A Thousand Years of Spinning Invasions into Liberations

It’s a nifty trick.

On the evening news, two talking heads – one liberal, one conservative – trade verbal shots over the war in Iraq.

“And let’s not forget,” says the conservative, “We are fighting the war on terrorism in Iraq.”

“Come on,” says the incredulous liberal, “you know there was no connection between Iraq and al-Qaeda.”

“Really?” says the conservative, “My son is fighting in Iraq. He’s fighting al-Zarqawi. And you know as well as I do that al-Zarqawi is connected to bin Laden and al-Qaeda.”

“No,” says the liberal, not buying the backward logic, “we created the terrorist situation in Iraq by invading the country, not the other way round.”

Sadly, the liberal missed the point: on most days, a good story beats the straight truth. That al-Zarqawi appeared as the terrorist enemy only after the invasion was not relevant to the good story. What was relevant was that the war in Iraq was suddenly becoming what George W. Bush said it was: the war on terrorism.

The Bush administration knows its history. Spinning illegal invasions into righteous liberations has been an effective practice for a thousand years.

In 1066, William of Normandy invaded, occupied, and plundered Saxon England. But history remembers William’s invasion as one of righteous liberation. Why? Because William had the sense to spin his crime into heroic art on the Bayeux Tapestry. That is, he told a good story.

Of course, much like Bush’s invasion of Iraq, the true story of William’s invasion of England was something altogether darker and more brutish. It is a story with a frightening modern day moral.

In December, 1065, the King of England – Edward the Confessor – was dying. He had no clear successor, and many lords laid claims to the throne. But two nobles were front runners. One was Earl Harold, an English lord. And the second was William of Normandy, a lord of a large, prosperous stretch of northern France.

When Edward died in January 1066, Earl Harold claimed the throne. But he soon had to defend his claim against the claim of the foreigner, William.

Was William’s claim to the English throne justified? William knew a good opportunity when he saw it – a weakened England with no clearly established leader and a land full of rich natural resources – so that was claim enough.

In late 1066, travelling with a large army, William set sail for England. He landed near Hastings, in the south of England, where he and Harold engaged in battle. And in a day, William destroyed Harold’s army and killed King Harold.

From there, William systematically destroyed all Saxon resistance, laying waste to the people and country. Norman French leaders quickly took over all important positions in England, and the country was duly plundered.

But William had a public relations problem. Since he was not the rightful heir to the thrown, and since he had brutally invaded and plundered England, he needed an image make over if the people of England were to accept his rule. So he commissioned the Bayeux Tapestry.

The seventy metre long, embroidered tapestry tells the tale of William’s invasion – but tells it backward, using the outcome to justify the means. According to the Tapestry, William’s invasion was the story of England’s righteous liberation from Harold, a usurper and dictator.

It made a good story.

No doubt, the English people at the time knew the tapestry’s story was false. But as the years passed, the myth of William the Conqueror as liberator of England overtook the reality.

Sound familiar?

Today – since the Weapons of Mass Destruction story failed, and since the al-Qaeda Links to Saddam story failed – the Bush administration is busily weaving its newest story in a Baghdad Tapestry, of sorts.

And this story unfolds nicely: 9/11 is connected to al-Qaeda. Al-Qaeda is connected to al-Zarqawi. Al-Zarqawi is connected to Iraq. Thus, 9/11 was justifiable grounds for America’s righteous liberation of Iraq.

Remember, on most days, straight truth is less interesting than a good story. And like the Bayeux Tapestry, the finished Baghdad Tapestry will certainly tell a good story.

And then, one day not long from now, our children will celebrate the invasion of Iraq as George the Conqueror’s great war against terror.

It’s a nifty trick.



--Steven Laffoley is a writer living in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. You may e-mail him at stevenlaffoley@yahoo.ca.



» Find more of the online edition.