Selling the war on terror

Some days, I ask myself: Just where would the ominous music industry be without war on terror ads? I mean, if anyone has hit pay dirt these past five years, it’s timpani drum players. Because nothing says insecurity and fear quite like a timpani drum solo.  But not all war on terror ads are meant ...

Some days, I ask myself: Just where would the ominous music industry be without war on terror ads? I mean, if anyone has hit pay dirt these past five years, it's timpani drum players. Because nothing says insecurity and fear quite like a timpani drum solo. 

But not all war on terror ads are meant to inspire raw fear. Some simply seek to stoke your anger or appeal to your sense of patriotism. To find out how the war on terror is being sold to the public, FP repeatedly watched a handful of recent war on terror ads. What did we learn? Terrorists really want to kill us, Republicans (and Dems) exploit the war on terror to their own ends, and Iraqi Kurds are really grateful people. Have a look for yourself.   

(And, though it's likely you've seen it 1,000 times already, go ahead and watch Little Richard translating for President Bush one more time. It's still funny.) 

Some days, I ask myself: Just where would the ominous music industry be without war on terror ads? I mean, if anyone has hit pay dirt these past five years, it’s timpani drum players. Because nothing says insecurity and fear quite like a timpani drum solo. 

But not all war on terror ads are meant to inspire raw fear. Some simply seek to stoke your anger or appeal to your sense of patriotism. To find out how the war on terror is being sold to the public, FP repeatedly watched a handful of recent war on terror ads. What did we learn? Terrorists really want to kill us, Republicans (and Dems) exploit the war on terror to their own ends, and Iraqi Kurds are really grateful people. Have a look for yourself.   

(And, though it’s likely you’ve seen it 1,000 times already, go ahead and watch Little Richard translating for President Bush one more time. It’s still funny.) 

Carolyn O'Hara is a senior editor at Foreign Policy.

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