# Propaganda strategy: Should the US have renamed Baghdad's airport? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [April 4, 2003, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/propaganda-strategy-should-the-us-have-renamed-baghdads-airport/166457 "2003-04-04T14:42:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![nogginhead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5e9695/32.png) [@nogginhead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nogginhead)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2003, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/propaganda-strategy-should-the-us-have-renamed-baghdads-airport/166457/21 "2003-04-04T21:05:54Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Azael \* > > * * * > > _Some people_ seem to be losing their grasp on reality. \*\* Perhaps that was a little extreme… but many people ([including the prez](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=174431&perpage=50&pagenumber=1)) seem to be getting awfully upset that dissent still exists. It gets to ya after a while. ---
**Author:** ![nogginhead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5e9695/32.png) [@nogginhead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nogginhead)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2003, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/propaganda-strategy-should-the-us-have-renamed-baghdads-airport/166457/22 "2003-04-04T21:15:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Azael \* > > Erm… except we aren’t invading Iran… yet. Iran = Persia IIRC. Oops. Brain misfire there… though probably not so far off, depending on whether you want to go back as far as Cyrus the Great or not. I think actually the name could have been applied to this area much more recently. But in modern usage it is usually synonymous with Iran. > [@](#): > > If the name of the country was Saddam Hussein you might be on to something. I see nothing wrong with showing that we are in control and SH is not, as that seems to be the objective at hand. If we were renaming the airport to something offensive or sufficiently colonial in nature then you might have a legitimate complaint but _come on_… Besides, they can name the airport whatever they want once SH is removed and a new government is installed. OK, look. I’m trying to talk about whether renaming the airport is consistent with our propaganda goal that we are ‘liberating’ Iraq. I AM NOT SAYING IT WAS WRONG. I AM NOT COMPLAINING ABOUT IT. I’m trying to discuss it. ---
**Author:** ![Priam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/77aa72/32.png) [@Priam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Priam)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2003, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/propaganda-strategy-should-the-us-have-renamed-baghdads-airport/166457/23 "2003-04-04T21:33:35Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by nogginhead \* > \*\*If you think the name is not important, perhaps you wouldn’t object to renaming ‘Reagan Airport’ back to ‘Washington National’? Oh, that one’s OK with you? How about changing ‘Kennedy’ back to ‘Idlewild’? \*\* No problems here. If it was changed to Chirac National Airport I might have a problem, but a generic name? I’d be hard-pressed to care less. ---
**Author:** ![NutWrench](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nutwrench/32/20193_2.png) [@NutWrench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NutWrench)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2003, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/propaganda-strategy-should-the-us-have-renamed-baghdads-airport/166457/24 "2003-04-04T21:43:37Z")
I think they should _definitely_ rename Death-to-Carter Avenue. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Alcibiades](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/cab0a1/32.png) [@Alcibiades](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alcibiades)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2003, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/propaganda-strategy-should-the-us-have-renamed-baghdads-airport/166457/25 "2003-04-05T06:59:35Z")
Of course they needed to change the name of the airport. Leaving it as it was gives the current regime legitimacy. The name “Baghdad International Airport” is descriptively appropriate. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2003, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/propaganda-strategy-should-the-us-have-renamed-baghdads-airport/166457/26 "2003-04-05T07:06:46Z")
I see the [“[http://www.airport-technology.com/codes/B.html](http://www.airport-technology.com/codes/B.html)”]airport code for Saddam/Baghdad International is **SDA**. Are they going to change that as well? ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2003, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/propaganda-strategy-should-the-us-have-renamed-baghdads-airport/166457/27 "2003-04-05T07:08:04Z")
Sorry. Correct link: [airport code](http://www.airport-technology.com/codes/B.html) ---
**Author:** ![Beagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/85f322/32.png) [@Beagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beagle)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2003, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/propaganda-strategy-should-the-us-have-renamed-baghdads-airport/166457/28 "2003-04-05T19:32:57Z")
> [@](#): > > Sometimes it helps to remember that, however much I oppose the war, the folks in the military seem to have a lower goofball quotient than Congress has. My wife, who works around politicians, agreed with me that this statement is funny, true, and somewhat profound. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2003, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/propaganda-strategy-should-the-us-have-renamed-baghdads-airport/166457/29 "2003-04-05T20:10:30Z")
Of _course_ they should have renamed it, in the interest of rapid communications. Air Force Colonel: We’ll dispatch the wing to (chuckle, snort) Saddam International Airport. Air Force Major: Yes, sir. I’ll get the crew chiefs in place at (snicker, chuckle) Saddam International Airport. AFC: Yes, and make sure the supply trucks make a fuel drop at (giggle, chortle, snicker) Saddam International Airport. How can have a staging area that no-one can name without giggling? It’s un-American! ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2003, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/propaganda-strategy-should-the-us-have-renamed-baghdads-airport/166457/30 "2003-04-06T13:10:52Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by nogginhead \* > If you think the name is not important, perhaps you wouldn’t object to renaming ‘Reagan Airport’ back to ‘Washington National’? As a matter of fact, there were folks who protested the renaming of Washington National airport, and some of us still use the old name in preference to the new one. But that would be a different argument… ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2003, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/propaganda-strategy-should-the-us-have-renamed-baghdads-airport/166457/31 "2003-04-06T16:49:26Z")
> [@](#): > > I mean, we could change the name of the nation back to Persia, and that would be a difference in scale from the airport name maybe smaller than the posters to the airport. And I doubt we would think it was a good propaganda move. How about ‘Babylon International’? > [@](#): > > I see the [airport code](http://www.airport-technology.com/codes/B.html) for Saddam/Baghdad International is SDA. Are they going to change that as well? Nah. Half the airports in the U.S. and Canada have 3-letter designators that don’t match their current names. Names change all the time, the idents are generally permanent. ---
**Author:** ![LordDenning](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@LordDenning](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LordDenning)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2003, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/propaganda-strategy-should-the-us-have-renamed-baghdads-airport/166457/32 "2003-04-06T21:18:17Z")
How about Saddam Hussein Memorial Airport? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/propaganda-strategy-should-the-us-have-renamed-baghdads-airport/166457.md?page=1)