Wednesday, May 14, 2008

The collapse of military morality

It seems that no one has a moral spine anymore. We've reported previously on a story that has been mainly non-reported - the Pentagon's illegal propaganda campaign. So far as I know, the major broadcast networks have yet to mention this incredible breach of trust with the American people. (They wouldn't want to jeopardize their "access" to the seat of power, you know!)

The story first appeared in The New York Times on April 20. It explained how in a covert propaganda campaign, the United States government, "embedded more than 75 retired military officers -- most of them with financial ties to war contractors -- into the TV networks as 'message surrogates' for the Bush administration."

According to Media Watch, these so-called analysts "collectively appeared or were quoted as experts more than 4,500 times on ABC, ABC News Now, CBS, CBS Radio Network, NBC, CNN, CNN Headline News, Fox News, MSNBC, CNBC, and NPR."

All of this is a clear violation of U.S. law.

According to an article by John Stauber at PR Watch, "Congresswoman Rosa L. DeLauro and three dozen colleagues have sent a letter to the Department of Defense Inspector General calling for an investigation of this 'propaganda campaign aimed at deliberately misleading the American public."

Good luck with that! As they do with most everything they see as a threat, the Bushites will simply ignore the letter and our milque-toast Congress will sputter and fume and do absolutely nothing.

Persons interested in further information may go to the official Pentagon website where some 8,000 pages of documents related to this propaganda exercise have been made available:

http://www.dod.mil/pubs/foi/milanalysts/

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

We keep reading and hearing of such things but apparently have no way to make it stop. What has happened to some of our freedoms? Some of the questions never reach a court for an opinion. It appears that even when exposed, it falls on deaf ears. Even if the media reports it, nothing seems to happen. How can we change it? I believe a strict interpretation of the Constitution would insist upon an open government with some checks and balances upon each branch, even in wartime. We are told no one is above the law but it appears some are. If we are in danger of losing our Constitutional rights, isn’t there some way to stop the erosion? We have the freedom to write e-mails or even articles but no way to stop violations of basic rights. That is worrisome and precedents are being established that we will all regret. Imagine the hue and cry when Obama does something Bush did or does if Republicans think it is an invasion of their rights.
Bob Poris

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