themselves. Given the realistic and omnipresent nature of the compelling images that
flicker across their screens, American citizens feel as if it is our moral imperative to
protect our way of life and to liberate oppressed peoples. In his cinematic script in which
the American military apparatus becomes a “global force for good,”7 Motss leaves no
room for moral ambivalence. Each sign that is carefully “crafted” by Motss in his digital
studio is part of a larger patriotic image that must be accepted in its entirety (Doyle 115).
Rejecting any portion of these simulacra will result in ostracization and backlash that
could forever destroy one’s livelihood. Ethical questions concerning war can never be
reduced to such a Manichean paradigm, yet virtual warfare and the informational
onslaught that it entails have eradicated any semblance of a balanced dialogue. In
addition to destroying the reality principle, have info-wars eroded traditional moral
systems? In Wag the Dog, this question haunts the viewer throughout the film as we
are propelled into a sort of ethical no man’s land where “the discourse of the Good” has
substituted itself entirely for actual morality (The Transparency of Evil 92). Is it even still
possible to talk about evil anymore or can we only consume the seductive logic of what
simulations tell us it means to be a virtuous nation dedicated to higher principles? The
complex and often paradoxical relationship between ethics and war has never been
straightforward, but the very possibility of having a nuanced, well-informed discussion
about military operations has been taken away in the final phase of simulation.
Highlighting that signs of war must now be devoured impulsively in modern
consumer republics, Baudrillard explains that “even the slightest attempt at interfering
with a clear division between good and evil” is condemned by the pervasive code that
must be obeyed (The Intelligence of Evil 23). Thus, Motss’s patriotic images and the
7
This exact expression is a recruiting slogan for the U.S. Navy.
1