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comment by user-inactivated
user-inactivated  ·  4014 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: The Art of Naming Military Issues

Remember when poking fun at Operation Iraqi Liberation (OIL) was all the rage? I still wonder if it was a blunder on Ari Fleischer's part or if it was nixed and buried ASAP.

Very interesting to see how naming operations has progressed throughout the years. And it's clearly effective.

    Characterizing the names as propaganda is a cynical label which could be applied to any government-sponsored public relations effort, but, for all its cynicism, the comment does suggest how successful CENTCOM's operation names were in developing public support for its various missions.

I also wonder if government PR officers truly consider themselves propagandists or simply public relations officers. I'd like to say that publicizing on behalf of the government would label them as the former, but it may be more of a gray area. I remember watching this briefing by Dr. George Little and he shows a bit of resentment toward the term "propaganda" when it's mentioned in a question to him. edit: The question leading up to this is at about 27:40 in.