eBook

Selling War

STEVEN J. ALVAREZ

2016

Overview

In the spring of 2004, army reservist and public affairs officer Steven J. Alvarez waited to be called up as the U.S. military stormed Baghdad and deposed Saddam Hussein. But soon after President Bush's famous PR stunt in which an aircraft carrier displayed the banner \"Mission Accomplished,\" the dynamics of the war shifted.Selling Warrecounts how the U.S. military lost the information war in Iraq by engaging the wrong audiences-that is, the Western media-by ignoring Iraqi citizens and the wider Arab population, and by paying mere lip service to the directive to \"Put an Iraqi face on everything.\" In the absence of effective communication from the U.S. military, the information void was swiftly filled by Al Qaeda and, eventually, ISIS. As a result, efforts to create and maintain a successful, stable country were complicated and eventually frustrated.Alvarez couples his experiences as a public affairs officer in Iraq with extensive research on communication and government relations to expose why communications failed and led to the breakdown on the ground. A revealing glimpse into the inner workings of the military's PR machine, where personnel become stewards of presidential legacies and keepers of flawed policies,Selling Warprovides a critical review of the outdated communication strategies executed in Iraq. Alvarez's candid account demonstrates how a fundamental lack of understanding about how to wage an information war has led to the conditions we face now: the rise of ISIS and the return of U.S. forces to Iraq.

• Publisher: Potomac Books,University of Nebraska Press,Potomac Books, Incorporated
• Subject: 21st century / Alvarez, Steven J / Armed Forces / Army Reserve / Biography / Communication in politics / Communication in politics -- United States -- History -- 21st century / Communication Policy / History / Information warfare / Information warfare -- Iraq -- History -- 21st century / Information warfare -- United States -- History -- 21st century / Iraq / Iraq War, 2003-2011 / Iraq War, 2003-2011 -- Political aspects -- United States / Iraq War, 2003-2011 -- Public opinion / Mass media / Mass media -- Political aspects -- United States -- History -- 21st century / Middle Eastern / Officers / Political aspects / POLITICAL SCIENCE / Public opinion / Public Policy / Public relations / Public relations and politics / Public relations and politics -- United States -- History -- 21st century / United States / United States -- Armed Forces -- Public relations -- History -- 21st century / United States. Army Reserve / United States. Army Reserve -- Officers -- Biography / World
• ISBN: 161234772X, 9781612347721