Book contents
- Seeing Is Disbelieving
- Seeing Is Disbelieving
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Preface and Acknowledgments
- 1 Introduction
- 2 A Theory of People’s Factual Beliefs and Credulity in War
- 3 Factual Misperceptions in the US Drone Campaign in Pakistan
- 4 Proximity to the Fighting and the Puncturing of Factual Bias in Iraq
- 5 Truth Discernment and Personal Exposure in the Syrian Civil War
- 6 Understanding and Mitigating the Appeal of Falsehood in Wartime
- Appendix
- References
- Index
4 - Proximity to the Fighting and the Puncturing of Factual Bias in Iraq
Published online by Cambridge University Press: aN Invalid Date NaN
- Seeing Is Disbelieving
- Seeing Is Disbelieving
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Preface and Acknowledgments
- 1 Introduction
- 2 A Theory of People’s Factual Beliefs and Credulity in War
- 3 Factual Misperceptions in the US Drone Campaign in Pakistan
- 4 Proximity to the Fighting and the Puncturing of Factual Bias in Iraq
- 5 Truth Discernment and Personal Exposure in the Syrian Civil War
- 6 Understanding and Mitigating the Appeal of Falsehood in Wartime
- Appendix
- References
- Index
Summary
This chapter examines belief in misinformation during the Coalition air war against ISIL in Iraq. In particular, it investigates a unique nationwide survey of contemporary Iraq that measures Iraqis’ factual perceptions about the Coalition airstrikes against ISIL, as well as whether they have lived under ISIL rule where the vast majority of strikes actually occurred. Moreover, this survey is paired with geo-located event data on the Coalition airstrikes themselves obtained from Airwars in order to measure the respondents’ proximity to the events more directly. Overall, the results reveal that Iraqis’ factual misperceptions about Coalition actions are widespread – fueled by both their own preexisting political orientations and streams of information in the dispute – but that civilians with greater personal exposure to the campaign are much less likely to embrace these falsehoods. Indeed, both experience living under ISIL control and proximity to the airstrikes themselves significantly reduce factual misperceptions about the Coalition’s aerial campaign, including false claims about its targeting of Shiʿa Arab-led militias and its strategic benefits to ISIL.
Keywords
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Seeing Is DisbelievingWhy People Believe Misinformation in War, and When They Know Better, pp. 84 - 104Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2024