Lying is legal, so says the Pentagon!
Press prevarications deemed legal by self-adjudicating Defense Department.
By Frank J Ranelli
Monday, October 23, 2006
At the behest of Senator Edward Kennedy, the Pentagon was recently asked to investigate the planting of “false” positive propaganda in Iraqi newspapers about the U.S. mission in Iraq. A company called the Lincoln Group was paid millions of dollars for printing, translating into Arabic and disseminating the propaganda.
Yes, that’s correct; a company called the Lincoln Group -- as in “Honest Abe” -- was hired to plant misinformation in Iraqi newspapers. The local Iraqi “fish wrap” turned out to be truly fishy! The irony of this is more than funny; it’s a perfect metaphor for describing the mockery that the Bush Administration has made of our own government.
Senator Kennedy’s request was taken very seriously. So seriously, that the Rumsfeld run Pentagon performed its own investigation into the matter by appointing an “internal watchdog!” Their own conclusion concerning their own actions: everything was perfectly legal!
Never mind the fact that the records keeping were so poor that the “investigator” could not make a determination as to whether or not the monies were awarded correctly or if the payments were made appropriately. No, the kicker is the Pentagon appointed itself to be judge and juror of its questionable and unethical planting of pro-American stories in Iraq!
Forget the truth! Things aren’t going as planned? No problem. Just whip out a few million, hirer a contracted “author assassin” to write blatantly false stories, engage in “psychological operations” to spread the gooey gospel and appoint the fox to guard the hen house, just in case.
Just exactly how does the planting of bogus news in newspapers fit into the whole idea that we are supposed to be spreading democracy and freedom to Iraq? I guess a free and independent press is not part of an Iraq democracy model. Kind of sounds like the old standby lie, “I didn’t tell you the truth because I didn’t want to hurt you!”
Then again, truth and standing up for democracy has never been one of the Bush Administration’s strong suites.
By Frank J Ranelli
Monday, October 23, 2006
At the behest of Senator Edward Kennedy, the Pentagon was recently asked to investigate the planting of “false” positive propaganda in Iraqi newspapers about the U.S. mission in Iraq. A company called the Lincoln Group was paid millions of dollars for printing, translating into Arabic and disseminating the propaganda.
Yes, that’s correct; a company called the Lincoln Group -- as in “Honest Abe” -- was hired to plant misinformation in Iraqi newspapers. The local Iraqi “fish wrap” turned out to be truly fishy! The irony of this is more than funny; it’s a perfect metaphor for describing the mockery that the Bush Administration has made of our own government.
Senator Kennedy’s request was taken very seriously. So seriously, that the Rumsfeld run Pentagon performed its own investigation into the matter by appointing an “internal watchdog!” Their own conclusion concerning their own actions: everything was perfectly legal!
Never mind the fact that the records keeping were so poor that the “investigator” could not make a determination as to whether or not the monies were awarded correctly or if the payments were made appropriately. No, the kicker is the Pentagon appointed itself to be judge and juror of its questionable and unethical planting of pro-American stories in Iraq!
Forget the truth! Things aren’t going as planned? No problem. Just whip out a few million, hirer a contracted “author assassin” to write blatantly false stories, engage in “psychological operations” to spread the gooey gospel and appoint the fox to guard the hen house, just in case.
Just exactly how does the planting of bogus news in newspapers fit into the whole idea that we are supposed to be spreading democracy and freedom to Iraq? I guess a free and independent press is not part of an Iraq democracy model. Kind of sounds like the old standby lie, “I didn’t tell you the truth because I didn’t want to hurt you!”
Then again, truth and standing up for democracy has never been one of the Bush Administration’s strong suites.
Labels: Feature Articles, Mendacity
posted by Frank J. Ranelli at 6:31 PM
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