The War On Terror: Mission Unaccomplished

U.S. President George W. Bush sells his war in Iraq as a necessary conflict aimed at removing a dictator whose weapons of mass destruction pose a global terrorist threat. "Operation Iraqi Freedom" is supposed to be a quick surgical strike, a campaign of "shock and awe". The western media jumps at the chance to cover the story, but reporters have limited access, except for those "embedded" with the military. After three weeks, Bush declares "Mission Accomplished". The war is over, but it's really only the beginning. A guerilla insurgency takes hold. Al Jazeera, the Arabic language network, chronicles the conflict in detail. The White House loses control of its propaganda message; first, with the bloody combat in the city of Fallujah, then with shocking images from the Abu Ghraib jail, where American soldiers are revealed to be abusing their Iraqi prisoners. The propaganda war, meanwhile, is extending beyond the Middle East and into Europe and North America via cyberspace. Al Qaeda uses the internet as a tool to recruit and train new members, co-ordinate attacks and encourage others to do the same - in some cases with lethal consequences.