Weapons of Mass Deception is pejorative expression used by some people to describe U.S. President

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

's claim that

Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein ( ; ar, صدام حسين, Ṣaddām Ḥusayn; 28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003. A leading member of the revolution ...

possessed

weapons of mass destruction A weapon of mass destruction (WMD) is a chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, or any other weapon that can kill and bring significant harm to numerous individuals or cause great damage to artificial structures (e.g., buildings), natura ...

as justification for the

war on Iraq {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق (Kurdish languages, Kurdish) , partof = the Iraq conflict (2003–present), I ...

. The variation Weapons of Mass Distraction has also been used by pundits and satirists. This punning alteration accuses the Bush administration of using the war in Iraq to draw the nation's attention away from other problems, such as the economic recession of 2002. The meaning was later inverted to describe Bush's alleged attempts to divert attention away from the war following a drop in public support for the war.

Book

''Weapons of Mass Deception'' was used as the title of a nonfiction book by

Sheldon Rampton Sheldon Rampton (born August 4, 1957) is an American editor and author. He was editor of ''PR Watch'', and is the author of several books that criticize the public relations industry and what he sees as other forms of corporate and government prop ...

and

John Stauber John Stauber is an American progressive writer. Stauber has co-authored five books about government propaganda, private interests and the public relations industry. His work includes one book about how industry manipulates science ('' Trust Us, ...

. This book focused specifically on the PR tactics and techniques of the Bush administration after the

September 11th terrorist attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commerci ...

. * Publisher:

Tarcher TarcherPerigee is a book publisher and imprint of Penguin Group focused primarily on mind, body and spiritualism titles, founded in 1973 by Jeremy P. Tarcher in Los Angeles. (Tarcher was notably married to ventriloquist Shari Lewis, and his sist ...

(July 28, 2003) *

Other media

''Weapons of Mass Deception'' was also used as the title of a documentary produced by

Danny Schechter Daniel Isaac "Danny" Schechter (June 27, 1942 – March 19, 2015) was an American television producer, independent filmmaker, blogger, and media critic. He wrote and spoke about many issues including apartheid, civil rights, economics, foreign po ...

which originally aired on

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...

. It is also the name of the fourth album by the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

band

Dissident Prophet Dissident Prophet is an apocalyptic indie rock band from Birmingham, England. They have released six albums so far; '' We're Not Grasshoppers'', in 1996; with a follow-up, '' 21st Century Spin'' (as Maccabees), released in 2002; '' Modern Man'' ...

. Also, a popular

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

commentator

Connie Rice Constance L. "Connie" Rice (born April 5, 1956) is an American civil rights activist and lawyer. She is also the co-founder and co-director of the Advancement Project in Los Angeles. She has received more than 50 major awards for her work in ex ...

read her Top Ten Weapons of Mass Distraction on

The Tavis Smiley Show ''The Tavis Smiley Show'' was an American public broadcasting radio talk show. Public Radio International ''The Tavis Smiley Show'' was broadcast on Public Radio International (PRI). It was a one-hour weekly program featuring interviews with new ...

, July 14, 2004.

Sources

* https://www.amazon.com/Weapons-Mass-Deception-Propaganda-Bushs/dp/1585422762 * http://www.utne.com/2003-06-01/WeaponsofMassDeception.aspx
Top Ten Weapons of Mass Distraction

References

2012 albums Dissident Prophet albums English phrases United States federal policy American non-fiction books {{2010s-indie-rock-album-stub

Book

Other media

See also

Sources

References