Propaganda: Believing Your Own Lies

William S. Lind's latest installment of On War concerns the dangers of believing your own propaganda (i.e. lies) in war. As he concludes:

In the end, the Administration's (and the Pentagon's) insistence that the Iraqi state, government, army and police are real blinds only themselves. Iraqis know they are not. The American public knows they are not. The average Hottentot probably knows they are not. Do the members of the Senate Committees on Armed Services and Foreign Relations know less that the average Hottentot? So last week's hearings might suggest, and such is the power of empty words.

And such is the power of self-delusion. Saying something does not make it so. So much for "We create our own reality."