September 19, 2007


Iran War Propaganda

On September 4, 2007

The Columbus Dispatch portrayed 70 million Iranians as cockroaches.

Read the original educational piece.


Fair Use Title 17 Secton 107 non-profit educational use.

The classic formula for propaganda to lead to a massacre has two parts. The first is that the enemy is inherently evil. This is communicated by asserting they are demonic, fascist, fundamentalist, etc. Second, this evil state is eternal. This is accomplished by destroying hope by reiterating the message that the "enemy" has always been and always will be "evil," two words that close off analysis and diplomacy.

We have seen cockroach war propaganda in Nazi Germany and many other times in history. To highlight one, in 1993 the Hutu newspaper Kangura published an article titled "A cockroach cannot give birth to a butterfly." Cockroaches are the mental image for inherent evil, an eternal state, and hopelessness because a cockroach gives birth to a cockroach and always will.

What can you do? Don't be fooled by war propaganda. Read the Iran war timeline at www.teachpeace.com/Iran.pdf to learn how we can still prevent an attack on Iran.

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