David Low

Posted on January 29, 2004 in Journalists & Pundits Occupation of Iraq

Propaganda is nothing new and looking back at the stuff which was printed at the beginning of World War II, it stuns me to see how things have not changed in some ways. In 1939, the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact turned Poland into a piece of pork loin which was to be divided equally between Germany and the USSR. Now I’m getting myself in trouble here because I am about to bring up the Hitler analogy when referring to Iraq:

Of course, the USA could just as well be represented by Stalin:

Both these cartoons were drawn by David Low considered to be “one of Britain’s greatest cartoonists.” Low infuriated the Nazis to the point that they officially complained to the Foreign Office about him and made plans to execute him as soon as they invaded England. This, as we know now, never happened. The first cartoon is widely reprinted and has even been mentioned in connection with the recent U.S.-British-led invasion of Iraq.

Which leads me to the point: we’ve arrived at a similar situation. We have an extremist Right Wing Government here in the USA (in fairness, not nearly as much like the Nazis as like Spain’s Falangists or Argentina’s Peronistas) and, slightly to the left of that, the so-called “Labor” government of Great Britain whose leader, Tony Blair, receives his advice from Big Bill Clinton himself. These odd partners who went in to Iraq in the name of preventing its use of weapons of mass destruction (which haven’t been found) now find themselves in the position of Stalin in the second cartoon: they are now protecting Iraq from enjoying the democracy for which we supposedly liberated them.

Would David Low have shown more courage than the pundits and political candidates of today? Would he have drawn against those who twirl our heads in the Iraqi wallow? How would he have depicted Bush and Blair? As he did Hitler and Stalin? Or would this son of British Imperialism have sold his soul in the name of patriotism?

It’s all too easy to second guess dead people. I decline to do so.