Hero narratives · 2003 · US, Iraq

Firdos Square statue toppling

On 9 April 2003 Marines of the 3rd Battalion, 4th Marines pulled down a statue of Saddam Hussein in Firdos Square, Baghdad, and the pictures were broadcast live around the world. Saddam's government had fallen from the city and the toppling happened. Accounts differ on how staged it was: an Army PSYOP team took part, but Peter Maass found no advance plan. Wide shots show a modest crowd, perhaps a quarter to half of it journalists or Marines. The disputed part is the framing.

Run by
US Marines, Army PSYOP
3rd Battalion, 4th Marines, with an Army tactical PSYOP team attached
At most, in the square
Several hundred
Per Peter Maass; perhaps a quarter to a half were journalists or Marines, and far fewer for most of the two hours
Between 11 a.m. and 8 p.m. Fox replayed it every 4.4 minutes and CNN every 7.5 minutes
Replayed constantly
Per a 2005 George Washington University study cited by Maass
Time to exposure
3 Jul 2004
Los Angeles Times headline "Army Stage-Managed Fall of Hussein Statue", based on an Army account

Timeline

  1. 8 Apr 2003 · Context

    A US tank fires on the Palestine Hotel, home to at least 200 journalists, killing two of them, per Maass.

  2. 9 Apr 2003, morning-afternoon · Context

    Lt. Col. Bryan McCoy's battalion reaches the area around the Palestine Hotel. Journalists relay that Iraqi forces have left the centre and Marines are directed there.

  3. 9 Apr 2003, about 5 p.m. · It worked

    About a dozen Iraqis enter the empty square on Fox's broadcast; within a minute, journalists nearly outnumber them, per Maass. Iraqis ask for help; Gunnery Sgt. Leon Lambert suggests the M-88 recovery vehicle. Capt. Bryan Lewis first refuses, then allows a sledgehammer and rope.

  4. 9 Apr 2003, about 7 p.m. · It worked

    Rope and sledgehammer fail. McCoy orders Lewis to go ahead and Lambert's M-88 pulls the statue down. A US flag is placed on the statue's head and removed after about 90 seconds; an Iraqi flag is raised. Staff Sgt. Brian Plesich's PSYOP team uses Humvee loudspeakers to tell the crowd to move back.

  5. After 9 Apr 2003 · It worked

    In the week after the toppling, war stories from Iraq fall 70% on Fox and 26% on CNN, per the GWU study cited by Maass. Anne Garrels of NPR said "There are so few people trying to pull down the statue that they can't do it themselves."

  6. 3 Jul 2004 · Exposed

    The Los Angeles Times (David Zucchino) reports on an Army account that credits a quick-thinking PSYOP team. The Army account says a Marine colonel, not Iraqi civilians, decided to topple the statue.

Close-ups of the dense core suggested a city rising up; wide shots showed a mostly empty square with Marines and reporters among the crowd.

“There are so few people trying to pull down the statue that they can't do it themselves.”

Anne Garrels, NPR, quoted in Peter Maass, "The Toppling" (2011)

The playbook

  1. 1

    Manufactured incident

    A real toppling was exaggerated into a symbol: Marines supplied the vehicle and PSYOP the loudspeakers and an Iraqi flag, with no evidence in these sources of an advance plan.

  2. 2

    Trusted repeaters

    Fox and CNN replayed the same pictures every few minutes; editors added "triumphalism" and removed qualifiers, per Robert Collier of the San Francisco Chronicle.

  3. 3

    Win before the facts

    The image of a finished war ran as fighting continued; Maass links it to the premature "Mission Accomplished" narrative.

Through the FATE framework

  • Focus7/10

    One square and one statue filled the screen while the wider war went on.

  • Authority4/10

    Military action and Army PSYOP help gave the scene an official hand, but few officials spoke for it directly.

  • Tribe5/10

    An Iraqi crowd joined coalition troops against Saddam; the picture drew a line between regime and people.

  • Emotion7/10

    The Berlin-Wall comparison and flags invited triumph and relief.

Propaganda techniques used

Same playbook today

The same playbook can be run by anyone, on any side. We list every current PSYOP that matches Firdos Square statue toppling, whoever is behind it.

No live PSYOP we track matches this playbook right now. When one does, it will appear here.