Pentagon Suspends Program for Military ‘Media Analysts’
The Pentagon has suspended a public affairs program that has come under fire for using retired military “media analysts” as surrogates to get out its messages on the Iraq war, a spokesman confirmed Monday.
Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said the program was undergoing an internal review following criticism that the retired officers offered Pentagon talking points as their own during the run-up to the Iraq invasion and thereafter.
“It’s temporarily suspended so we can take at look at some of the concerns,” said Whitman.
Teleconferences and briefings for the military analysts have been halted pending the review, which is being conducted by the Pentagon’s public affairs office, he said.
US Defense Secretary Robert Gates has not directly addressed the issue since the New York Times carried a lengthy report on the program April 20, except to say that the analysts should make clear they were speaking only for themselves.
The New York Times found that the Pentagon laid on special briefings and conference calls for the retired officers, many of whom then repeated the talking points as military experts on television news shows.
The Times also found that many of the media analysts also worked as consultants or served on the boards of defense contracting companies, but that those ties often went undisclosed to the public.
The only time Gates has met with the military media analysts was in March 2007, Whitman said, revising his earlier recollection that the secretary met with them in September.
Whitman said the program was designed to provide information to the US public “by any number of means, the media being one of them — analytical assessments and discussions on network television is another.”
He said the Pentagon also interacted with bloggers, corporate leaders and education leaders as part of the effort to reach out to the public.
© 2008 Agence France Presse
What’s the matter Pentagon? Found out that one of your black ops propaganda schemes was made public?
Gee thats really a shame that you had to pull your operatives out of the fake news business.
What will a retired general do now, with all that time on their hands? Maybe you can hire them as a counsultant to help plan the overthrow of the government and install a military dictatorship, oh I forgot, as long as you have a republican in office, you can do what ever you want anyway.
They got caught.
They’ll just wait until a manufactured scandal creates a suitable smokescreen.
Then the military pundits will be back.
“…the Pentagon also interacted with bloggers, corporate leaders and education leaders as part of the effort to reach out to the public.”
Reach out to the public and help them feel good about the bad decisions being made. Stop acting like you want to reach out for a hug, big brother.
As I’ve been saying for years now, only to be proven correct.
Operation Mockingbird 2.0 is alive and well.
By the early 1950s…(the State Dept.) owned respected members of the New York Times, Newsweek, CBS and other communications vehicles, plus stringers, four to six hundred in all, according to a former CIA analyst….Early MOCKINGBIRD influenced 25 newspapers and wire agencies consenting to act as organs of CIA propaganda.”
- former Village Voice Reporter Deborah Davis commenting on the CIA Program Operation Mockingbird to infiltrate the media
I think it would be super cool if a bunch retired military
officers were come out publically denouncing the war, just
as at least 50 former officers are on record as saying that
9-11 was an inside job
Gone fishin’ in the Florida Keys on their big Yachts
It’s certainly about time that ‘experts’ are viewed with suspicion regarding their spin-
Especially if they have never been to the regions they expound upon,
And most certainly we the people should question those who fuel the flames of fear and hatred:
Cases in Point:
WAWA Blog February 26, 2008: The Walid Shoebat Show and “America is Beautiful, but she has an ugly side”-Neil Young
http://www.wearewideawake.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=814&Itemid=197
March 30, 2008: Orwell meets Vanunu and The Industrial Military Media Security/Surveillance Complex
http://www.wearewideawake.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=860&Itemid=198
Eileen Fleming, Reporter and Editor WAWA:
http://www.wearewideawake.org/
Author “Keep Hope Alive” and “Memoirs of a Nice Irish American ‘Girl’s’ Life in Occupied Territory”
Producer “30 Minutes With Vanunu” and “13 Minutes with Vanunu”
we are all pawns including the pentegon for filling the pockets of the corpirate oil nazis, arab and american!!!… along with the fear mongering to sell more uneeded weapons, in a world already “doused with gasoline”,,,
technically, if I were a prescient being from another part of this galaxy, I would be appalled at the irresponsible and immature actions of the leaders and lemmings on this planet, hording, conniving, killing, letting starve, sicknesses, cureable and withheld, sick and sad, reporting back, I would say let them destroy themselves…their almost there,,,even warnings from the Ultimate creator beings about loving one another or doom; go unheeded,,, “he who destroys the earth, him God will destry…” Rev: 11:7-11, or “whoever says he loves God and hates his brother is a liar…”
The person who owns the storytellers wons the minds of the listeners.
GATES SAYS 1 plus 1 = 1
MEXICO CITY - Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Tuesday that sending a second U.S. aircraft carrier to the Persian Gulf is not an escalation of force.
Speaking to reporters after meeting with Mexican leaders, Gates said heightening U.S. criticism of Iran and its support for terror groups is not a signal that the administration is laying the groundwork for a strike against Tehran
The Times also found that many of the media analysts also worked as consultants or served on the boards of defense contracting companies, but that those ties often went undisclosed to the public.
Kind of irrevelvent really, when the media these shills are appering on is OWNED by the defence contractors.
It depends on the stations who they hire as military experts. Many of them are not pro Iraqi war. Most of the news programs are not pro war and don’t hire experts they know they will disagree with. You have to judge the expert according to the network he works for.