Die Pentagon-Propaganda, die schlechter als dachten wir ist
Durch John Stauber und Sheldon Rampton - Fotorezeptor Uhr |
David Barstow der New York Zeiten hat die erste Ratenzahlung geschrieben in, was bereits ein erstaunliches Exposé der leistungsfähigsten Propagandawaffe der Bush Leitung ist, die benutzt wird, um den Krieg auf dem Irak zu verkaufen und zu handhaben: das Einbetten der militärischen Propagandists direkt in die Fernsehapparat Netze als Aufluft Kommentatoren. Wir und andere haben lang kritisiert
weitverbreitete Fernsehapparat Netzpraxis der Einstellung der ehemaligen militärischen Beamter, um als Analytiker zu dienen, aber in unseren zynischsten Momenten zu glätten nahmen wir nicht vorweg, wie Schlechtes es war. Barstow hat sorgfältig dokumentiert, wie diese Analytiker, die meisten ihnen militärische Industrieberater und Lobbyisten, direkt gewählt wurden, gehandhabt, koordiniert und ihre Unterhaltung gegeben durch die Minister des Pentagons von Propaganda zeigt.
Dank die zweijährige Untersuchung bis zum den New York Zeiten, kennen wir heute dieses Victoria Clarke, dann stieß der behilfliche Minister fuer Verteidigung für öffentliche Angelegenheiten, das militärische Analytikerprogramm des Pentagons frühem 2002 aus. Diese angenommen unabhängigen militärischen Analytiker waren tatsächlich eine koordinierte Mannschaft von Pro-krieg Propagandists, persönlich eingezogen vom Minister fuer Verteidigung Donald Rumsfeld und Fungieren unter tutelage und Entwicklung Clarkes.
Ein ehemaliger Teilnehmer, NBC militärischer Analytiker Kenneth Allard, hat benannt die Bemühung „psyops auf Steroiden.“ Als Barstow Reports „interne Pentagondokumente beziehen wiederholt sich die militärischen Analytiker als `Anzeige Kraftvervielfacher' oder' die auf Stellvertreter', wer an gezählt werden könnte, um Leitung `Themen und Anzeigen' an Millionen Amerikaner `in Form von ihren eigenen Meinungen zu liefern.' … Ziehen Sie Meyer, einen Adjutanten zum Ms an Clarke, sagte, daß eine strategische Entscheidung 2002 getroffen wurde, um die Analytiker den Hauptfokus von den öffentlichkeitsarbeiten drücken zu lassen, um ein Argument für Krieg zu konstruieren.“
Clarke und ihr älterer Adjutant, Brent T. Krueger, schließlich unterzeichnet herauf mehr als 75 pensionierte militärische Offiziere, die Zeitung op/ed Spalten einsperrten und auf Fernsehen- und Radionachrichten erschienen stellt als militärische Analytiker dar. Das Pentagon hielt wöchentliche Sitzungen mit den militärischen Analytikern ab, die am 20. April 2008 fortfuhren, als die New York Zeiten Geschichte Barstows laufen ließen. Das Programm prüfte so erfolgreiches, daß es zu den Ausgaben außer dem der Irak Krieg erweitert wurde. „Andere Niederlassungen von
Leitung fing auch an, die Analytiker zu gebrauchen. Herr. Gonzales, then the attorney general, met with them soon after news leaked that the government was wiretapping terrorism suspects in the United States without warrants, Pentagon records show. When David H. Petraeus was appointed the commanding general in Iraq in January 2007, one of his early acts was to meet with the analysts.”
Barstow spent two years digging, using the Freedom of Information Act and attorneys to force the Bush Administration to release some 8,000 pages of documents now under lock and key at the New York Times. This treasure trove should result in additional stories, giving them a sort of “Pentagon Papers” of Iraq war propaganda.
In 1971, when the Times printed excerpts of the Pentagon Papers on its front page, it precipitated a constitutional showdown with the Nixon Administration over the deception and lies that sold the war in Vietnam. The Pentagon Papers issue dominated the news media back then. Today, however, Barstow’s stunning report is being ignored by the most important news media in America — TV news — the source where most Americans, unfortunately, get most of their information.
Joseph Goebbels, eat your heart out. Goebbels is history’s most notorious war propagandist, but even he could not have invented a smoother PR vehicle for selling and maintaining media and public support for a war: embed trusted “independent” military experts into the TV newsroom. As with most propaganda, the key to the success of this effort was the element of concealment, as these analysts and the Bush administration hid the fact that their talking points and marching orders were coming directly from the Pentagon.
The use of these analysts was a glaring violation of journalistic standards. As the code of ethics of the Society of Professional Journalists explains, journalists are supposed to:
* Avoid conflicts of interest, real or perceived.
* Remain free of associations and activities that may compromise integrity or damage credibility.
* Refuse gifts, favors, fees, free travel and special treatment, and shun secondary employment, political involvement,
public office and service in community organizations if they compromise journalistic integrity.
* Disclose unavoidable conflicts.
* Be vigilant and courageous about holding those with power accountable.
* Deny favored treatment to advertisers and special interests and resist their pressure to influence news coverage.
* Be wary of sources offering information for favors or money.
The networks using these analysts as journalists shamelessly failed to vet their experts and ignored the obvious conflicts of hiring a person with financial relationships to companies profiting from war to be an on-air analyst of war. They acted as if war was a football game and their military commentators were former coaches and players familiar with the rules and strategies. The TV networks even paid these “analysts” for their propaganda, enabling them to present themselves as “third party experts” while parroting White House talking points to sell the war.
Now that Barstow has blown their cover, the TV networks have generally refused to comment about this matter. Further compounding their violations of the public trust, they are blacking out coverage of the New York Times exposé, no doubt on advice of their own PR and crisis management advisors.
Since the 1920s there have been laws passed to stop the government from doing what Barstow has exposed. It is actually illegal in the United States for the government to propagandize its own citizens. As Barstow’s report demonstrates, these laws have been repeatedly violated, are not enforced and are clearly inadequate. The U.S. Congress therefore needs to investigate this and the rest of the Bush propaganda campaign that sold the war in Iraq.
The attack and occupation of Iraq continues, with no end in sight. Estimates of the number of Iraqi dead range from the hundreds of thousands to more than a million. The cost to American taxpayers will eventually be in the trillions of dollars. More than 4,000 US soldiers have lost their lives, and this is just a part of the horrific toll of mental and physical disability that the war is taking on hundreds of thousands of troops and their families.
This war would never have been possible had the mainstream news media done its job. Instead, it has repeated the Big Lies that sold the war. This war would never have been possible without the millions of dollars spent by the Bush Administration on sophisticated and deceptive public relations techniques such as the Pentagon military analyst program that David Barstow has exposed. It should come as no surprise to anyone that Victoria Clarke, who designed and oversaw this Pentagon propaganda machine, now works as a commentator for TV network news. She may have changed jobs and employers since leaving the Pentagon, but her work remains the same.
John Stauber is the Executive Director of the Center for Media and Democracy.
See More:Propaganda USA NewsHave Your Say: Pentagon Propaganda Worse Than We Thought
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This entry was posted on Saturday, April 26th, 2008 at 5:31 am and is filed under Media News, Political News, Breaking News . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
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