Falsehood in Wartime

Over 70 years ago, British diplomat Lord Arthur Ponsonby wrote in Falsehood in Wartime about the perennial propaganda claims of wartime leaders. His analysis can be distilled into 10 principles, as follows:

1. We do not want war;

2. The other side is solely responsible for the war;

3. The enemy has the face of the devil;

4. It is a noble cause that we defend and not particular interests;

5. The enemy commits atrocities knowingly; if we make unfortunate mistakes, it is involuntarily;

6. The enemy uses unauthorized weapons;

7. We suffer very few losses, while the losses of the enemy are enormous;

8. Artists and intellectuals support our cause;

9. Our cause has a second nature;

10. Those who question our statements are traitors.

Does any of this sound familiar?

Zo

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