Woodrow Wilson was, to the best of my understanding, the first president to employ 'we’re fighting the evil guys' tactic before we entered into war. In virtually every battle since then, we have gone in with the ‘higher moral ground’ or at least that’s what the American people have been told. America went into WWI to ‘preserve Democracy’ despite our century long grudge against Britain. Apparently, they seemed to be the lesser of two evils. It was either the ‘thieves’ (Britain) or the ‘murderers’ (Germany). So, America plunged into war for the good of Democracy, or so we were told.
This situation may appear similar to the situations occurring in today’s world. If one looks close enough, it is obviously apparent the politicians of today are employing some of Wilson’s tactics of propaganda. For example take the war against terror in Afghanistan. Who have we been told we are fighting? Oh yes, I remember, an ‘Axis of evil’ and the ‘Evildoers’. These people have been dehumanized to the point of monsters. Sounds kind of like the government propaganda going on during WWI doesn’t it? Be careful what you believe. Don’t believe anything you hear and only half of what you see.