USA at retail price, get the World Free!”
(It was for Hammond World Atlas wall maps, but still.)
Diva
Maryam @ 16
May God bless you for the work you do. It is deeply painful to many Americans that your fear is rational. Most of us grew up believing that never would a pediatriacian buying medicine for children have to fear us. But sadly, your reasons are “obvious.”
It depends on whether they have a family or not. Most will be taken in by relatives. The Islamic charity I run is for those who have no one or whose family is too poor to be able to feed another mouth.
Welll, some might call it marketing; I’d call it propaganda.
eCAHNomics @ 26
Same war - new slogan - to be sold like laundry soap. What a country !
Also (OT) welcome to msmolly from the last thread.
The Red Crescent to answer your question Siun is the only body working everywhere in Irak and outside it. It is probably the best way for those who want to undo some of the evil that America does to Irakis to help with humanitarian relief.
Thank you, Siun, for this post, and for your ongoing efforts to focus our attention on the countless Iraqi victims of our aggression. Your posts always shine the light of truth amid the lies and nonsense of main-stream American media, and they remind us of what is truly important here. The thing that makes me most crazy about this war is that we Americans are kept so ignorant about it—we see no real information about its costs in terms of human life. The government constantly tells us that we have brought freedom to Iraq, when it is obvious that we have brought chaos, devastation, and civil war instead. Shame on the regular media for ignoring the Iraqis who are trying to survive in the hell we have created of their country.
Maryam, thank you so much for speaking the truth, and for joining us here. Please tell people, when you return to Iraq, that many Americans are praying for your release from this nightmare, and that we are caught in a nightmare, too—a very mild one, by comparison—in which we cannot get our elected officials to listen to us. We seem unable to stop this war that we never wanted. I weep daily over what we have done to your country and your people.
Maryam
Are most of the children in your care reasonably healthy or are they injured - physically, that is?
Thank you for your good work in a world which knows little kindness.
Before the American invasion, was there talk in Irak of somehow getting Sadaam Hussein out of power, Maryam?
Maryam - one thing that is of particular concern I hear is the lack of clean water. Are you able to access water for the children you care for?
In the days of Saddam, all Americans felt that the Iraqi people were good, and the Iraqi government was bad. Is there a similar feeling in Iraq about the American people and our government?
Maryam, have you ever been in touch with Jon Powers and his ‘War Kids Relief’ org? Here’s a link that might be mutually beneficial!
http://www.warkidsrelief.org/
Hi, Maryam, welcome!!
We get so little truth from our government on the situation in Iraq. Is there a full blown civil war there?
BigMitch @ 37
Are you a just a hopeless optimist?
althespook @ 11
AK, I had a comment for you below in epu land. I’m curious about your feelings.
I can be reached at clichy at mac dot com
Stop telling lies to yourself American. We know that your racist brutal murdering war criminal troops came from your society and reflect its values. we know that because we see how they behave and have to bury their victims. If you are stupid enough to think we feel anything but hatred and contrempt for your soldiers and the country that sent them to make war on my people then you are a fool.
As to Saddam bad though he was your country is far worse.
I have a couple of questions.
Why the difference in spelling of ‘Iraq’ as “Irak”?
And at the website linked via your name, is there a story behind that byline? I mean - Jezzus, that’s quit a vicious statement directed at an innocent people, and shows a phenomenal lack of compassion and ignorance.
My army major efriend sent me notice of and essay contest sponsored by their Combat Terrorism Center at West Point. The Q is: How can the U.S. credibly and ethically deter adherents of extremist religious ideologies from engaging in terrorist activity?
I thought you’d enjoy what I wrote in the war of ideas section, which is oh so on point with this topic:
Maryam there are gentle people in this country. There are kind people who do not hate. I am so sorry that these are not the ones you have met so far. But I understand the nature of your anger.
Maryam @ 43
Oh-oh….so I take it, Maryam, that you won’t treat us with kid gloves, then? We’ll be learning your truth.
james @ 42
james, sorry I’m running both threads at once. Please see my 198 on last thread for my feelings. bottom line, we got much worse to worry about than blackwater.
Maryam: Thank you for being here tonight.
Wordsmith - Maryam has seen and experienced all that our country has done to her and her country.
I don’t think you have kid gloves left after you try to save and too often have to bury the children bombed by our forces.
Irak is a better transliteration. The quote you are referring to is this:
And is from a senior American officer. It is a perfect example of how your troops regard us. Which is why we highlight it.
As to Saddam bad though he was your country is far worse.
Some in our country are, this is true. This evening you are speaking with Americans who care very deeply about your people and about holding those in our government accountable.
How close is this getting to Stalingrad during WWII, I wonder, for the Iraqi people in Baghdad (the extreme heat obviously substituting for the Russian winter’s cold).
From a frontline (outside the Green Zone) FOB-stationed American soldier in Baghdad:
And (in response to a comment):
http://strypgia.livejournal.com/32324.html
Only $400,000 for this? Gosh…would have thought this was worth at least $8 to $10 million to find out.
So the way forward for Americans in Iraq and the greater ME is through ‘rebranding’?
Hmmm…such American profoundity astounds.
This does open to some inanity however…
For starters…”It’s not just Imperialism…it is AMERICAN Imperialism” or how about “We are the “Good Guys” Iraq—it’s the GOOD GUYS bombing and killing you—so it’s ALL GOOD”…
or…
This one harks back to 1957 and the Chrysler Corporations classis car ad…”Suddenly…it’s 1960″…instead go with “Suddenly…it’s 1984″
Well…the idea that the Americans only need to ‘rebrand’ for more success in Iraq or the ME by means of a new slogan or “image” is pretty stupid.
But being stupid is the core American ME strategy is it not?
So how about this catchy rebranding…
“We may be stupid…Get use to it”
My comment appears to have vanished.
odd mommy-left you a comment at 195 and 198 in last thread…….
hi siun, now to read your post…..as you already know, love your writing and your references which are always worth following ….
i was epu’d…….been catching up all day………..i am almost on time now.
(althspook and James - if you have a conversation going on the last thread, perhaps you could finish it there - it is enough that we ask Maryam so many questions in the dead of night (and I hope someone is keeping the coffee brewing!) without her also having to sort through other discussions)
Maryam @ 54
This happens sometimes. The mods will find it,
If I were an Iraqi my thinking might go something like this. President Bush is doing these atrocities in my country. And the American people elected this man not once, but twice.
Siun @ 50
Nope - I certainly would not expect her to and personally, I think it’s nonsenical to think otherwise.
Maryam @ 43
Thanks for telling it like it is. I get so sick of everyone here treating the U.S. troops as though they’re so wonderful and thankingthem for their service. Soldiers are trained to kill, and in the hopeless environment they’re in, they behave very brutally. I don’t know why that isn’t completely obvious to everyone here, but it isn’t and I’m glad you said it in words of one syllable.
You are also right that U.S. soldiers come directly out of U.S. culture. There are many wonderful peeople in the United States, but the militaristic culture of the country makes many into uncaring brutes.
here’s the real problem with rebranding that this advertising firm doesn’t understand;
the very purpose of our invasion was to CREATE unrest, the very purpose was to destabalize the middle east, they deliberately set these wheels in motion, they tossed out every plan from our strategists, they deliberately undermanned and under equipped our forces
they deliberately allowed the standing police force to disband without jobs and with their weapons
they deliberately left the cache of ordinance unprotected
they deliberately allowed the oil fields to go attacked, they deliberately allowed the water systems be ruined
there is no “rebramding”
this president is a dispensationalist and thinks armageddon is a GOOD thing
they DON’T want a stabalized infrasturcture, they DON’T want a free flow of petroleum and they DON’T want a democracy
they’ve done everything in their power to make sure this occupation failed
rebranding?
not so much
Siun @ 56
absolutely. that’s why I’m only posting there right now. don’t think there’s much I can do to help Maryam beyond that.
hard to see what does “rebranding” does for an orphan or a widow or maimed bomb victim…
TexB @ 46
I was walking in Paris with my then 7 year old son two days before we invaded Iraq.
The magazines like Paris Match and other picture zines had pictures of Tommy Franks with a sneer on his face pointing his finger at the world; a US Marine running with a cheek full of tobacco and a snarl with an M-16 at the ready.
This was how the world saw us then, it’s how the world sees us now.
I was in Romania while Rummy was doing one of his grand tours of the countries we were trying to recruit with dollars and the people I met there wanted to know why the Americans put up with this. My Russian friends ask me why we allow these criminals to ruin our country.
My point is that the rest of the world could give a shit how many gentle American there are. In their minds the US stands for something other than renditions and assassinations and GITMO and leaders who defy the constitution.
There is more respect for the rule of law in places like Romania, Russia, Turkey, Ukraine, and other countries most Americans would consider armpits of the world than there is here in the United States, not the fucking motherland, or the homeland, the united States of America.
If the Democrats want to do something constructive they can start using the terms United States and country in place of homeland whenever they give speeches.
I’m tired of listening to fascist newspeak in this country.
siun-what has become of the world of thinking people that we need to bring in opinion makers to tell us how to handle certain situations?
that thinking is being farmed out, that facing a situation has to be passed off to a contractor to tell us what we should feel and do in a given situation? ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh………it burns me………..cuz i feel so deeply, i can’t imagine farming that out…………………
Maryam @ 43
Dang, Ma’am! You paint with mighty broad paint strokes! I fully empathize with you and I know that we here at the lake share the same sentiments! We sincerely regret the war crimes committed in our name, yet, you must realize that many Americans do not condone it! I’m a twenty yr Vet, I would not have committed, in fact I would have reported such atrocities if they occurred within my purview!!!
Siun @ 57
Sorry, I just tried to alert AK there was something for him in another place. Didn’t mean to distract.
Maryam @ 43
This comment has changed my entire outlook on an important issue. I now believe we need a draft.
I know that American values are not racist, brutal, murderous, or criminal, though clearly there are those among us who have those traits. Even most people who support this war (and I doubt any are to be found here) believe they are helping everyday Iraqis.
We Americans are shocked when we here instances of rascist, brutal, criminal conduct. Our government makes every effort to shield us from knowing about them, including criminal conduct of its own.
Those of us who hate this war, hate it precisely because of the conduct you describe. And that is 70% of the people in America.
james @ 64
…..The magazines like Paris Match and other picture zines had pictures of Tommy Franks with a sneer on his face pointing his finger at the world; a US Marine running with a cheek full of tobacco and a snarl with an M-16 at the ready.
This was how the world saw us then, it’s how the world sees us now……
There is more respect for the rule of law in places like Romania, Russia, Turkey, Ukraine, and other countries most Americans would consider armpits of the world than there is here in the United States, not the fucking motherland, or the homeland, the united States of America.
If the Democrats want to do something constructive they can start using the terms United States and country in place of homeland whenever they give speeches.
I’m tired of listening to fascist newspeak in this country.
Here! Here! That crap is straight out of the ‘Primer on Nazism, Facism, and 1984.’
what we need to do is rebrand “getting the frig out if Iraq”
something along the lines of
“HEY, MORONS, THEY DON’T WANT US THERE, WE DON’T HAVE ENOUGH MEN, WE DON’T HAVE ENOUGH EQUIPTMENT AND WE DON’T HAVE THE RESOURCES”
that would be excellant rebranding
Wordsmith — the last letter in Iraq (Irak) expresses to a phoneme which does not exist in English.
As I am an Iraki and as my job is to treat children maimed and deformed by the weapons your country uses and then prevented me from getting the medicines used to treat those cancers you will forgive me if I tell you that you too are telling lies to yourself. What we konw is that when it comes murdering Iraki civilians that there is no difference between the cynical and corrupt party called the Democrats and the cynical and corrupt party called the Republicans. Both are infected with the belief that America has the right to behave as it wishes especially when the people being killed are not white.
I used to think that in my old naive days. I don’t believe it at all anymore.
dmac @ 66
What burns is that this makes it so very clear that this admin and its enablers are all about manipulating the American People, and the world, rather than actually working toward any of the ideals they hide behind.
Rebrand all you want, Theocons. You keep making it clearer and clearer that you have NOTHING to sell.
Diva
Maryam. My 12 year old son wants to know if kids his age are still able to go to school in Iraq or if it is now too dangerous.
Maryam -
Do most Irakis you know expect an increase, a decrease, or no change in the level of violence inside Iraq, once Americans have completely pulled out of their country?
Will Kurd, Shi’ite, and Sunni be able to live together again in peace with the occupying American army gone?
“Rebranding” is like enrolling for a class in First Aid, while on the street lie people who have been bombed, burned, hurt in horrile ways. It is unspeakable to say, “Have a Coke and a Smile.”
(Maryam’s missing comment is at #51 - one word triggered the autofilter - thank you to our mods for taking care of it right away!)
pow wow @ 77
I don’t think they lived in peace before. If they weren’t fighting each other it’s because Saddam enforced some semblance of order.
And Saddam was no friend of the Kurds or the Shia.
Please tell us more about the cancers, the types and who is affected. I have wondered about this, as there are allusions to radioactive waste in (very few) reports in the media. How many people have been affected? How have you been prevented from having access to medications, and is this still going on? Besides donations to the Red Crescent, what types of concrete assistance would be helpful to you and your colleagues?
The Republicans: The party of privilege, propaganda and pardons.
There’s yer re-branding.
Maryam @ 73
Whew! I’m beginning to feel radical. America. Get out of Iraq. Charge George Bush and the rest with crimes against humanity. And upon their conviction, sentence them to the harshest penalty possible.
dmac @ 56
thanks dmac — left response at 211.
Maryam @ 72
There is a great deal of truth in that, Maryam. But the Corrupt Party called the Republicans and the Corrupt Party called the Democrats are not the same as All American People. *No more than all Iraki shi’a muslims believe in murdering all of their sunni neighbors. No more than all Iraki sunni muslims believe in murdering all of their shi’a neighbors. No more than all Iraki Muslims believe in murdering all of their dhimmi neighbors.
Or am I telling myself a lie about the basic decency of most Irakis?
Diva
*corrected this to be clearer.
I know some of the readers here are from Michigan so I hope you don’t mind me posting this article from a blog on Reuters web site. It’s concerning pollutants getting dumped into Lake Michigan’s fresh water from BP’s expansion of oil refinary in Indiana.
…The massive BP oil refinery in Whiting, Ind., is planning to dump significantly more ammonia and industrial sludge into Lake Michigan, running counter to years of efforts to clean up the Great Lakes.
Indiana regulators exempted BP from state environmental laws to clear the way for a $3.8 billion expansion that will allow the company to refine heavier Canadian crude oil. They justified the move in part by noting the project will create 80 new jobs.
Under BP’s new state water permit, the refinery — already one of the largest polluters along the Great Lakes — can release 54 percent more ammonia and 35 percent more sludge into Lake Michigan each day. Ammonia promotes algae blooms that can kill fish, while sludge is full of concentrated heavy metals.
What a way to create 80 jobs!
The story, which was the first indication that Chicago city officials were given about the situation, continues:
BP, which aggressively markets itself as an environmentally friendly corporation, is investing heavily in Canadian crude oil to reduce its reliance on sources in the Middle East. Extracting petroleum from the thick goop is a dirtier process than conventional methods. It also requires more energy that could significantly increase greenhouse gases linked to global warming.
…
Now, congresspeople from the area are asking the EPA why they allowed this, including a Republican Congressman who said, “In my book, BP, which tries to market itself as an environmentally friendly company, now stands for ‘Bad Pollution.’”
Chicago city officials are exploring legal options and will meet with BP officials, who are gearing up a PR counter campaign. The Chicago Parks Commission will be soliciting petition signatures in the popular lakeshore region this weekend.
What I’m wondering is, why has BP been dumping 21 million gallons of waste in Lake Michigan even before this? Why is there a huge refinery near Chicago? The Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago recently opened an exhibit about “The City of the Future,” and a team from the University of Illinois put together a presentation claiming that as we move deeper into the 21st century, fresh water will become more and more important. The Great Lakes will be one of our greatest resources, and currently hold 90 percent of North America’s surface fresh water and 20 percent of the entire planet’s.
Isn’t water more important than gasoline?
MOD note: Welcome Sunshine. We removed your comment from the thread while a live guest was present.
1) It depends on where they live and on whether there are teachers.
2) Given that more than 90% of all attacks are against American and green zone government troops you should be capable of working that out for yourself. :-)
pow wow @ 77
Unfair Q. Remember the principle of path dependence. The U.S. invasion of Iraq launched a disastrous change that will play out in horrific ways regardless of what the U.S. does now.
maryam at 43 says-”Stop telling lies to yourself American. We know that your racist brutal murdering war criminal troops came from your society and reflect its values. we know that because we see how they behave and have to bury their victims. If you are stupid enough to think we feel anything but hatred and contrempt for your soldiers and the country that sent them to make war on my people then you are a fool.
As to Saddam bad though he was your country is far worse.”
hate to tell you, but most of us wish it never would have happened, fought for it not to happen, that we would take you all into our arms and rock you until you fell asleep, that we would feed you, clothe you, and support you in whatever you need at great expense to ourselves……….that what you are seeing in your country is not what we, in america, offer you…….and that we are doing our best to change what is happening there, commited in our name, that we do not agree with……….
and donating to red crescent is something we do to show you that…….not enough, i know, but true to its core………..
Just a quick comment to say “THANK YOU” to Maryam, and to let her know that my prayers are with her.
That may be, eCAHN @ 88, but I’d like to allow this Iraki to have her say about the future of her country, as she sees it (I’m not trying to answer the questions by asking them).
Wrong we lived in peace for centuries.
So how came it that 60% of the officer corps was Shia? Saddam was brutal in his response to rebellion. He did not particularly care which sect you were a member of what he was interested in was whether you were loyal to him or not.
Incidentaly, Maryam, most of the people here don’t believe that Bush was elected. Though I am not a designated spokesperson, I would guess that most of us feel that the election of 2000 was stolen, and whether or not the election of 2004 was stolen, nobody doubts that George W. Bush would not have been a candidate if he hadn’t stolen the 2000 election.
In America you sometimes see bumperstickers, that say “Don’t blame me. I voted for (insert name of local losing politician.) I wish we had a bumper sticker which said, “Don’t blame America. We voted for Gore.”
Believe me. This war would have never happened if Gore had been elected.
pow wow @ 90