Mass Deception: Moral Panic and the U.S. War on Iraq (Critical Issues in Crime and Society) [Paperback]

Professor Scott A. Bonn (Author), Michael Welch (Foreword)

Book Description

Release date: June 28, 2010 | Series: Critical Issues in Crime and Society

The attacks of 9/11 led to a war on Iraq, although there was neither tangible evidence that the nation's leader, 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. Scott A. Bonn introduces 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. Using quantitative analysis of public opinion polls and presidential rhetoric pre- and post-9/11 in the news media, Bonn applies the moral panic concept to the Iraq war. He critiques the war and occupation of Iraq as violations of domestic and international law. Finally, Mass Deception connects propaganda and distortion efforts by the Bush administration to more general theories of elite deviance and state crime.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"This book is a timely contribution to the emerging study of state crime. Bonn does a fine job of explicating moral panic and elite deviance arguments in the context of the Iraq war. A clear and compelling read."

(Gray Cavender Justice & Social Inquiry, Arizona State University 20090519)

"Bonn offers a careful analysis of the post-9/11 build-up to the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003. This book should be of great interest to scholars in the sociology of deviance, communication, political science, and to the general public."

(Amie L. Nielsen Department of sociology, University of Miami 20100216)

"An impressively documented and researched study of an immensely consequential topic that deserves a wide readership. Highly Recommended."

(Choice 20990101)

About the Author

Scott A. Bonn is an assistant professor of sociology at Drew University.

Product Details

• Paperback: 210 pages
• Publisher: Rutgers University Press (June 28, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 081354789X
• ISBN-13: 978-0813547893
• Product Dimensions: 6 x 0.5 x 9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,284,270 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 28 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The Search for the Truth July 28, 2010

By Nina Boski

Format:Paperback

In his book, Dr. Bonn expertly presents a case for how the Bush administration orchestrated a public panic after 9/11 with the aid of the U.S. news media that led to the war on Iraq. He also examines the Bush administration's actual motivations for invading Iraq. The book allows the public to examine for themselves what is fact and what is fiction. Bonn brings to light what we should have known all along. Must read for people in search of the truth!

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars What you don't know can hurt you! October 24, 2010

By Mike Brewi

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

If you believe that the George W. Bush administration had the country's best interests at stake when it invaded Iraq, I have a bridge in Brooklyn that's for sale. And it's cheap, too.

In "Mass Deception," Scott Bonn lays out in great detail and with documented, empirical evidence how Bush and his political elites planned and engineered an illegal and immoral invasion of another sovereign country from the most powerful office on earth for the most spurious of reasons--even before 9-11 took place. It describes how they manufactured evidence supporting charges of an imminent attack by Iraq and how they brushed aside all evidence to the contrary when it didn't coincide with their plans. The weapon used in this mass deception: Moral Panic. An unprecedented event with Machievellian overtones--and in 21th Century no less. It makes Richard Nixon's war games in Vietnam, or any other deception over the course of history, almost look like child's play by comparison.

And for what gain? Honor? Oil? Money? Power? Ego? We may never know, but Dr. Bonn's book illustrates just how simple it is for those in the highest seats of power to deceive and manipulate ordinary, hard-working, trusting Americans into losing sight of what the truth really is and coercing them into sending their sons and daughters needlessly into harm's way. Because they believed it was the right thing to do. Because the president said so.

The ultimate cost of this deception? By an incomplete count, thousands of young American lives, tens of thousands of injured and maimed American soldiers, hundreds of thousands of innocent Iraqi civilians and perhaps millions of grieving family members and friends all over the world. At a cost of nearly a trillion dollars. All to remove one man from office.

Scott Bonn's "Mass Deception" should be required reading not just for scholars and academics, but for anyone who believes in the principals of coexistence, in humanity, in fairness, in democracy, in freedom and in the basic tenets of right and wrong. It is especially essential for those who also believe in the absolute infallibility of its leaders.

We can't be fooled again. And we won't, if enough people read this book.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Mass Deception November 13, 2010

By Dave B in Texas

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

Moral panic is a term I was not familiar with prior to reading "Mass Deception. It was very enlightening. As a history buff . In reading this book with an eye for facts. It is full of them. I think it is money well spent.

Mass Deception gives the reader a full view of how the media can sell us on anything. Weather it is toothpaste or a war. Used properly even a war based on lies and miss information become truth. It also shows the close relationship between the media and government.

Making an uneducated guess, I would say 70-80% of Americans never read past the headlines. We already know a vast majority of Americans only source of news is the TV.

Fox News is simply put the media arm of the republican party. It's lopsided far to the right reporting and commentary reaches out to millions. It is this miss information with help from real news agencies that bought Bush support.

I for 1 believe that the illegal invasion of Iraq was at least in part completing unfinished family business. Also oil is big business. Iraq had it, Bush wanted it for his buddies.

Weather a sociology student or a history buff: Mass Deception is a must read. It should be required reading for high school government/sociology classes. It would help young minds to learn to question more motives of our media, reporters and politicians.