How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
I had hoped Marla would come over, but she sat with some women from a PSYOP unit. What they did was work on the minds of the enemy. Sometimes they dropped leaflets, sometimes they did nasty little propaganda things, like spreading rumors about the enemy's officers. They spent a lot of time trying to figure out what the enemy was thinking. (3.65)
Talk about manipulation. There's a whole unit of the army dedicated to affecting how the enemy thinks.
Quote #2
"If he said he was scared out of his mind he wouldn't get on television," Marla said.
"If they stick a camera in my face I'm going to say the same thing that marine said," Jonesy said.
"I ain't never been on television before!" (4.8-9)
Marla's right that the American news is invested in showing brave soldiers, not necessarily honest soldiers. Soldiers who admit that they're scared might make the American public a little uncomfortable.
Quote #3
"You think the bombs are hitting anybody?" Marla said. "I don't see any bodies laying around."
That was true. They were still talking about shock and awe and how many bombs were falling around Baghdad but they weren't showing any casualties. I didn't want to see any, either. (4.11-12)
The news footage of Baghdad being bombed show only the explosions from far-off, no sights of actual bodies. Do you think they purposely chose to show it this way?