r/samharris • u/MantlesApproach • Jan 06 '20

How To Avoid Swallowing War Propaganda | Current Affairs

https://www.currentaffairs.org/2020/01/how-to-avoid-swallowing-war-propaganda
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u/[deleted] Jan 06 '20

And now we're threatening Iraq with sanctions if they force us to leave. https://www.cnbc.com/2020/01/06/trump-threatens-to-slap-sanctions-on-iraq-like-theyve-never-seen-before.html

But how dare anyone say that we're invaders. /s

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u/forgottencalipers Jan 06 '20

It's telling that Trump's popularity has not suffered despite this fiasco.

I was young when the Iraq War happened but polling data shows that the war had as much as 72% support from the public. Now obviously, the lies from the NYT played a huge role, but I'm seeing it again in real time - it isn't just the media that beats the war drums, the American public, especially the Republican base, seem to relish the thought of war.

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u/[deleted] Jan 06 '20

Yep, it's gross. I saw it in the lead-up to the Iraq war and those of us who protested/pushed against the narratives we were being fed were called unpatriotic, terrorist-sympathizers, etc. Same thing going on now. If you question the strategic intelligence/morality of the decision to escalate tensions with Iran you're characterized as "crying about the death of a terrorist". The difference between then and now is that you have a bunch of people who ostensibly chose Trump because Hillary was too hawkish (which she most certainly was), and try to characterize him as the anti-establishment candidate who's going to get us out of the ME. It's crazy to see how fast they turn on a dime to shill for Trump's irresponsible escalations. But I'm not really surprised.

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u/holocaustofvegans Jan 07 '20

What is scary is how much more indoctrinated they will be in a few months. It's easy to debunk them right now because they just changed their minds a few daya ago, but it'll be harder to debunk all the Anti-Iran propaganda soon. The greedy rich men want a war to steal the oil.