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[QUOTE]Originally posted by Grokca: [QB] US Ministry of Propaganda? [QUOTE]Pentagon's false-news plan sets off alarm bells By JOHN IBBITSON With reports from AP, Reuters and AFP Wednesday, February 20, 2002 � Print Edition, Page A1 WASHINGTON -- Defence and media experts were alarmed yesterday by a report that a little-known Pentagon office wants to plant false stories in the international media to bolster support for the U.S. war on terrorism. The New York Times said that the Office of Strategic Influence, which was established after Sept. 11, is proposing to plant news stories -- some of which may be deliberately false -- with foreign media, using outside publicity firms or manufactured agencies to cover the source of the information. "We shouldn't be in that business. Leave the propaganda leaks to the CIA, the spooks," one defence official said. Media analysts agreed. "Setting out to deliberately lie or 'spread misinformation' can't have anything but a terrible impact down the road for any nation that claims to be an open and democratic society," Freedom Forum analyst Paul McMasters said. "The only thing more dangerous than reacting in panic is to set out on a deliberate policy of lying and deception, where it is next to impossible for ordinary people, Americans or otherwise, to know what is the truth and what is a lie." Such policies could also put U.S. journalists in harm's way while they are reporting overseas, "even more than they are now," Mr. McMasters said. "There is already the perception among some abroad that American journalists are instruments of American foreign policy, in league with government agencies," he said, pointing to the kidnapping of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl in Pakistan as an example. The proposal has not been finalized, sources in the Pentagon and State Department said. Nor has the idea of deliberately misinforming media outlets been submitted to U.S. Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld for approval. Mr. Rumsfeld, who has become something of a media darling in his Pentagon press briefings, promised reporters after the Sept. 11 attacks that he would never lie to them. "The mission is being carefully reviewed by the Pentagon," Defence Department spokesman Bryan Whitman said yesterday. "We're trying to make clear distinctions on the appropriateness of who does what when it comes to effective communications." But although there was little detailed information about the new office available to the media, an official confirmed that its activities could include "black" disinformation, which the Times said could include false reports e-mailed to foreign journalists, government officials and civic leaders. "The return address will probably be a dot.com, not a dot.mil," the official was quoted as saying. Another way could be to contract publicity firms to promote the stories, without revealing their source. The Central Intelligence Agency has long used covert disinformation campaigns in unfriendly countries. However, those operations require presidential approval and may not target U.S. citizens. But critics said false information sent to foreign outlets will doubtless filter back to the United States. "Anything they spread overseas will come back here, because information travels so quickly. . . . Our own population will then hear it and believe it," said Shibley Telhami, Middle East expert at Washington's Brookings Institution. "It will affect our decisions, and I see that as a tremendous danger." The U.S. government worries it is losing public support overseas, especially among Muslims who believe the United States is hostile toward Islam. "This is a battle for minds," deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz said yesterday in a speech to U.S. defence contractors. "Our victory on the ground in Afghanistan has already changed substantially how this conflict is perceived, even in the Muslim world." Mr. Wolfowitz did not comment directly on the proposed new campaign. During the Second World War, the United States and other allied governments had great success in spreading disinformation that hampered the German war effort, in particular convincing Hitler that the D-Day landings would occur at Calais, not Normandy. [/QUOTE]Makes you wonder if we are getting the truth about anything. They claim this has not been approved but is that just put out as dis-information about this department. [/QB][/QUOTE]
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