[iwar] [fc:Lies,.damned.lies.and.Pentagon.briefings]

From: Fred Cohen (fc@all.net)
Date: 2002-02-25 06:29:53


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Date: Mon, 25 Feb 2002 06:29:53 -0800 (PST)
Subject: [iwar] [fc:Lies,.damned.lies.and.Pentagon.briefings]
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Lies, damned lies and Pentagon briefings 
Oliver Burkeman in New York
Wednesday February 20, 2002
&lt;A HREF="http://www.guardian.co.uk/"The 
Guardian&lt;/A 

Fresh from dropping anti-Taliban leaflets over the mountains of Afghanistan, 
the secretive propaganda arm of the US military is planning to bring the 
battle for hearts and minds closer to home, by planting fake news stories in 
the media outlets of America's allies, it was reported yesterday. Stung by 
criticism of the war against terrorism, the Pentagon's little-known office of 
strategic influence is preparing to feed misinformation to foreign news 
organisations in friendly nations, military officials told the New York 
Times. 

It quoted an unnamed senior Pentagon official as saying the office's 
operations would go "from the blackest of black to the whitest of white", 
using the military's terms for false and true propaganda. The plan has 
outraged other Pentagon departments because it could undermine the 
credibility of information given out by the defence department's press 
spokespeople. "Everybody understands using information operations to go after 
non-friendlies; when people get uncomfortable is when people use the same 
tools and tactics on friendlies," another military official told the 
newspaper. 

It might also be illegal: the US government is banned from spreading 
misinformation at home, and some in the department fear that stories planted 
in foreign publications might be reproduced in America. The Pentagon would 
not discuss the allegations yesterday, but the cold war-style campaign seems 
well-advanced. The OSI has hired a Washington consulting firm, the Rendon 
Group, whose previous clients range from the Kuwaiti royal family to the New 
Zealand milk marketing board, on a contract worth about $100,000 (£70,000) a 
month. 

"We have a confidentiality agreement regarding our contract with the 
department of defence," a spokeswoman for the group said yesterday. "The 
contract really prevents me from telling you anything, frustrating though 
that is." The army's psychological operations command, or "psyops", will also 
help to carry out the plan. 

Among the OSI's other ingenious strategies, the newspaper reported, is a plan 
to send emails to foreign leaders and journalists presenting America in a 
good light and disparaging its enemies. Many senior defence personnel know 
little of the OSI, which was established after September 11 to shore up 
support, especially in Muslim countries, for the Bush administration's war on 
terror. It is understood to have a multi-million dollar share of the extra 
$10bn made available to the Pentagon in the aftermath of the terrorist 
attacks. The president has not yet approved the misinformation campaign, 
pending the go-ahead from the Pentagon lawyer. 

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