The NY Times and others published fake news stories claiming Iraq had WMDs in 2002, and the public mostly believed it. Propaganda works more than one might think.
The NY Times and others published fake news stories claiming Iraq had WMDs in 2002, and the public mostly believed it. Propaganda works more than one might think.
Thank you for your comment. However, I don't think this is a good example, for three reasons. 1) the public probably had a decently high prior that Saddam Hussein, all around bad guy, would have wanted to develop WMD, and would have potentially succeeded 2) many members of the public were likely happy to have a reason for the US to wage this war anyway 3) the NYT is a very good source of information, with very few factually false claims, as far as I can tell. So people quite rationally accepted a piece of information, that likely didn't have much influence.
I left out a few facts. The US made nerve gas in large quantities in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. The USSR made large quantities of nerve gas (somewhere). Nerve gas was actually invented by the Germans, but they never used it. There is a claim that nerve gas was used in the Yemen civil war in the 1960s.. There is a claim that Iran made and used chemical weapons in the Iraq/Iran war as retaliation against Iraq. A cult in Japan made nerve gas in small quantities (but still deadly).
"would have potentially succeeded" uses the wrong tense. Saddam succeeded long before the US invaded Iraq. Saddam tried to buy "pesticide" plants from the US. The American companies (correctly) suspected that Saddam intended to make nerve gas. The Germans were not so fastidious. Here is a tragic note (among many). Some of the nerve gas plants were built in Fallujah. Yes, that Fallujah.
By 2001, Iraq had a long record of making and using WMDs. Beyond that, most Iraqi's believed that Iraq had WMDs. After the war, many Iraqi generals were asked about WMDs. They all said "I don't have any chemical weapons, but the other generals do". Believing that Iraq had chemical weapons, wasn't some triumph of propaganda. It was based on a hard reality and history of Iraqi WMD manufacture and use. Even more seriously, Iraq (like Iran today) was getting nuclear weapons.
The NY Times and others published fake news stories claiming Iraq had WMDs in 2002, and the public mostly believed it. Propaganda works more than one might think.
Thank you for your comment. However, I don't think this is a good example, for three reasons. 1) the public probably had a decently high prior that Saddam Hussein, all around bad guy, would have wanted to develop WMD, and would have potentially succeeded 2) many members of the public were likely happy to have a reason for the US to wage this war anyway 3) the NYT is a very good source of information, with very few factually false claims, as far as I can tell. So people quite rationally accepted a piece of information, that likely didn't have much influence.
I left out a few facts. The US made nerve gas in large quantities in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. The USSR made large quantities of nerve gas (somewhere). Nerve gas was actually invented by the Germans, but they never used it. There is a claim that nerve gas was used in the Yemen civil war in the 1960s.. There is a claim that Iran made and used chemical weapons in the Iraq/Iran war as retaliation against Iraq. A cult in Japan made nerve gas in small quantities (but still deadly).
"would have potentially succeeded" uses the wrong tense. Saddam succeeded long before the US invaded Iraq. Saddam tried to buy "pesticide" plants from the US. The American companies (correctly) suspected that Saddam intended to make nerve gas. The Germans were not so fastidious. Here is a tragic note (among many). Some of the nerve gas plants were built in Fallujah. Yes, that Fallujah.
Not to mention they now seem to regurgitate uncritically everything the Ukrainian government says about the war.
By 2001, Iraq had a long record of making and using WMDs. Beyond that, most Iraqi's believed that Iraq had WMDs. After the war, many Iraqi generals were asked about WMDs. They all said "I don't have any chemical weapons, but the other generals do". Believing that Iraq had chemical weapons, wasn't some triumph of propaganda. It was based on a hard reality and history of Iraqi WMD manufacture and use. Even more seriously, Iraq (like Iran today) was getting nuclear weapons.