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Conquer the world Quote by Noam Chomsky

“So before and during the war, the Bush administration had to build up an image in people's minds of Iraq as a monstrous military superpower, in order to mobilize enough popular hysteria so that people here would go along with their policies. And again, the media did their job 100 percent. So I…” quote by Noam Chomsky
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““So before and during the war, the Bush administration had to build up an image in people's minds of Iraq as a monstrous military superpower, in order to mobilize enough popular hysteria so that people here would go along with their policies. And again, the media did their job 100 percent. So I don't know how well you remember what was going on around the country back then, but people were literally quaking in their boots about the extraordinary might of Iraq―it was a superpower with artillery we'd never dreamt of, all this kind of stuff.93 I mean, this was a defenseless Third World country that was so weak it had been unable to defeat post-revolutionary Iran in eight years of warfare [from 1980 to '88]―and that was with the support of the United States, the Soviet Union, all of Europe, the Arab oil countries: not an inconsiderable segment of world power. Yet with all those allies, Iraq had been unable to defeat post-revolutionary Iran, which had killed off its own officers' corps and barely had an army left: all of a sudden this was the superpower that was going to conquer the world? You really had to be a deeply brainwashed Western intellectual even to look at this image―a defenseless Third World country threatening the two most advanced military forces in the world, the United States and Britain―and not completely collapse in ridicule. But as you recall, that's what all of them were saying―and people here really believed it.””

Noam Chomsky

About This Quote

Source Speech: Lecture on media propaganda, date unknown

The quote critiques how the Bush administration and media constructed an exaggerated image of Iraq as a superpower to justify policies, despite its actual weakness.

In simple terms: Media and government exaggerated Iraq's power to sway public opinion.

Key Takeaway

Question media narratives critically.

Themes

propaganda media manipulation political rhetoric

Mood

critical analytical

Type

political educational

When to use this quote

  • public policy debates
  • media analysis
  • education curricula

Key Concepts

critical theory information warfare

Questions to Reflect On

  • What evidence contradicts the portrayed image?
  • How does propaganda affect democratic decision‑making?
A Different Perspective

The narrative may oversimplify complex geopolitical realities.

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