“The best political weapon is the weapon of terror. Cruelty commands respect. Men may hate us. But, we don’t ask for their love; only for their fear.”- Heinrich Himmler
The Republican Party will begin airing a hard-hitting ad this weekend that warns of more cataclysmic terror attacks against the U.S. homeland.
The ad portrays Osama bin Laden and quotes his threats against America dating to February 1998. “These are the stakes,” the ad concludes. “Vote November 7.”
“If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State.”- Josef Goebbals
Brian Jones, a spokesman for the Republican National Committee, said the ad would run on national cable beginning Sunday, but he declined to discuss specifics of the buy.
The commercial tracks with Republican Party strategy to make the war on terrorism a central theme of this election. It will air as recent polls show Republicans losing ground as the party best able to combat terrorism.
“The most brilliant propagandist technique will yield no success unless one fundamental principle is borne in mind constantly – it must confine itself to a few points and repeat them over and over”- Josef Goebbels
Last month, President Bush made the war against terrorism a recurrent topic in public appearances. But his message was drowned out by the e- mail sex scandal involving former Republican Rep. Mark Foley of Florida and by increasing fatalities in Iraq.
The ad displays an array of quotes from bin Laden and his top lieutenant, Ayman al-Zawahiri, that include bin Laden’s Dec. 26, 2001 vow that “what is yet to come will be even greater.”
“Think of the press as a great keyboard on which the government can play.”- Josef Goebbels
The ad also cites al-Zawahri’s claim to have obtained “some suitcase bombs,” followed by a scene that appears to show a nuclear explosion.
Despite al-Zawahri’s claim, portable nuclear devices are believed to be particularly difficult to produce, and elusive to rogue regimes and terror groups. “The degree of difficulty goes way up as the size of the device gets smaller,” a senior U.S. official said this week, briefing reporters this week on condition of anonymity.
“Naturally the common people don’t want war; neither in Russia, nor in England, nor in America, nor in Germany. That is understood. But after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine policy, and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy, or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is to tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country.”- Hermann Goering
The ad is also featured on the RNC’s Web site. The party said the ad, called “The Stakes,” will be e-mailed to millions of GOP supporters, activists and the state parties.
“Of course people don’t want war. Why should a poor slob on a farm want to risk his life in a war when the best thing he can get out of it is to come back to his farm in one piece?”- Hermann Goering
