White House Iraq Group (WHIG)
In August 2002, a task force was set up by the White House Chief of Staff, Andrew Card. Known as the White House Iraq Group; it was set up as a White House marketing arm. It is also known as WHIG (White House Information Group). The purpose of the WHIG was to sell the invasion of Iraq (2003) to the general public. It coordinated elements from all the executive branches under the chairmanship of Karl Rove. In the run up to the war in Iraq, WHIG significantly escalated the posed danger of Iraq to US.
A similar group in functioning was also formed under the president, Lyndon B. Johnson, in the 1967 WHIG.
Another instance of coaxing the public into buying the agenda on invasion of Iraq was when Bush administration officials said that the aluminum tubes which the Iraqi regime was trying to obtain were for enriching the nuclear fissile material Uranium. However it was pointed out by The New York Times that many government officials had already concluded the inability of the aluminum tubes to do so.
The metaphor of smoking gun/mushroom cloud was suggested during a WHIG meeting by Michael Garson who is the chief speechwriter for Bush. It was aimed at scaring the American public into imagining the aftermath of the supposed nuclear danger posed by the Iraqi regime. By using analogy of smoking gun/mushroom cloud, the administration was able to gain public attention. The phrase soon became a favorite with the officials and the media. The media though providing information regarding the uncertainty of the presence of WMD in Iraq, couldn’t help itself from saying ` We don’t want a smoking gun to be a mushroom cloud`.
The first hint dropped by Andrew Card at the existence of such a marketing branch of WHIG (though he did not mention WHIG) was during his interview with the New York Times on September 6 2002.
Many instances have been pointed out where the Bush administration has used tactics to sell the agenda of Iraq invasion to the public in order to gain their attention and confidence. The escalation of awareness of the danger posed by Saddam rose significantly soon after the WHIG was formed.
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