US senator complains Pentagon grooming TV analysts

[cal04]

Source: Reuters

A newspaper report that U.S. military analysts working for television networks were coached by the Pentagon provided "very clear evidence of conflicts of interest" at the Defense Department, a senior U.S. senator said on Tuesday.

Sen. Carl Levin, the Michigan Democrat who chairs the Senate Armed Services Committee, said he was sending Defense Secretary Robert Gates a letter urging him to make "sure access to the media is even, is not selective, they're not picking people for favorable treatment."

The New York Times on Sunday reported that retired senior officers received private briefings, trips and access to classified intelligence to influence their comments about the Iraq war on television networks.

"It's a very, very significant disclosure of the New York Times," Levin told reporters.

Read more: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N22334887.htm

[babylonsister]

1. What DO you know; a senator actually noticed this? Rec'd. I wish

they'd all make a big honkin' stink about this.

[Supersedeas]

17. while the media has a season news blackout to 'cover' primary trivialities

[fascisthunter]

2. The Pentagon Influencing Corporate Media?????

:sarcasm:

[BunkerHill24]

3. So whatcha you gonna do about it, Sen. Levin?

[WHEN CRABS ROAR]

4. Were all being brainwashed daily.

[Johnny V.]

5. how is this surprising? in any way shape or form???????

[skooooo]

6. Senator complains? What's that?

[L0oniX]

7. Also reported on DemocracyNow-retired officers-contracts given for playing talking heads for M$M.

...which is against the law ...but that never stops them.

Pentagon’s Pundits: A Look at the Defense Department’s Propaganda Program

The New York Times has revealed new details on how 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 to portray Iraq as an urgent threat. The Times reported the Pentagon continues to use the analysts in a propaganda campaign to generate favorable news coverage of the administration’s wartime performance. We speak with Col. Sam Gardiner (Ret.) and Peter Hart of Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting.

http://www.democracynow.org/2008/4/22/pentagons_pundits_a_look_at_the

[lovuian]

8. After the Plame outing the whole damn Media is One huge

propoganda machine most of the people are traitors to this country

[Mnemosyne]

9. CNN AND PSYOPS March 26, 2000

By Alexander Cockburn

Military personnel from the Fourth Psychological Operations Group based at Fort Bragg, in North Carolina, have until recently been working in CNN's hq in Atlanta.

CNN is up in arms about our report in the last issue of CounterPunch concerning the findings of the Dutch journalist, Abe de Vries about the presence of US Army personnel at CNN, owned by Time-Warner. We cited an article by de Vries which appeared on February 21 in the reputable Dutch daily newspaper Trouw, originally translated into English and placed on the web by Emperor's Clothes. De Vries reported that a handful of military personnel from the Third Psychological Operations Battalion, part of the airmobile Fourth Psychological Operations Group based at Fort Bragg, in North Carolina, had worked in CNN's hq in Atlanta.

De Vries quoted Major Thomas Collins of the US Army Information Service as having confirmed the presence of these Army psy-ops experts at CNN, saying, "Psy-ops personnel, soldiers and officers, have been working in CNN's headquarters in Atlanta through our program, 'Training with Industry'. They worked as regular employees of CNN. Conceivably, they would have worked on stories during the Kosovo war. They helped in the production of news."

This particular CounterPunch story was the topic of my regular weekly broadcast to AM Live, a program of the South Africa Broadcasting Company in Johannesburg. Among the audience of this broadcast was CNN's bureau in South Africa which lost no time in relaying news of it to CNN hq in Atlanta, and I duly received an angry phone call from Eason Jordan who identified himself as CNN's president of newsgathering and international networks.

Jordan was full of indignation that I had somehow compromised the reputation of CNN. But in the course of our conversation it turned out that yes, CNN had hosted a total of five interns from US army psy-ops, two in television, two in radio and one in satellite operations. Jordan said the program had only recently terminated, I would guess at about the time CNN's higher management read Abe de Vries's stories.

http://www.counterpunch.org/cnnpsyops.html

[annabanana]

11. I wish I could recommend this individual post...

hot stuff. .

[Mnemosyne]

16. Thanks Anna. I've read too many books since the early 1970's, that would curl

your hair, about US mind control/psyops/black-ops.

I lost most of any faith in the government after researching MK-ULTRA. I shudder to think what we will learn our gov is doing now, in the future.

:hi:

[Pietro]

10. This should be top story everywhere

Fake news in fake news outlets. Fox News probably knew these were plants but played along.

[Kaleko]

12. Selective amnesia again, huh?

Oh, please, the whole world is familiar with these fundamental truths:


"The Central Intelligence Agency owns everyone of any significance in the major media."

~ William Colby,

CIA Director from Sept. 1973 to Jan. 1976 under Presidents Nixon and Ford.
Colby was replaced by future President George H.W. Bush on January 30, 1976.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________


"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false."

~ William Casey,

CIA Director from 1981 to 1987.

(Quote from internal staff meeting notes 1981)

Casey headed up the successful presidential campaign of Ronald Reagan in 1980 and served on the transition team following the election. After Reagan took office, he named Casey to the post of Director of the CIA.

According to a 600-page report by the CIA inspector general, Frederick Hintz, the CIA under Casey was complicit in the Contras' massive narco-trafficking operation which resulted in the crack epidemic.

[truedelphi]

13. The most wonderful book "Toxic Sludge is Good for You" detailed all the

Intricate involvements between the media and the military. (Among many other things.)

The book came out in the mid-nineties, and it detailed the secret programs that groomed our "free media's" deep and spineless connection with the secret operations going back to the early 1980's.

[Divine Discontent]

14. Levin is freakin awesome - if EVERY senator were like him

we'd have a good congress.

[Canuckistanian]

15. Go, Carl!

The man has his moments.

Although I'm not expecting any response from Gates.

The Nixon Administration had a reputation for "stonewalling".

They had Nuthin' on these guys.