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Just what is “Shock and Awe”? And who comes up with such terms? I’ll tell you who: It’s the same self-absorbed U.S. government speech writers who break their arms patting themselves on their backs for coming up with such winning phrases as “Evil Empire”, “Axis of Evil”, “Collateral Damage”, “Person of Interest” and “Enemy Combatant”.
If one gives careful consideration to these terms, one finds them to be vaguely emotionally evocative yet devoid of any true, specific or important meaning. As such, they become perfect buzzwords for media outlets looking to condense nuanced issues into 2-minute news segments that need to be minimally informative but maximally engaging.
“Shock and Awe” has been a particular media favorite ever since America’s most recent glibly named military operation, Operation Iraqi Freedom, hit television airwaves. In fact, when the expected, massive bombing campaign did not materialize in the early moments of the war, anchors and special guests on all the major American news channels seemed almost disappointed that they weren’t able to Ooooo and Ahhhh over the light show.
The reason for their anticipation was made apparent the morning after the United States sent a cruise missile flying into a supposed “Target of Opportunity” where Saddam Hussein and possibly his sons were thought to have been located. That morning, the Drudge Report (www.drudgereport.com) was one of the first media outlets publish the evening television ratings for the war coverage. That’s right, ratings were one of the first things on the minds of media outlets after the war had begun. NBC garnered a rating of 13, beating the next closest competitor, CBS nearly 2 to 1.
So it’s no wonder that broadcasters champed at the bit to get spectacular explosions on their airwaves.
When the “Shock and Awe” did start, it was immediately clear that television news outlets had been prepping for the event for weeks. Positioned strategically in locales such as the Palestine Hotel, broadcasters got a front row seat for an onslaught like none other. The explosions were spectacular with the percussion of the blasts causing distortion in even the most advanced of broadcast sound equipment. But one could not help but wonder whether all this “Shock and Awe” was staged, or at least crafted for the viewing public.
The Pentagon trotted out the phrase “Shock and Awe” in advance of the start of hostilities. This acted to whet the appetites of both broadcasters and viewers alike. With memories of 1991’s riveting images of anti-aircraft fire and missile explosions in the minds of many, the prospect of coverage of similar events with new and improved technology was understandably tantalizing.
When the “Shock and Awe” came, it took place largely right in view of media vantage points atop their hotels. After all, it wouldn’t have been “Shock and Awe” unless there was a large enough audience viewing the bombing. With the bombing happening in places that were coincidentally convenient to film, the U.S. ensured that the images would reach a truly broad international viewership.
The goal of such a bombing campaign? It has been suggested that “Shock and Awe” is meant to strike such fear in the hearts of the Iraqi military that soldiers would simply capitulate and allow U.S. and other allied forces to waltz into Baghdad relatively unopposed. But when one takes into consideration the fact that the campaign was designed – as this entire war has been – to be available for mass consumption, the possibility arises that the United States is using this “Shock and Awe” to send a clear message to the rest of the world; that message being that America possesses absolute military superiority.
Whether this superiority is real or imagined, the image of it will be indelible thanks to the media coverage.
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