Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Public relations preparations for 2003 invasion of Iraq


 * The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review).  No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was   no consensus. Discuss a merge in the talk page. Secret account 04:37, 18 March 2013 (UTC)

Public relations preparations for 2003 invasion of Iraq

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WP:FRINGE, WP:UNDUE, or WP:NPOV take your pick. Anything salvageable should be merged to the main articles. Gaijin42 (talk) 15:23, 11 March 2013 (UTC)


 * Keep. First a procedural note: The article was inappropriately cut down before this deletion notification. In its present state it makes little sense. This is a previous version in which it becomes clear why this topic is so important, and that it is composed of a number of highly notable incidents. The PR stunts were highly successful. As the article said before today's manipulation: "The U.S. government's public relations campaign was largely successful in getting the American public to accept false beliefs to support the war. Approximately 70% of Americans believe that Saddam Hussein had a role in the 9/11 attacks, even though the Bush administration and congressional investigators say they have no evidence of this. [5] As late as 2006, 85% of U.S. troops in Iraq said the U.S. mission was mainly 'to retaliate for Saddam's role in the 9-11 attacks.'" Maybe the scope should be widened, as the manipulations of international public opinion continued during the war, e.g. with the infamous invention of embedded journalism. Hans Adler 15:34, 11 March 2013 (UTC)
 * There are sources of the highest quality for the topic of this article:
 * "This paper examines the influence of American public opinion towards Iraq on the administration of George W. Bush from September 11, 2001 to the start of the war on March 19, 2003. [...] [The administration] attempted to persuade public opinion to support the use of force in Iraq, principally by using references to weapons of mass destruction to prime public opinion. Second, it suggests that the administration accurately perceived the dimensions of domestic public opinion. And third, it shows that its leadership efforts did not dramatically change public attitudes on the desirability of war although it did appear to affect public perceptions of whether the administration had ‘explained’ its position. It concludes that if the administration successfully ‘led’; the public to war, it did so in large part because, after September 11, the public favored such a war. Public opinion also caused the Congress to support the Bush administration's position." - Douglas C. Foyle, Leading the Public To War? The Influence of American Public Opinion on the Bush Administration's Decision to go to War in Iraq, International Journal of Public Opinion Research.
 * Jon Western, Selling Intervention and War: The Presidency, the Media, and the American Public, Johns Hopkins University Press, has an entire chapter (45 pages) on the PR for the Iraq War.
 * "Techniques of public relations and propaganda were an essential part of the 2003 war in Iraq. The government framed the issues, story line, and slogans to serve its purposes. Embedding journalists, staging showy briefings, emphasizing visual and electronic media, and making good television out of it were all important to fighting the war. Propaganda of all shades was evident, and the trend toward deception in the future is likely to continue, since the current administration succeeded to such a large extent with its own electorate. But while it seemed to win the public relations war at home, it probably lost it abroad. All strategies at the White House and Pentagon seem designed for more public relations and propaganda in future wars. The government will have to keep wars short, at least somewhat clean, and to give the impression at least of some transparency, lest the public will to fight withers, as it did in Vietnam." - Ray Eldon Hiebert, Public relations and propaganda in framing the Iraq war: a preliminary review, Public Relations Review.
 * It may not be apparent to Americans, who get their information filtered through American media, but objective information about the US government's propaganda is neither fringe nor in any other way biased or surprising. These sources are all of the highest quality imaginable for such a topic. They are scholarly articles. Hans Adler 15:54, 11 March 2013 (UTC)
 * Note: This debate has been included in the list of Iraq-related deletion discussions. • Gene93k (talk) 16:06, 11 March 2013 (UTC)
 * Note: This debate has been included in the list of United States of America-related deletion discussions. • Gene93k (talk) 16:06, 11 March 2013 (UTC)
 * Note: This debate has been included in the list of Military-related deletion discussions. • Gene93k (talk) 16:06, 11 March 2013 (UTC)
 * Note: This debate has been included in the list of Politics-related deletion discussions. • Gene93k (talk) 16:06, 11 March 2013 (UTC)


 * Strong Keep This is a very strange nomination. It's far more than Mr Adler says, that there are scholarly sources available. It is that the war was launched on an untrue basis, founded on some extremely shaky intelligence, and seemingly thought of well before the casus belli (WMD) was chosen. Whether one decides to personally believe it or not, there are credible arguments to suggest that thinktanks such as the Project for a New American Century, as well as senior individuals such as Cheney and Wolfowitz were promoting this idea well before the ostensible rationale (WMD) was chosen. The truth has yet to finally emerge, and Wikipedia would be acting against its mission if it suppressed this article. Buckshot06 (talk) 17:56, 11 March 2013 (UTC)
 * Summarize, Merge, & Redirect to Iraq War. Reads like an essay. There maybe sufficient reliable sources that discuss this subject, however it is directly related to the article Iraq War and falls under its scope. If that article is too large this article can always be recreated and spun out.--RightCowLeftCoast (talk) 19:33, 11 March 2013 (UTC)
 * Delete & Merge The subject matter is already covered in relevant articles. Anything worthwhile in this article should be folded in with the rest.  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 216.190.113.66 (talk) 21:01, 11 March 2013 (UTC)
 * Delete and possibly merge any salvageable material into Iraq War. POV fork and essay apply.  --DHeyward (talk) 21:24, 11 March 2013 (UTC)


 * Keep I agree with Buckshot that this is a significant and notable topic which deserves an article (many very serious books provide coverage of the efforts to 'sell' the case for war, especially outside the US). While there isn't much here to save in the article's current form, I also agree that the earlier versions of the article appear to provide a potentially useful basis for further development (though all the editorializing would need to be stripped out). Nick-D (talk) 10:44, 12 March 2013 (UTC)
 * Merge I fail to see how this can stand on it's own in an encyclopedic state. It's far better and makes more sense to merge it into the article on the invasion itself as it represents a part of it in effect. BerleT (talk) 22:46, 12 March 2013 (UTC)
 * Merge to Rationale for the Iraq War. No practical need for separate article here.--Staberinde (talk) 13:42, 16 March 2013 (UTC)


 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.