A months-long review of documents and interviews with Pentagon personnel has revealed that the Bush Administration’s military analyst program — aimed at selling the Iraq war to the American people — operated through a secretive collaboration between the Defense Department’s press and community relations offices.
Raw Story has also uncovered evidence that directly ties the activities undertaken in the military analyst program to an official US military document’s definition of psychological operations — propaganda that is only supposed to be directed toward foreign audiences.
The investigation of Pentagon documents and interviews with Defense Department officials and experts in public relations found that the decision to fold the military analyst program into community relations and portray it as “outreach” served to obscure the intent of the project as well as that office’s partnership with the press office. It also helped shield its senior supervisor, Bryan Whitman, assistant secretary of defense for media operations, whose role was unknown when the original story of the analyst program broke.
Story continues over at Raw Story
I’ve always thought that “24″ (Jack Bauer) seemed to be making torture more acceptable. Great show though!
Scary. Just look at what a good job the American mass media has already done in making people stick to their couches.
i thought it was known that the goverments are always up to dodgy dealings.
This is more mass avoidance of admitting to mistaken conclusions. No wonder Obama got a Nobel. Wouldn’t it have been easier if we just said “no” to war-mongering and “yes” to peace? Sorry Derren, I’m off to read Nostradamus, again.
Much as you would expect from the former Bush Administration who were convinced that their mission in Iraq was the will of God as told personally to George W Bush by God himself so as far as they were concerned the end justifies the means.
Conducting propaganda exercises during a time of war is normal I think in order to spur moral and keep people joining the forces and fighting but this has the sinister tone of a political party using its power to manipulate the population to support an illegal agenda.
At least in the US they are able to investigate this kind of activity and reveal the truth whereas in the UK we would never know.
Propaganda is always going on, enjoy being indoctrinated by the news. Let alone the fact we practically live our life illegaly, and this constant hyper inflation which will boom sometime soon, is because of so much illegal money through interest, loans and credit. I’m looking forward to the whole human race realising their place in the beauty of the universe, is that a bold statement? Bye!
if it works for them, it can work for anyone.
Are we surprised? Anyone who knows about PNAC, the Project For The New American Century (not some kind of conspiracy theory, but a well documented and funded, high profile *educational* project) will be well aware of the lengths that those in the wings of the American Administration were/are prepared to go to. The route may have changed slightly with Obama, but the final destination is the same.
Search YouTube for “What Barry Says” for a brief overview.
What more is new? Isn’t that always the case with all stuff (also non military)? Just keep seeing it from your own normal point of view, listen and make up your own mind. Not that that will always prevend things from happening which you did not want to happen. Or dont listen, that at times is not necessary either, as the situation is easy to see. Easy solutions aren’t there.
“There isn’t a trick in the racketeering bag that the military gang is blind to. It has its “finger men” to point out enemies, its “muscle men” to destroy enemies, its “brain men” to plan war preparations, and a “Big Boss” Super-Nationalistic-Capitalism.” — Major General Smedley Darlington Butler, 1931 (at the time, Major General was the highest rank in the Marine Corps).
So, so paranoid… It’s a disease spreading through now – too late. We worry about Russia..? I’ve read a bit on this and suchlike and it was not good reading for a few weeks I have to say. Wonder who’s name will crop up on the ‘midnight canoeing accident’ list again. It’s a favourite with the men in black – that and the private plane crash.
Whose name, oops, OCD switch has triggered.