With their love of money and all that goes with it, the Americans created and nurtured the capitalist system. Then with exorbitant wealth assuring their hegemony in the world, America became the world’s superpower. As far as business is concerned, the Americans have no rivals; they can turn any event, even a global phenomenon such as Halley’s Comet, into a moneymaking business.

Images, of course, are enormously influential in convincing people to accept other people and other ideas. This is in fact the basis of public relations, or PR. Behind every great politician is a shrewd consultant, one who spares no expense to polish up the politician’s image. In election campaigns, every recent successful American president has depended upon these consultants. Polishing up the aging Ronald Reagan, dying his hair and then spotlighting his Hollywood career were all moves that helped usher him into the White House. As for Bill Clinton, his saxophone playing made American women fall in love with and vote for him.

Saddam Hussein certainly benefited from such services, using them to consolidate his power. His symbols were spread over the country. In the south, he wore tribal dress while in Baghdad he dressed like a Baghdadi and in the Kurdish north, he wore Kurdish national dress. This is the work of public relations — the more tyrannical and oppressive a regime, the more it is in need of dyes and masks to disguise and hide its ugly image.

The Israeli government is also expert at this. In December 2001, an Israeli newspaper published a report with advice to Ariel Sharon from American PR companies. The aim was to improve his image, especially in the West. Among other things, it was suggested that the Israeli Army should immediately clean up areas where there had been clashes as this would give the impression of calm and quiet. Sharon himself was advised to wear bright casual colors and not to be always surrounded by armed men and soldiers when being photographed.

Many politicians have benefited from the PR business and the demand for PR services increases every day. Ahmad Chalabi, president of the Iraqi National Congress — a man of no integrity who has been convicted of embezzling from the Petra Bank of Jordan and was sentenced to 22 years in prison, but with strong ties to the US Congress and the Pentagon — has benefited much from PR consultants. He is in urgent need of improving his image if he wants people to overlook his suspect past, so we find him wearing light-colored suits, getting close to the heads of the tribes and concentrating on the troubles of Iraqis, saying all the while that he is not seeking political power and that his American-trained army is simply there to help the country.

Jay Garner, the American governor — or as he likes to call himself, the coordinator of Iraq — is a retired general familiar with the language of wars. Since his arrival in Iraq, he has worn simple bright-colored clothes, giving the impression of modesty and sincerity. He has said that he is in Iraq on a humanitarian mission to help the Iraqi people build a modern state and civil society. As soon as he arrived in Baghdad, he visited hospitals, talked to the medical staff and made promises. Garner is in dire need of bridges to the people of Iraq — and as quickly as possible, especially since his ties go all the way to Israel. He will need to improve his image and he will promise anything to gain Iraqi and world approval. He will wear bright colors to cast himself in an acceptable and helpful role. However, in a society pining for a loaf of bread and dreaming of peace and security, it may all be futile. If Garner puts too much emphasis on bright vests with nothing in the way of real accomplishments, then he won’t last long.

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(Wajeha Al-Huwaider is a program analyst at Aramco. She holds an MA in Reading Management from George Washington University.)