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August 08, 2003

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Former Vice President Al Gore blasted the Bush administration’s handling of the war on Iraq and domestic economic policy, saying, "something pretty basic has gone wrong in our country."

Gore, addressing over 600 people at a Moveon.org event at NYU yesterday, said the Bush administration’s routine disregard for public debate stifled the truth and misled the public on the threat posed by Saddam Hussein as well as on domestic issues ranging from the tax cuts to the environment.

Gores said that President Bush and his cohorts in Washington have "developed a highly effective propaganda machine" to push policies in Iraq and in the U.S. that favor friends and supporters at the expense of the public interest

Well, a recently published book takes a closer look at Washington’s propaganda machine.

Weapons of Mass Deception: The Uses of Propaganda in Bush’ War on Iraq examines how the Bush administration created a "show war" through the use of propaganda, lies, half-truths and Hollywood imaging techniques.

Weapons of Mass Deception reveals–headline by headline, news show by news show, press conference by press conference–the deliberate, aggressive, and highly successful public relations campaign that sold the Iraqi war to the American public.

• John Stauber, co-author of the new book Weapons of Mass Deception. He is the founder and executive director of the Center for Media & Democracy which publishes the news magazine PR Watch.
• Sheldon Rampton, co-author of Weapons Mass Deception and PR Watch Editor