Tough sell : fighting the media war in Iraq / Tom Basile ; foreword by John R. Bolton.

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Like the War on Terror, the Media War rages on. More than ever, America's ability to fight and win against ISIS requires that we understand how best to communicate about war in the digital age. Tom Basile takes readers behind the scenes during his time as a civilian advisor in Iraq during the Iraq War, describing his mission and the struggle to communicate about the war as it became more deadly and less popular at home.



The U.S.-led coalition wasn't merely engaged in a fight to build a more tolerant, participatory society against incredible odds. It was also in a constant clash with forces that influenced public perception about the mission. During those difficult years, it became clear that warfare was now, more than ever, a blend of policy, politics, and the business of journalism.



Basile critiques the media's reporting and assesses the Bush administration's home-front communications strategy to argue that if policymakers fail to effectively articulate their strategy, manage their message, and counter misinformation, they will find themselves unable to execute that policy. That, Basile argues, places the United States at great risk. Tough Sell blends Basile's personal story with lessons from the media war in Iraq that can improve our ability to communicate about and prosecute the War on Terror.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Kirkus Book Review

A controversial defense of the 2003 military intervention in Iraq that overthrew the regime of Saddam Hussein.Basilea Forbes opinion contributor, faculty member of Fordham University, and principal of the New York-based strategic communications firm Empire Solutionscombines a vivid account of his on-the-ground experience in Iraq as senior press adviser to the Coalition Provisional Authority from 2003 to 2004 with an exploration of the political issues that were involved in the Bush administration's decision to remove Hussein from power. "The coalition wasn't merely engaged in a fight to build a more participatory society against incredible odds," he writes. "It was also in a constant clash with forces that affected public perception about the mission." The author contends that the need to shape public opinion is one of the most important lessons to be learned from the Iraq mission. Although the ostensible justification of the military interventionthe claim that Hussein had acquired weapons of mass destruction and the existence of a link between his regime and al-Qaidaproved to be false, Basile believes that the war was justified, a wake-up call that alerted us to the danger posed by terrorist groups. However, as the author writes, the "failure to win the media and communications war in Iraq" has left the U.S. more vulnerable "against ISIS and its affiliates." The merits of the author's argument are debatable, but his personal account of his experiences reporting the war is gripping. The author rightly points out that confidence in government and media reporting are near all-time lows, creating "a toxic blend that leads to the erosion of citizen-controlled government in the United States." Basile faults President Barack Obama for downplaying the role of Islamic terrorism and failing to make "the tough sell" needed to maintain a foreign policy that would guarantee "our ability to lead on the world stage." An engrossing account of the author's own experiences written to justify questionable foreign policy that many readers will question. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.