Truemors
PENTAGON PUNDIT SCANDAL BROKE THE LAW !
I would like tonight to call for a removal, an immediate removal, of all US troops from CBS, ABC, NBC, Fox, CNN, NBC, all of them. - MICHAEL MOORE
SHOCKING UPDATE
Pentagon Pundit Scandal Broke the Law
by Diane Farsetta and Sheldon Rampton
The Pentagon military analyst program unveiled in last week's expose by David Barstow in the New York Times was not just unethical but illegal. It violates, for starters, specific restrictions that Congress has been placing in its annual appropriation bills every year since 1951. According to those restrictions, "No part of any appropriation contained in this or any other Act shall be used for publicity or propaganda purposes within the United States not heretofore authorized by the Congress."
As explained in a March 21, 2005 report by the Congressional Research Service, "publicity or propaganda" is defined by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) to mean either (1) self-aggrandizement by public officials, (2) purely partisan activity, or (3) "covert propaganda." By covert propaganda, GAO means information which originates from the government but is unattributed and made to appear as though it came from a third party.
This morning the Huffington Post is questioning our darling industrial-media-complex about their shameful disregard of democracy …
"A cynical, mercenary, demagogic press will produce in time a people as base as itself" - Joseph Pulitzer
Shameful Days: Why Won't The Media Pursue the Pentagon Propaganda Scandal?
Arianna Huffington: On April 20th, the New York Times published its expose of the Bush administration's use of Pentagon-approved, "military analysts" to appear on TV to help sell the invasion of Iraq. It was a major story -- a damning indictment of the mainstream media's complicity in the wholesale deception of the American public on the decision to go to war. But since it appeared, the MSM have all but ignored the story. This near-complete blackout imposed by the culpable news organizations is a despicable abdication of their role as a constitutionally protected check on our government. Fitzgerald said there were no second acts in American life. And it seems as if the MSM are committed to there being no second act to this scandal. Click here to read more.
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Just in case Americans still fancy themselves as living in a democracy; the Pentagon has it’s dirty laudry jiggled in front of it's all seing eyes. The rest of us are left jawslacked realising the don’t give a flying whoot about democracy, fair play or enev an appearance of it. Not that we already had a few questions for our darling media. But hey, can we survive economic slaughter and still have time left to defend the principles this nation was been build upon ?
Media critics have long pointed out the discrepancy between the overwhelming number of pro-war military voices versus the almost complete absence of antiwar voices.
It turns out the pro-war slant of military analysts was in fact part of a carefully orchestrated propaganda effort from the Pentagon. The New York Times has revealed the Pentagon recruited more than seventy-five retired military officers to appear on TV outlets as so-called military analysts ahead of the Iraq war. Newly disclosed Pentagon documents repeatedly refer to the military analysts as “message force multipliers” or “surrogates” who could be counted on to deliver administration themes and messages to millions of Americans in the form of their own opinions.
The so-called analysts were given classified Pentagon briefings, provided with Pentagon-approved talking points and given free trips to Iraq and other sites paid for by the Pentagon. Their involvement was ultimately approved by then-Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. Retired Green Beret Robert Bevelacqua, a former Fox News analyst, said, “It was [the Pentagon] saying, ‘We need to stick our hands up your back and move your mouth for you.’”
The Pentagon even hired a private contractor to monitor the analysts’ broadcast interviews. Brent Krueger, a senior official who helped oversee the propaganda effort, said, “We were able to click on every single station, and every one of our folks were up there delivering our message. You’d look at them and say, ‘This is working.’”
The propaganda campaign also extended into the nation’s newspapers. Nine of the Pentagon-connected analysts wrote op-ed articles for the New York Times, and the Pentagon helped two retired military officers write a piece for the Wall Street Journal.
Many of the same retired military officers also have ties to military contractors vested in the very war policies they were asked to assess on air. In interviews, at least two so-called analysts admitted to deliberately tempering their on-air comments out of fear of losing military contracts for their firms. Officials from NBC, CBS, ABC and CNN all admitted to being unaware of their analysts business interests in the war. Fox News declined to comment for the New York Times.
The Times reports the Pentagon continues to use the analysts in a propaganda campaign to generate favorable news coverage of the administration’s wartime performance. - AMY GOODMAN
I think that there are about four or five levels of problems here. The most profound and the most painful is their disdain of the Pentagon for democracy. I mean, think about it. What we have seen, this is a part of the campaign. They don’t believe in democracy. They don’t believe that the American people, if given the truth, will come to a good decision. That’s very painful.
The second thing is about the military analysts themselves. They were being given these briefings, but none of them ever said that they were provided this inside information.
And then, I think the third thing is the networks themselves. They wanted cheerleaders, and they could have—without knowing the background that the analysts were being given inside information, they wanted cheerleaders, and they knew that cheerleaders gave them access. So, I mean, there are really some serious problems from top to bottom on this. - COL. SAM GARDINER
So what else is new ?
“When will the American people actually vote to give to the world more than bombs and missiles, sweatshops, dubious science, frankenfood, poverty and misery?” - Cynthia McKinney
“Everything in war is barbaric... But the worst barbarity of war is that it forces men collectively to commit acts against which individually they would revolt with their whole being.“ - Ellen Key
Ignorance is the downfall of all cultures and we are about to hit bottom.
While on the other hand...
We take the pain and the fight or become slaves.
Meanwhile...
"We are watching a poorly staged rendition of Wag the Dog , interpreted for the morbidly stupid and performed by the criminally insane." - Jules Carlysle
UPDATE
MEDIA IGNORE PENTAGON PUNDITS SCANDAL
CAUGHT: Pentagon pundits on TV news
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQP7ASBdwdo&feature=related
EXPOSED: Media ignore Pentagon Pundits scandal
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ksSGdh-Sox4
Time for you to take action.
TAKE ACTION HERE: http://FreePress.net
Mainstream media are ignoring one of the biggest political scandals in recent memory.
Demand a full Congressional investigation here: http://freepress.net
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The Media Refuses To Keep Government Honest |
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Comments (21)
at 14:45 on August 2nd, 2008
Embedding Military Propagandists into the News Media
by John Stauber
David Barstow of the New York Times has written the first installment in what is already a stunning expose of the Bush Administration's most powerful propaganda weapon used to sell and manage the war on Iraq: the embedding of military propagandists directly into the TV networks as on-air commentators. We and others have long criticized the widespread TV network practice of hiring former military officials to serve as analysts, but even in our most cynical moments we did not anticipate how bad it was. Barstow has painstakingly documented how these analysts, most of them military industry consultants and lobbyists, were directly chosen, managed, coordinated and given their talking points by the Pentagon's ministers of propaganda.
at 14:23 on April 23rd, 2008
Media's Military Analysts Involved in "Psyops on Steroids"
Source: New York Times, April 20, 2008
In early 2002, as "detailed planning for a possible Iraq invasion" began, then-Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs Victoria Clarke launched the Pentagon military analyst program as "the main focus of the public relations push to construct a case for war," reports David Barstow. The gist of the program was the recruitment of "key influentials" to help sell a wary public on the war. The former Hill & Knowlton executive and her senior aide, Brent Krueger, signed up more than 75 retired military officers, who appeared on television and radio news shows as military analysts, and/or penned newspaper op/ed columns. The Pentagon referred to the military analysts as "message force multipliers" or "surrogates," and held weekly meetings with them, which continue to this day. The Defense Department also paid for some analysts to travel to Iraq and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, encouraging them to counter negative press with Pentagon talking points. Former NBC military analyst Kenneth Allard called the effort "psyops on steroids." Many of the analysts were also lobbyists for defense contractors, and boasted of their Pentagon access to potential clients. This financial conflict discouraged the analysts from questioning or criticizing the Pentagon's claims. The Pentagon also tracked what the analysts said, via a six-figure contract with Omnitec Solutions, as William Cowan learned. He was fired from the Pentagon analysts group after saying on Fox News that the United States was "not on a good glide path right now" in Iraq.
at 16:08 on April 23rd, 2008
Thank God for President Bush and his ability to stand strong against the know-nothings.
at 16:28 on April 23rd, 2008
White Noise, I like this story
at 20:32 on April 23rd, 2008
White Noise, I am a conservative, folks cll me a neo-con, they don't know what they are talking about. bushes idea of taking a war to Iraq was to get rid of Saddam as well as pull in AL-quaida to the region to fight them there. I am not one who believes that we should take per-emptive action unless we know beyond a shawdow of a doubt that we will be attacked. When I was in the military we had a-10s go up and down the Alaska pipe line because we rely thought that he had the capacity to attack us in our homeland. I was stationed in Alaska in 1988-1992 we were deployed to Iraq per army needs. I am glad he is gone but a the same time I don't like the idea of our troops being in Iraq for the long term. Iraq government is a new democracy. What was America like in its first five years? A mess.
I want America to be a defensive nation. But if you look at the way we are set up we are not in a defensive posture. America needs to wise up and be a nation that helps those in need without the desire for a strategic posture.
When I look at the bible i see those who give to the nerdy will prosper. Those who live by the sword will die by the sword.
Let America take heed to the needs of nations like Haiti who have nothing to give us. That is where we should focus
at 14:50 on August 2nd, 2008
Dear Politiste,
Look who's in first and last on this list provided by our own CIA…
Rank Order - Current account balancehttps://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2187rank.html One could think the citizen’s money could be more wisely spent at home than on some… poorly staged rendition of Wag the Dog, interpreted for the morbidly stupid and performed by the criminally insane. - Jules CarlysleI’m just sick & tired of seeing the little people used, abused & oh so confused by this executive branch, whom I think belongs in prison for treason & war crimes.
Now about what they have done to the American people…
We have watched assets shifted out of governments and central banks worldwide and moved into private hands at below-market prices-or simply stolen-while liabilities have been shifted back, often for free. Governments are not so much being privatized as piratized. - Catherine Austin Fitts "Private interests have looted the treasury, and the administration has sanctioned unrestrained fraud and corruption. We have watched Congress and the press become weak and willing handmaidens to those who would rip apart the fabric and laws of our democratic society. We hunger for the restoration of hope, common sense and purpose." - Jann S. Wenner 10/26/07 RS40 This explains a lot... HIGHEST BIDDER“When will the American people actually vote to give to the world more than bombs and missiles, sweatshops, dubious science, frankenfood, poverty and misery?” - Cynthia McKinney
Everything in war is barbaric... But the worst barbarity of war is that it forces men collectively to commit acts against which individually they would revolt with their whole being. - Ellen Key
Ignorance is the downfall of all cultures and we are about to hit bottom.
While on the other hand...
We take the pain and the fight or become slaves.
EXECUTIVE RESUME
at 14:30 on April 24th, 2008
White Noise, you've convinced me you've done the work - it's authentic. I also think that you've been fair and thorough. I didn't get the sense that you were hiding your biases, or passing off other's work as your own. Or worse -- getting paid by those you cover -- so it's transparent and independent. I also think you deserve praise for being an eyewitness, and for your investigative efforts. Good stuff.
at 14:32 on April 24th, 2008
Uh, the flag comment didn't let me say anything.
what an incredible amount of work providing all those reference links. What is that CIA account rank page all about. It wouldn't let me scroll down and froze my browser. I had to force quit.
at 15:37 on April 24th, 2008
Dear René,
Thanks for the flowers ;)
Seems like the CIA is not 100% reliable...
Here it is for all to see. These numbers bring the whole shabang into perspective indeed.
For Americans, who like to brag about being No1... It is a rude awakening but I'm affraid this is but the opening salvo of an economic war that future generations will read about in history books and will make FDR's Economic Bill of Rights an ideal to shoot for.
at 14:53 on August 2nd, 2008
A MOCKERY OF DEMOCRACY ! Check the "Ring of Fire's Weekly News Vol. 7" segment at Go Left TV (www.goleft.tv ) for an assessment of what should have been the story of the year but was overshadowed by flag pins & elitist rhetoric (it seems like being able to read a book could now become a capital crime ;) Anywho… Robert Kennedy jr & Pap are giving us the lowdown on this "Pentagate" affair that underlines the complete lack of public respect & basic decency by the industrial military/media complex that is leading us all into oblivion. SUBSIDIZING CORPORATE CRIME & REWARDING CONSTITUTIONAL ABUSES * Government handouts to corporations might seem untenable at a time when more and more Americans suffer every day from the impacts of a mounting economic crisis. Yet efforts to bolster the economy have largely taken the form of corporate welfare — much like an appalling effort, in the closing days of the Bush administration, to subsidize corporate violations of the rule of law and individual liberties. By Shahid Buttar After the Federal Reserve's $30 billion bailout for investment bank Bear Stearns last month came the Senate's recent decision to set aside $25 billion in tax breaks for corporate homebuilders, and then last week's revelation of "a historic collapse in audits" of major corporations by the IRS. All three stories prompted outrage from observers noting the implications for American workers. BAILOUT BONANZA By Ralph Nader * As large corporations, and their trade associations, complete their takeover of the federal government—a process that President Franklin Delano Roosevelt called fascism in 1938—the corporations become the government. Just look at the recent headlines in the business press. Article after article features abuses and over-runs by companies contracting with the Department of Defense and other agencies. The enormous volumes of waste, fraud and poor delivery affecting the Iraq war-occupation now only produces ho hum newspaper and television stories.The New York Times' prize-winning reporter David Cay Johnston, has written two books "Perfectly Legal" and just recently, the best seller "Free Lunch" that document these megatrends of corporate socialism—privatizing corporate profits and socializing corporate losses on the backs of individual taxpayers. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT INCREASINGLY AVOIDING CORPORATE PROCECUTIONS * Smack in the middle of the biggest corporatte crime wave in history * The Justice Department has put off prosecuting more than fifty companies suspected of wrongdoing over the last three years. Info at www.corporatecrimereporter.com The corporate crime lobby, both Democrats and Republicans, have for years, throughout most of the century, wanted to get rid of corporate criminal liability. And the Chicago School theorists put it this way: a corporation is not a person. Or as Jeffrey Parker put it, a corporation has no mind and therefore can commit no crime. And if a corporation isn't a person, it shouldn't be treated as a person in the criminal justice system. That's their argument. If a corporation is not a person and shouldn't be treated as a person in the criminal justice system, then it shouldn't have the constitutional rights of a person. It should be stripped of its rights to free speech, commercial and political speech. It should be stripped of its rights to a trial by jury. It should be stripped of its protection against unreasonable searches and seizures. You can't have it both ways, but they want it both ways. "THE DECRIMINALIZATION OF CORPORATE CRIME" - With our economic and financial crises deepening, government insiders reportedly are debating whether we need to restore some regulation—or not. Given the state of things, we can expect further woes and no regulation. by Stanley Kutlerat 15:02 on August 2nd, 2008
The Pentagon Strangles Our Economy: Why the U.S. Has Gone Broke
By Chalmers Johnson, Le Monde diplomatiquehttp://www.alternet.org/story/83555/
EXCERPT
The military adventurers in the Bush administration have much in common with the corporate leaders of the defunct energy company Enron. Both groups thought that they were the "smartest guys in the room" -- the title of Alex Gibney's prize-winning film on what went wrong at Enron. The neoconservatives in the White House and the Pentagon outsmarted themselves. They failed even to address the problem of how to finance their schemes of imperialist wars and global domination.
As a result, going into 2008, the United States finds itself in the anomalous position of being unable to pay for its own elevated living standards or its wasteful, overly large military establishment. Its government no longer even attempts to reduce the ruinous expenses of maintaining huge standing armies, replacing the equipment that seven years of wars have destroyed or worn out, or preparing for a war in outer space against unknown adversaries. Instead, the Bush administration puts off these costs for future generations to pay or repudiate. This fiscal irresponsibility has been disguised through many manipulative financial schemes (causing poorer countries to lend us unprecedented sums of money), but the time of reckoning is fast approaching.
There are three broad aspects to the U.S. debt crisis. First, in the current fiscal year (2008) we are spending insane amounts of money on "defense" projects that bear no relation to the national security of the U.S. We are also keeping the income tax burdens on the richest segment of the population at strikingly low levels.
Second, we continue to believe that we can compensate for the accelerating erosion of our base and our loss of jobs to foreign countries through massive military expenditures -- "military Keynesianism" (which I discuss in detail in my book Nemesis: The Last Days of the American Republic). By that, I mean the mistaken belief that public policies focused on frequent wars, huge expenditures on weapons and munitions, and large standing armies can indefinitely sustain a wealthy capitalist economy. The opposite is actually true.
Third, in our devotion to militarism (despite our limited resources), we are failing to invest in our social infrastructure and other requirements for the long-term health of the U.S. These are what economists call opportunity costs, things not done because we spent our money on something else. Our public education system has deteriorated alarmingly. We have failed to provide health care to all our citizens and neglected our responsibilities as the world's number one polluter. Most important, we have lost our competitiveness as a manufacturer for civilian needs, an infinitely more efficient use of scarce resources than arms manufacturing.
Fiscal disaster
It is virtually impossible to overstate the profligacy of what our government spends on the military. The Department of Defense's planned expenditures for the fiscal year 2008 are larger than all other nations' military budgets combined. The supplementary budget to pay for the current wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, not part of the official defense budget, is itself larger than the combined military budgets of Russia and China. Defense-related spending for fiscal 2008 will exceed $1 trillion for the first time in history. The U.S. has become the largest single seller of arms and munitions to other nations on Earth. Leaving out President Bush's two on-going wars, defense spending has doubled since the mid-1990s. The defense budget for fiscal 2008 is the largest since the second world war.
© 2008 Le Monde diplomatique All rights reserved.
View this story online at: http://www.alternet.org/story/83555/
at 15:00 on August 2nd, 2008
The Pentagon's Puppets
The Bush administration has covertly tried to influence public opinion in its favor throughout the Iraq war, planting stories in Iraqi newspapers and disseminating misleading polls. Last week, The New York Times reported that the Pentagon has been using more than 75 "military analysts" as "puppets," revealing one of the most extensive attempts at domestic propaganda in this war. These retired military officials, many of whom have contracting business with the government, have pushed the Bush administration's talking points but without revealing their contracts with the Pentagon. In a disturbing tit-for-tat, analysts admitted that they were reluctant to buck the Bush administration out of fear that they might lose access to future briefings and information. "Our military services have an important story to tell, and public affairs offices are critical to that task," said Rep. Ike Skelton (D-MO) on the House floor this pasts week. "But credibility is paramount. Once lost, it is difficult or impossible to regain."
PRIVILEGED ACCESS: Day after day, the American public has watched distinguished retired military officers go on television and assess progress in the Iraq war. Many of these analysts, however, were repeating talking points given to them during private briefings by the administration, using this special access "as a marketing and networking opportunity or as a window into future business possibilities." They were all instructed to not "quote their briefers directly or otherwise describe their contacts with the Pentagon." "It was them saying, 'We need to stick our hands up your back and move your mouth for you,'" said Robert S. Bevelacqua, a retired Green Beret and former Fox News analyst. Certainly not all retired military officials have parroted Pentagon talking points. Last year, for example, CBS asked Iraq veteran Gen. John Batiste to step down as a consultant because he appeared in a VoteVets ad criticizing the war. A CBS vice president justified the network's decision by saying of Batiste, "By putting himself front and center in an anti-Bush ad, the viewer might have the feeling everything he says is anti-Bush." The largest contingent of "puppets" was affiliated with Fox News, followed by MSNBC and CNN, although analysts also appeared on CBS and ABC. At least nine of them wrote op-eds for The New York Times. After significant public outcry, the Pentagon announced last week that it would be temporarily suspending the program, pending a review of the situation.
MEDIA BLACKOUT: "The degree of behind-the-scenes manipulation -- including regular briefings by then-defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld and other officials -- is striking, as is the lack of disclosure by the networks of some of these government and business connections," wrote Washington Post media reporter Howard Kurtz last week, who also addressed the controversy on CNN. On the whole, however, the media have been disappointingly silent on their role in the Pentagon's scheme since the story broke last week. On Thursday, PBS's News Hour did a lengthy segment on the scandal, but it could not convince the other networks to join in. "And for the record, we invited Fox News, CNN, MSNBC, CBS, ABC and NBC to participate," said senior correspondent Judy Woodruff, "but they declined our offer or did not respond." Since The New York Times report, Fox News has repeatedly used quotes from one of the military analysts named in the story, without mentioning his ties to the Pentagon. Several conservatives have also rushed to dismiss the expose. Council on Foreign Relations Senior Fellow Max Boot said simply, "All this is part and parcel of the daily grind of Washington journalism." Neoconservative pundit John Podhoretz added that the revelations showed "nothing more than that the Pentagon treated former military personnel like VIPs."
PATTERN OF PROPAGANDA: While The New York Times's revelation was galling, it was hardly the first instance of abuse of public information by the Bush administration. In 2005, the Los Angeles Times revealed that the U.S. military was "secretly paying Iraqi newspapers to publish stories written by American troops in an effort to burnish the image of the US mission in Iraq." However, most of those stories were presented as "unbiased news accounts written and reported by independent journalists." Officials said the stories were "basically factual" but would often "present only one side of events and omit information that might reflect poorly on the US or Iraqi governments." Even at this time, conservatives were backing the Bush administration's propaganda. The National Review's Stephen Spruiell said, "We need more operations like this in Iraq, and more respect for their classified nature." Also in 2005, then-Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Gen. Richard Myers touted poll results of Iraqis that supposedly demonstrated the insurgency was losing political steam, without revealing that the poll surveyed only Iraqis who had actively worked against the insurgents. More recently, in October 2007, it was revealed that the U.S. military was attempting to use funds from the independent military newspaper Stars and Stripes to bolster a PR campaign, which some Pentagon officials described as "tax-payer-funded propaganda."
at 15:11 on August 2nd, 2008
Which Is Worse: the Pentagon or the Media?
Apparently the Defense Department felt the pressure - I have no idea from whom - sufficient to stop feeding information to retired generals who play pundits on TV.Funny, because there has not been one stitch of coverage of this important issue in virtually any broadcast news outlet, while the retired generals remain on their payrolls. You'd think that for the Pentagon to shut down a program that gave them obvious benefits, they would have to feel some public outcry, which would arise from, you know, wide reporting on the matter. True, Democrats are finally coming around to speaking out about this issue, including Rep. Ike Skelton (chair of the House Armed Services Committee), Rep. Rosa DeLauro and even the Presidential candidates. Certainly, Skelton could haul Pentagon brass into hearings and make things very uncomfortable, and their suspension of the program could be a pre-emptive strike. But the fact that DeLauro sent letters to the heads of the television networks asking for details about the Pentagon pundits, and while the Defense Department shut down the program, the broadcast media did ZIPPO, shows you how deeply corrupt and desirous of avoiding responsibility they are.
In fact, I would go so far as to say that the Pentagon, George Bush's Pentagon, is showing themselves to be MORE accountable to the public than the traditional broadcast media. That's a pretty low bar, and the media couldn't get over it. On the other hand, they must be really proud of the Miley Cyrus topless story.
Glenn Greenwald has more.
© 2008 Hullabaloo All rights reserved.View this story online at: http://www.alternet.org/bloggers/http://www.digbysblog.blogspot.com//83854/
at 13:46 on May 1st, 2008
Seems like almost everybody is in collusion. All so-called representatives, party members, Fed Reserve board, and all corporation executives and board members (incestuous, since many are on several boards). And they all should be held responsible. Start taking apart the corporations that have gobbled up smaller companies, including publishing and media. Reveal the major investors who influence corporation policy and hold them also responsible. Particularly those corporations who 'count' the votes and voters.
Jack Anderson revealed how major Republicans and their families were heavily involved in illegal drug trade back in the 70s. Is it any different now?
But who is going to try to correct all these problems? The misinformed public whose lives are being torn apart by these criminals? What happened to equal time for political candidates on the media? Why do they have to have so much money to run a campaign? This is what makes them so susceptible to being bought.
Don't call the American people apathetic. We have tried and been taken for a ride by both parties. We are still trying. But our tools have been subverted and taken away from us.
at 13:47 on May 1st, 2008
Our media should not be owned by foreign powers or persons!
at 14:31 on May 1st, 2008
Indeed...
"A cynical, mercenary, demagogic press will produce in time a people as base as itself " - Joseph Pulitzer
I'm afraid that..
"America is the first empire to go from barbarity to decadence without going through civilization" - Oscar Wilde
or at least...
"The civilized have created the wretched, quite coldly and deliberately, and do not intend to change the status quo; are responsible for their slaughter and enslavement; rain down bombs on defenseless children whenever and wherever they decide that their 'vital interests' are menaced, and think nothing of torturing a man to death: these people are not to be taken seriously when they speak of the 'sanctity' of human life, or the conscience' of the civilized world." - James Baldwin
Any which way, we are in a lot of trouble and when things are going to change my friend is just everybody’s guess...
"So I’m watching & I’m waiting, hopping for the best. Even think I’ll go to praying everytime I hear them say that there is no way to delay that trouble coming everyday" – Frank Zappa
at 15:15 on August 2nd, 2008
What the Pentagon Pundits Were Selling on the Side
By Diane Farsetta, Center for Media and Democracy
The Pentagon launched its covert media analyst program in 2002, to sell the Iraq war. Later, it was used to sell an image of progress in Afghanistan, whitewash the U.S. detention center at Guantanamo Bay, and defend the Bush administration's warrantless wiretapping, as David Barstow reported in his New York Times expose.
But the pundits weren't just selling government talking points. As Robert Bevelacqua, William Cowan and Carlton Sherwood enjoyed high-level Pentagon access through the analyst program, their WVC3 Group sought "contracts worth tens of millions to supply body armor and counterintelligence services in Iraq," reported Barstow. Cowan admitted to "push[ing] hard" on a WVC3 contract, during a Pentagon-funded trip to Iraq.
Then there's Pentagon pundit Robert H. Scales Jr. The military firm he co-founded in 2003, Colgen, has an interesting range of clients, from the Central Intelligence Agency and U.S. Special Operations Command, to Pfizer and Syracuse University, to Fox News and National Public Radio.
Of the 27 Pentagon pundits named publicly to date, six are registered as federal lobbyists. That's in addition to the less formal -- and less transparent -- boardroom to war-room influence peddling described above. (There are "more than 75 retired officers" who took part in the Pentagon program overall, according to Barstow.)
The Pentagon pundits' lobbying disclosure forms help chart what can only be called a military-industrial-media complex. They also make clear that war is very good for at least some kinds of business.
Some disclosures we would have liked to see
Fox News analystTimur J. Eads works for the military contractor Blackbird Technologies. His job title there, "vice-president of government relations," is often used to describe someone who crafts lobbying strategies but may not take part in lobbying meetings. So, it's not surprising that Eads isn't listed on Blackbird's lobbying disclosure forms. (In 2007 and 2008, Blackbird lobbied Congress on "communications technologies" and the National Guard on "information systems.")
From 2001 to 2003, Eads was in the lobbying trenches for EMC Corporation, a multinational "information infrastructure" company. Eads helped lobby Congress and a long list of federal agencies -- including the Air Force, Army, Marine Corps, Navy and Coast Guard -- for "funding for data storage infrastructure." EMC's annual report (PDF) for 2003 lists the Air Force Materiel Command and Pentagon Renovation and Construction Program Office among its U.S. government clients.
Prior to EMC, Eads lobbied for the major defense contractor Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC). In 1999 and 2000, he was on SAIC's million-dollar-plus lobbying team, influencing federal spending on the armed services, foreign operations, national security and Veterans Administration, among many other appropriations bills.
Another Fox analyst and Pentagon pundit, John C. Garrett, has an even longer list of lobbying clients. He's worked for the Patton Boggs firm since at least 1999. Thanks to the Pentagon analyst program, Garrett offers clients the benefits of his "weekly access and briefings with the secretary of defense, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and other high level policy makers," as Barstow noted.
Garrett has helped Bushmaster Firearms lobby Congress, the Defense and Homeland Security Departments on the "procurement of small arms" and "foreign military sales of small arms." He's lobbied Congress and Homeland Security on "government smart card initiatives," for the Datacard Group; the Defense and Homeland Security Departments on "foreign military sales," for Empresa Brasileira de Aeronautica; on Homeland Security "open source intelligence and fusion center programs," for Factiva; the Defense Department on "federal battery purchases," for Interstate Batteries; and Congress and the Defense, Commerce, Homeland Security and Treasury Departments for "rules to prohibit or regulate foreign government subsidization of M&A [mergers and acquisitions] activity," for Terex Corporation, a multinational heavy equipment manufacturer.
And those are just some of Garrett's lobbying contracts in 2007.
The lobbying activity of Pentagon pundit and CBS analystJeffrey D. McCausland has been more focused on Iraq. He's the "director of national security affairs" at the Washington, D.C. law and lobby firm Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney.
McCausland lobbied on "private security contracting issues in Iraq," for Securewest International in 2004. The UK-based security firm announced that it had landed a $2.5 million contract with the Coalition Provisional Authority in March 2004, to supply "guards for the military complex at Umm Qasr as well as bodyguards for Iraqi and other personnel," according to the Herald Express in South Devon. At the time, Securewest vice-president Paul Singer said, "Kuwait and Iraq have long been our target markets. … We had a chance to visit the region only to realise how massive the market is." But when the contract ended in late 2004, Securewest decided against seeking more Iraq work. Singer explained, "It was always a difficult place to work and … the kidnapping and execution of 12 Nepalese workers caused great concern." Many of Securewest's staff are from Nepal or India.
But McCausland was hardly at a loss for clients. In 2003, he lobbied Congress and the Defense and Commerce Departments for "contract procurement in Iraq," on behalf of Al-Najat. In 2004, he lobbied on "government procurement / Coalition Provisional Authority" issues for Cross VetPharm, and on "business development in the Middle East," for Educational Testing Service. In 2004 and 2005, McCausland lobbied the State and Commerce Departments on "healthcare development in the Middle East," on behalf of Gemini Consulting.
Fellow CBS commentator Joseph W. Ralston is the last publicly named Pentagon pundit with a significant stack of of lobbying disclosure forms. "Soon after signing with CBS, General Ralston was named vice chairman of the Cohen Group, a consulting firm headed by a former defense secretary, William Cohen, himself now a 'world affairs' analyst for CNN," reported Barstow.
Not surprisingly, Ralston's lobbying clients include major military contractors. In 2006, he lobbied the Defense Department on "issues related to export of tactical fighter aircraft and defense technology," for