Propaganda

Not the defunct film company, but the concept, as applied to political manoeuvering these days.

Terrorists in Iraq have just released a video showing a guy being shot in the head and dumped. He'll have people who love him and that video is now available for them to see.

Nice guys! Let's support whatever it is they want to achieve. But jeez, can't they help us out a little? Can none of those pesky murderers understand the value of propaganda?

It doesn't matter if the alleged letter from al-Zawaheythere says they should stop or not. Common sense should tell them that.

A similar dynamic was going on towards the end of the Irish revolution 1922/23 (after Michael Collins was assassinated). It's all outlined in Peter Hart's stunning book. There's no secret to it.

At that time violent outrages increased right up until the last. You know what finished off the civil war part of their revolution? It just petered out. The "irregulars" (as Michael called them) no longer had the support of the population nor the ability to conduct their guerrilla ambushes as the common people were no longer too scared to act against them.

You just can't sustain terror if people aren't cowed. And people get awfully cranky when their awareness is raised that the terrorist next door is targeting the vulnerable people of their country, like, say, contractors and toddlers and primary school teachers. It all starts getting to be too much. The election results will tell one story. The bravery of normal Iraqis, as the eyes and ears of their security forces, will tell another.

I know, I know, I should relax and go buy shoes. Cliches are cliches for a reason!