Truth in War Depends on Which Side is Telling Story
JUDY WOODRUFF, CNN ANCHOR: Finding out the truth in a war is often a difficult task at best. We certainly have seen that in the conflicting information coming out of Iraq. As CNN's senior analyst Jeff Greenfield reports, truth in war has always depended on which side is telling the story.</s>MOHAMMED SAEED AL-SAHAF, IRAQI INFORMATION MINISTER (through translator): Americans are not there in Baghdad. There are no troops there. Never.</s>JEFF GREENFIELD, CNN SR. ANALYST (voice-over): It's easy to label the comments of Iraq's minister as propaganda. You just have to match his words with these pictures.</s>VICTORIA CLARKE, PENTAGON SPOKESWOMAN: Good afternoon, everybody.</s>GREENFIELD: But is this propaganda?</s>CLARKE: We are going to show you a couple of clips here.</s>GREENFIELD: These video clips from Iraqi civilians talking about the horrors of life under Saddam Hussein were real.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They used to make me walk on broken glass.</s>GREENFIELD: But they were also propaganda weapons in the war of ideas. A war that has often been as critical as any military engagement.</s>ANNOUNCER: Poison gas and flame flame-throwers...</s>GREENFIELD: All through World War I, British and American papers carried stories of horrific German atrocities: killing babies, mutilating women. They were almost completely false. But as one British General said back then, "To make armies go on killing one another, it is necessary to invent lies about the enemy."</s>ANNOUNCER: If you are Japanese...</s>GREENFIELD: Throughout World War II, the Office of War Information enlisted filmmakers like Frank Capra. He made "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" to explain the war to America's military. For their part, access (ph) powers also tried to talk to American GIs via the radio with American-born voices. The Japanese, for example, had Tokyo Rose. After September 11th, with much attention focused on anti-American sentiments in the Muslim world, advertising executive Charlotte Beers was recruited to develop a public relations campaign. It featured American Muslims talking about their lives in the United States.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have co-workers who are Jewish, who are Christian...</s>GREENFIELD: Those weren't made up pictures or actors. They are real people, as are these images of friendly GIs and celebrating Iraqis. But so are these pictures of civilian casualties in Iraq. As portrayed on many Iraqi TV outlets, it is these images that are offered as the central reality of this war. (on camera): And if those civilian casualties become the focus of the Arab world, military victory will not bring with it the political result the United States is seeking. Just one more reason why this battle to define reality can be as critical as any military campaign. Jeff Greenfield, CNN, New York.