"Mythic Reality": Leading a Nation to War

The Bush administration developed and promoted a “mythic reality” to help persuade the American people to support an invasion of Iraq.  The New York Times reported that a senior Bush adviser belittled the “reality-based community,” asserting that “we’re an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality.”

 

The Bush administration’s mythic reality declared:

Saddam Hussein is a growing threat who needs to be dealt with urgently.  He is evil and he intends to do us grave harm.  He has weapons of mass destruction and is building more.  He has ties to al-Qaeda and could provide them, or other terrorist organizations, with weapons of mass destruction.  He may have been connected with the 9/11 attacks.  The United States is in danger.

There are no viable options aside from war, or Hussein’s abandoning power under imminent threat of war.  Inspections can’t work.  Containment can’t work.  Diplomacy can’t work.

War is our last option.  The choice to go to war rests in the hands of Saddam Hussein.

If the United States is forced to go to war, the outcome will be bright.  The war will not be difficult since Iraq's military capacity is degraded from the Persian Gulf War and 10 years of sanctions.  The war will be inexpensive, and the reconstruction costs will be largely paid from Iraqi oil revenues.  We will be treated as liberators by the Iraqi people.  The war will result in the spread of peace and freedom.