It Was Staged!

I was wandering around and found this observation about the pulling down of Saddam's statue in Firdos Square:

The pullodwn of the statue was a staged photo op by our propagandists. Still, if the raising of the flag on Mt. Suribachi can define the fall of Iwo Jima, I guess another staged photo op can define the fall of Baghdad.

Just always remember: these were staged for PR purposes.

C. Moore would like you to be aware of that. What's got him all exercised is a demonstration led by our old friend, Moktada al-Sadr, in which his followers demand that the US get out of Dodge. This caused C. Moore to wonder if the US has "overstayed its welcome".

Now I've heard the tales, of various levels of credibility, about what exactly went on that day in Firdos Square two years ago, and I've heard about the Iwo Jima photo, and I think it's a good rule of thumb to keep your bullshit detector on its highest setting. But you have to be aware that enemies might just be able to use some PR tactics of their own. What does it say about a person if they relentlessly question their own government's propaganda (and proudly proclaim it) and don't stop to think that maybe the US government isn't the only entity that uses PR tactics?

As the antidote to the PR the US was engaged in at Firdos, and also at Iwo Jima by the way, C. Moore presents us with the PR served up by Moktada al-Sadr, without realizing, apparently, that this is PR too. From the NYT:

Most of the protesters were followers of Moktada al-Sadr, the rebel Shiite cleric who has led several armed uprisings against American forces but who has recently begun to participate in democratic politics.

Al-Sadr is politicking- trying to strengthen his hand within the new game that is Iraqi democratic politics. It's a big PR show. It's a demonstration- PR by definition! But to anyone who agrees with the message being sent, it's often more convenient to overlook the fact that it's just more PR.

Hold on to your hats. This demonstration was staged!

Update: More on al-Sadr's demo at Blogs for Bush. And this Washington Post article is worth reading. Here's a post from A Missourian in Baghdad, now serving in Iraq.

Update II: C. Moore clarifies his position in the comments below, and at his site. That was fast. His point is that both the Firdos thing and the al-Sadr thing are PR.