Combat Rock

Whether it is to psych themselves up or break prisoners down, American troops and law-enforcement agents have a somewhat discordant record of deploying music for martial ends.

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.


Whether it is to psych themselves up or break prisoners down, American troops and law-enforcement agents have a somewhat discordant record of deploying music for martial ends.


SONG OR ARTIST USED BY GOAL RESULT INSIDE DOPE
“Ride of the Valkyries” by Richard Wagner U.S. infantry, Ramidi, Iraq, June 21, 2003 Get pumped up Apocalypse Now-style before a raid Raised specter of Vietnam-type quagmire And we thought only fictional GIs liked the Ring cycle.
Themes to Barney, Sesame Street; “Enter Sandman” by Metallica U.S. Army Psy-Ops Company, Iraq, June 2003 Interrogate prisoners about the whereabouts of WMDs WMDs still MIA It’s not easy being fedayeen.
Celine Dion, Sheryl Crow, Dixie Chicks U.S.”Commando Solo” planes, broadcasting tunes and propaganda into Iraq, spring 2003 Persuade Iraqis they had “nothing to fear” from U.S. invasion Society unprepared for assault of Titanic theme song devolves into looting “I’m sure she would be happy to do anything to help,” said Dion’s spokesperson. Crow, Chicks less sure.
“Welcome to the Jungle” by Guns N’ Roses, as well as Hendrix, Quiet Riot, etc. 4th Psy-Ops Group, Vatican Embassy, Panama City, December 1989 Force Manuel Noriega to leave Vatican Embassy, where he’d taken refuge A lifelong opera lover, the Pineapple surrenders. “We received a note from the nuncio protesting either the loudness of the music or the quality, I’m not sure which,” a U.S. official said.
“These Boots Are Made for Walkin'” by Nancy Sinatra, “Achy Breaky Heart” by Billy Ray Cyrus FBI, Waco, Texas, March 19, 1993 Get David Koresh and his followers to leave Waco compound FBI later admits sleep-deprived Davidians may actually have been more susceptible to Koresh as a result. Koresh’s own recordings, like “Sheshonahim,” more in singer/songwriter/ megalomaniac mode
“Rock the Casbah” by The Clash U.S. Armed Forces Radio, Saudi Arabia, 1990 Kickoff to Gulf War I GIs proceed to rock Iraq and roll into Kuwait. Still asking ourselves, Should we stay or should we go?

AN IMPORTANT UPDATE

We’re falling behind our online fundraising goals and we can’t sustain coming up short on donations month after month. Perhaps you’ve heard? It is impossibly hard in the news business right now, with layoffs intensifying and fancy new startups and funding going kaput.

The crisis facing journalism and democracy isn’t going away anytime soon. And neither is Mother Jones, our readers, or our unique way of doing in-depth reporting that exists to bring about change.

Which is exactly why, despite the challenges we face, we just took a big gulp and joined forces with the Center for Investigative Reporting, a team of ace journalists who create the amazing podcast and public radio show Reveal.

If you can part with even just a few bucks, please help us pick up the pace of donations. We simply can’t afford to keep falling behind on our fundraising targets month after month.

Editor-in-Chief Clara Jeffery said it well to our team recently, and that team 100 percent includes readers like you who make it all possible: “This is a year to prove that we can pull off this merger, grow our audiences and impact, attract more funding and keep growing. More broadly, it’s a year when the very future of both journalism and democracy is on the line. We have to go for every important story, every reader/listener/viewer, and leave it all on the field. I’m very proud of all the hard work that’s gotten us to this moment, and confident that we can meet it.”

Let’s do this. If you can right now, please support Mother Jones and investigative journalism with an urgently needed donation today.

payment methods

AN IMPORTANT UPDATE

We’re falling behind our online fundraising goals and we can’t sustain coming up short on donations month after month. Perhaps you’ve heard? It is impossibly hard in the news business right now, with layoffs intensifying and fancy new startups and funding going kaput.

The crisis facing journalism and democracy isn’t going away anytime soon. And neither is Mother Jones, our readers, or our unique way of doing in-depth reporting that exists to bring about change.

Which is exactly why, despite the challenges we face, we just took a big gulp and joined forces with the Center for Investigative Reporting, a team of ace journalists who create the amazing podcast and public radio show Reveal.

If you can part with even just a few bucks, please help us pick up the pace of donations. We simply can’t afford to keep falling behind on our fundraising targets month after month.

Editor-in-Chief Clara Jeffery said it well to our team recently, and that team 100 percent includes readers like you who make it all possible: “This is a year to prove that we can pull off this merger, grow our audiences and impact, attract more funding and keep growing. More broadly, it’s a year when the very future of both journalism and democracy is on the line. We have to go for every important story, every reader/listener/viewer, and leave it all on the field. I’m very proud of all the hard work that’s gotten us to this moment, and confident that we can meet it.”

Let’s do this. If you can right now, please support Mother Jones and investigative journalism with an urgently needed donation today.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate