Operation Media Storm

Abstract

Between March 20 and May 1 of 2003, the United States and Britain along with a band of smaller nations invaded Iraq without approval by the United Nations (UN) Security Council in order to prevent Saddam Hussein’s government from deploying the weapons of mass destruction it allegedly possessed and from sheltering and collaborating with Islamic terrorists—allegations that could not be conclusively substantiated and eventually proved to be false. UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan called the invasion a breach of the UN Charter and of international law. The U.S.-led coalition promised to liberate the Iraqi people from an oppressive dictatorship that had brutally persecuted the Kurdish minority and suppressed both religious groups and political dissenters and implement a democratic system of governance. While the brevity of the concentrated ground and air war seemed to bear out the triumphant assertion that superior American intelligence and weapons technology could ensure American security without significant loss of life or a tax increase, hopes for the restoration of peace, the rule of law, and democratization were soon dispelled. Whereas the invasion of Iraq and the taking of Baghdad had been documented around the clock by “embedded correspondents” conveying the perspective of the “liberation” force, the censored, synchronized media coverage was soon disrupted by groups and individuals taking advantage of new communications technologies.