Advertising

The Seattle Times Company

NWjobs | NWautos | NWhomes | NWsource | Free Classifieds | seattletimes.com

The Seattle Times

Editorials / Opinion


Our network sites seattletimes.com | Advanced

Originally published May 29, 2008 at 12:00 AM | Page modified June 2, 2008 at 10:07 AM

E-mail article     Print view

The Democracy Papers

Selling a war

The U.S. House of Representatives has angrily and appropriately lashed out at a Pentagon program that used retired senior military officers...

The Democracy Papers is a series of articles, essays and editorial opinion examining threats to our freedoms of speech. Technology has created space for more voices, yet fewer and fewer are heard.

The American press and media are being decimated by consolidation. This transformation from many owners into five or six large corporations and the lessening of small outlets for radio, newspapers, magazines and music are chilling a once robust marketplace of ideas. What should Americans do? This series explores the arguments and the backlash.

Democracy Papers online archive:
www.seattletimes/thedemocracypapers

Daily Democracy, the Democracy Papers blog: blog.seattletimes.nwsource.com/dailydemocracy.

The U.S. House of Representatives has angrily and appropriately lashed out at a Pentagon program that used retired senior military officers as propaganda surrogates to sell the Iraq war.

Americans assumed all those retired generals and admirals appearing as guest experts on news programs and talk shows were unbiased authorities delivering the unvarnished truth. Nope. They were part of a carefully orchestrated effort by the Bush administration to exploit their credibility to push an optimistic view of the war and its progress.The Pentagon's message machine was shielded from view until The New York Times recently exposed the detailed campaign of disinformation. Dozens of officers were flattered and fawned over and spoon-fed information by the Pentagon. Most were already connected to defense contractors with lucrative ties as lobbyists, senior executives, board members or consultants.

Virtually none were inclined to complain when they heard dubious information that contradicted their own experience or independent sources.

The administration was looking for favorable coverage of the war, and worked hard to produce it. The Pentagon's panel of nodding heads was especially useful to counteract bad news, such as the abominable treatment of detainees at the Guantánamo military prison.

The House action, part of a defense-policy bill adopted by a huge margin, calls for the Government Accountability Office to investigate the Pentagon operations. Domestic propaganda had been outlawed in previous legislation.

None of this is journalism by other means. The retired military officials were never to mention their access to the Pentagon or their briefings. Policy dissent was not tolerated, as a truth-teller discovered when he was abruptly dismissed.

In the words of the public-relations executive in charge of the Pentagon program, the administration was looking for information dominance. It is pursuit of message control that would make Vladimir Putin proud.

Two wells are poisoned. The Pentagon is tainted, but the military's corps of retired senior officers is hurt as well. They want to be perceived as the honest brokers between politicians and the public. Instead, they come across as touts pushing a product.

Copyright © 2008 The Seattle Times Company

UPDATE - 02:37 PM
Charles Krauthammer / Syndicated columnist: Iran's leaderless revolution: searching for a Yeltsin

NEW - 02:26 PM
Leonard Pitts Jr. / Syndicated columnist: The triumph and tragedy of Michael Jackson

NEW - 02:48 PM
Leonard Pitts Jr. / Syndicated columnist: What does a homosexual demon look like?

Leonard Pitts Jr. / Syndicated columnist: Social networking in Iran: standing witness, one for another

Advertising

Video

AP Video

Entertainment | Top Video | World | Offbeat Video | Sci-Tech

Marketplace

 
Most read
Most commented
Most e-mailed
 
 
Advertising