9/11 - The 9/11 Decade - The Image War

9/11: It was a PR stunt which killed thousands and launched a propaganda war that has, so far, lasted a decade.Since then, the US and Al-Qaeda have competed furiously to win hearts and minds with elaborate media strategies. Spin, threats, lies, censorship, the killing of journalists how far has each side been prepared to go to win the propaganda war?In the war on terror the exploitation of images was to become a matter of life and death, as both the US and Al-Qaeda bombarded the world with media designed to win people over to their side.It started with 9/11 itself: an act of terror staged as a global media event and the catalyst for a decade of propaganda war.But Al-Qaedas canny use of 9/11 imagery, which included saving footage of the attackers for release at a later date so as to maximize publicity, gave way to serious errors in judgement as the groups use of beheadings not only terrorized viewers but also alienated one-time sympathizers.The US, for its part, did not perform any better with Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib becoming prime examples of how to lose a war.And so, the image war goes on.