9/11 and the Art of Distraction

Written by Ahmad Ashiqilahi

As my local newspaper dropped through the letter box, I was struck by the different colours that presented themselves – was this a new entrant to the local newspaper offering? On closer inspection, it became clear that this was the same local newspaper but the cover pages were dedicated to a full spread advertisement. Flicking through the "newspaper" it was difficult to find a single page which was not selling a product or service.

This mix of advertising and local news, while annoying, seemed fair. Advertisements were clearly selling a service or product. What is worrying, however, is the constant and deliberate manipulation of "news" to sell ideologies. This hidden marketing is designed by a minority of the population to benefit that same minority group. The bill for this marketing drive, however, is picked up by the average tax payer.

This point is well made in a recent article by Vijay Prashad, Director of International Studies at Trinity College, Hartford. While readers can find the full detail in the article, it is worth highlighting pertinent points here.

The events of 9/11 provided the opportune moment for the Bush administration to pursue the ideology designed when out of power, namely, The Project for the New American Century (1997 – 2006).  The Project is not shy about the premise on which it is built:

"The Project for the New American Century is ... dedicated to a few fundamental propositions: that American leadership is good both for America and for the world; and that such leadership requires military strength, diplomatic energy and commitment to moral principle."

How their fundamental proposition would be achieved was expanded on in their report Rebuilding America’s Defenses (September 2000). The report argued for a sharp increase in military spending in order that U.S. military power may be used to capture political and physical resources around the world. Why was this needed? As there was a risk that The American Century would be undermined by global government (the United Nations and the World Trade Organisation) and developing powers (namely, China).

Had this report been an extract from the next Harry Potter novel, one would be turning the page with nervous anticipation. However, the document pages of history leave one with quite a different, sickly feeling.

As Bush took control of America, he was quick to appoint the engineers of The Project for the New American Century into his administration. While the supporters of The Project were bold in their views, they were also acutely aware that if they were to realise these aims they would need a strong marketing plan to ensure the masses stayed on side. Did someone say 9/11?

The events of 9/11 were leveraged by the Bush administration to full effect. Marketing gurus would be impressed by how the marketing channel of “news” was used to convince billions around the world of the legitimacy of what was to follow. The U.S was positioned as an innocent bystander attacked by blood-hungry Islamists. The history of U.S atrocities was sidelined to such an extent that anyone mentioning this as a possible reason for the attack was jumped on. Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, 9/11 became the distraction whenever uncomfortable information slipped through the tightly controlled media network.

But this article is not just about what has happened. The tragedy of events, caused by the decisions of a selfish minority, are not limited to the millions killed in Iraq or the starving orphans of Afghanistan.

Embarking on military invasions around the world in order to spread American ideology is not cheap. The financial implications of the wild decisions made by this minority group are now becoming clear. As Prashad puts it:

"... the U.S. had to borrow massively to fund the expansion of its military and its use of that military. Between September 11, 2001, and May 2011, the National Priorities Project shows, the U.S. exchequer spent $7.6 trillion in defense and homeland security. This figure is bewildering. The combination of this military spending, the Bush cuts on taxes for the wealthy, the bursting of the asset bubbles (real estate prices) as well as the tremors in Wall Street’s financial casino set the U.S. Treasury into a downward spiral."

And it is the average person on the street who is picking up the bill - not the minority group supporting The Project for the New American Century. The Census Bureau announced in mid-September that there are now 46.2 million people living under the poverty line in America, that is one in six, the highest figure since 1983. Twenty-two per cent of the children in the U.S. live under the poverty line – the highest figure since 1962. Why are these facts not making headline news on a regular basis? Where is the journalistic contribution to address this issue affecting millions of the domestic population of the U.S?

It is clearly time for the events of 9/11 to stop being used as the distraction while the masses are robbed from multiple directions.