Operation Desert Storm: Government Restricted Media
Nate Clemens
Mrs. Jaeger Hr. 5
2/6/15
Oral History Research Paper
Government Restricted Media During Operation Desert Storm, TV networks were showing precision bombing being done from miles away, taking out the enemy. The war was described as “cities like Baghdad getting shelled from miles and miles away” (T. Clemens). In reality, 90 percent of the bombing done was unguided “dumb” bombs dropped from planes above the target. If the public had been told this during the war, there more than likely would have been an addition Woodstock from viewpoints such as “it would [not] be a very good choice at all, it’s a bad idea” (J. Clemens). The U.S. government limited and required the media to only report certain things in Desert Storm. This …show more content…
The Iraqi government, led by Saddam Hussein, had invaded Kuwait. Kuwait is a large exporter of oil to the US so naturally everyone in the country was wary. Another concern was that Iraq’s troops might continue on into Saudi Arabia. If it had come to this, Iraq would have been controlling 1/5 of the world’s oil (ushistory.org). President Bush counteracted by setting up troops all along the border of Saudi Arabia so that it couldn’t be taken over. To go farther, “Bush, remembering the lessons of Vietnam, sought public support” (ushistory.org). He found the way of doing this by using the media to persuade the country with facts that weren’t entirely true. After this Desert Storm had officially started, the military along with other UN countries took part in bombings that targeted places that the public was told were Iraqi government and military bases. A little longer than a month after that the US sent troops into Kuwait. One hundred hours later, the US forces declared Kuwait free of Iraqi …show more content…
This was also done to create public support for the war, cover mistakes and deaths caused by the war, and to exaggerate the power of the US military. Even now there may be ways that the government is covering up their work that could be controversial. These issues “go far beyond the obvious need to balance military secrecy and requirements with the public’s right to know”
Mrs. Jaeger Hr. 5
2/6/15
Oral History Research Paper
Government Restricted Media During Operation Desert Storm, TV networks were showing precision bombing being done from miles away, taking out the enemy. The war was described as “cities like Baghdad getting shelled from miles and miles away” (T. Clemens). In reality, 90 percent of the bombing done was unguided “dumb” bombs dropped from planes above the target. If the public had been told this during the war, there more than likely would have been an addition Woodstock from viewpoints such as “it would [not] be a very good choice at all, it’s a bad idea” (J. Clemens). The U.S. government limited and required the media to only report certain things in Desert Storm. This …show more content…
The Iraqi government, led by Saddam Hussein, had invaded Kuwait. Kuwait is a large exporter of oil to the US so naturally everyone in the country was wary. Another concern was that Iraq’s troops might continue on into Saudi Arabia. If it had come to this, Iraq would have been controlling 1/5 of the world’s oil (ushistory.org). President Bush counteracted by setting up troops all along the border of Saudi Arabia so that it couldn’t be taken over. To go farther, “Bush, remembering the lessons of Vietnam, sought public support” (ushistory.org). He found the way of doing this by using the media to persuade the country with facts that weren’t entirely true. After this Desert Storm had officially started, the military along with other UN countries took part in bombings that targeted places that the public was told were Iraqi government and military bases. A little longer than a month after that the US sent troops into Kuwait. One hundred hours later, the US forces declared Kuwait free of Iraqi …show more content…
This was also done to create public support for the war, cover mistakes and deaths caused by the war, and to exaggerate the power of the US military. Even now there may be ways that the government is covering up their work that could be controversial. These issues “go far beyond the obvious need to balance military secrecy and requirements with the public’s right to know”