Pentagon 'propaganda' sparks call for probe
Associated Press
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/05/03/MNHC10FUPU.DTL&hw=pentagon+propaganda+spark+calls&sn=001&sc=1000
Saturday, May 3, 2008
(05-03) 04:00 PDT Wa****ngton - --
Forty-one House members are calling on the Defense Department
inspector general to investigate a public relations effort that relied
on retired military officers to defend the administration's Iraq war
policies.
"When the Department of Defense misleads the American people by having
them believe that they are listening to the views of objective
military analysts when in fact these individuals are simply replaying
DoD talking points, the department is clearly betraying the public
trust," the lawmakers wrote in a joint letter to Defense Department
Inspector General Claude Kicklighter on Friday.
Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., who organized the letter, said it was
im****tant for the inspector general to find out how high-ranking
officials within the Pentagon were allowed to operate a program aimed
at deceiving the American people.
"Not only must the inspector general now account for what it did and
did not know about this state-sponsored propaganda effort, but they
must also explain why, if they knew about the propaganda campaign, it
was allowed to proceed," DeLauro said.
Retired officers who acted as military analysts for major news outlets
were given privileged access to the Pentagon, with regular briefings
by then-Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and a sponsored trip to the
Guantanamo Bay military prison in Cuba.
The operation, which has been halted, was first re****ted by the New
York Times.
This article appeared on page A - 3 of the San Francisco Chronicle
|
