An Ethnically Defined Enemy is a Necessity of War - Essay Example

By defining the enemy in harsh terms, the government was able to sway public opinion and generate the necessary political support for the war. The German Nazis were also portrayed as a monstrous villain that harbored a goal of eradicating Christianity. To appeal to the religious movement in America, in 1943 the OWI published a poster that depicted the German Nazis mutilating a Christian bible, even though it has never been confirmed that the Nazis ever ordered the destruction of bibles as a government policy (Fighting the Fires of Hate).

Since the public only knew of the German people through newsreels and newspapers, it was necessary to construct a framework of hatred. Without a tangible image of evil, the enemy would become abstract and may have garnered less attention than was necessary for a sustained war effort. The white Anglo-Germans could not be defined by race, but could be labeled as atheists and murderers.The war on terror and the War in Iraq have also relied on the generation of a public image of the enemy. In the aftermath of September 11, 2001 Arab-Americans were targeted by special interest groups in an atmosphere of anti-Muslim sentiment.

Right wing Christian leader Pat Robertson continuously berates the Islam religion as Satan worshipers and is just one of many religious leaders that speak in a degrading manner about the Islam religion (al-Mariati 375). Though the enemy are largely extremists and not representative of the Islamic faith, it is necessary to paint them with a broad brush targeting all Muslims to generate the required public fervor for engaging in an armed conflict. Without a defined imagery, the government would be unable to focus the political will for a.

The German Nazis were also portrayed as a monstrous villain that harbored a goal of eradicating Christianity. To appeal to the religious movement in America, in 1943 the OWI published a poster that depicted the German Nazis mutilating a Christian bible, even though it has never been confirmed that the Nazis ever ordered the destruction of bibles as a government policy. Since the public only knew of the German people through newsreels and newspapers, it was necessary to construct a framework of hatred.

Without a tangible image of evil, the enemy would become abstract and may have garnered less attention than was necessary for a sustained war effort. The white Anglo-Germans could not be defined by race but could be labeled as atheists and murderers. The war on terror and the War in Iraq have also relied on the generation of a public image of the enemy. In the aftermath of September 11, 2001, Arab-Americans were targeted by special interest groups in an atmosphere of anti-Muslim sentiment. Right wing Christian leader Pat Robertson continuously berates the Islam religion as Satan worshipers and is just one of many religious leaders that speak in a degrading manner about the Islam religion.

Though the enemy is largely extremist and not representative of the Islamic faith, it is necessary to paint them with a broad brush targeting all Muslims to generate the required public fervor for engaging in an armed conflict. Without a defined imagery, the government would be unable to focus the political will for a sustained war.