Mass Deception: Moral Panic and the U.S. War on Iraq

The attacks of 9/11 led to a war on Iraq, although there was neither tangible evidence that Saddam Hussein was linked to Osama bin Laden nor proof of weapons of mass destruction. Why, then, did the Iraq war garner so much acceptance in the United States during its primary stages? Mass Deception argues that the George W. Bush administration manufactured public support for the war on Iraq, introducing a unique, integrated, and interdisciplinary theory called "critical communication" to explain how and why political elites and the news media periodically create public panics that benefit both parties.