War / Peace

Defensive Reporting or Offensively Fake News?

"When the government creates a cable channel that reminds viewers of a news network, down to the live Pentagon briefings and interviews with Washington big shots, is it a form of propaganda or just a savvy way to communicate with the troops?" the Christian Science Monitor asks, about the Pentagon Channel.

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Terrorism's Up, But Who's Counting?

For the first time in 20 years, the U.S. government will not be publishing Patterns of Global Terrorism, a Congressionally-mandated report from the U.S. Department of State intended to provide a full and complete record of countries and groups involved in international terrorism. Last year, the Bush administration was embarrassed when the report tallied 175 significant terrorist attacks - the highest number in two decades, contradicting the administration's claim that it is winning the war on terrorism.

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Pentagon Seeks New Information Warriors

U.S. Strategic Command (STRATCOM) is "fostering competition" for a "lucrative contract to analyze foreign media coverage and handle strategic communications for its operations and the so-called global war on terrorism," reports O'Dwyer's. The work involves tracking "media in broadcast, print and online in Arabic, Urdu Pashtu" and other languages, as well as "building databases of key communicators and media outlets, analyzing the perception of U.S.

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They Want You for the New Recruit

In an "uncharacteristically aggressive recruitment effort," the U.S. Army National Guard is launching a new campaign, called "The American Soldier." The campaign includes "sending eight mobile information and recruitment centers (with another 12 in production) to sporting events and shopping malls across the country, increasing direct mailings to three times annually, and signing a sponsorship deal with NASCAR driver Greg Biffle," reports PR Week.

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Israel Moves to Muzzle Nuclear Whistleblower

At a preliminary court hearing, Israeli whistleblower Mordechai Vanunu declined to enter a plea on twenty-one charges that he spoke with U.S., British, Australian and French journalists. After revealing the existence of Israel's nuclear weapons program to the U.K. newspaper the Sunday Times in 1986, Vanunu was imprisoned for eighteen years.

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U.S. Army Toons for Middle Eastern Tots

"In order to achieve long-term peace and stability in the Middle East, the youth need to be reached," explained the U.S. government, in an ad seeking artists for an "original comic book series" to help Middle Eastern youth "learn lessons, develop role models and improve their education." The U.S. Army's Fourth Psychological Operations Group at Fort Bragg in North Carolina has done initial character and plot development and will produce the series.

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Americans Still Believe Bush's War Propaganda

This weekend is the second anniversary of the U.S. attack on Iraq. The latest ABC News and Washington Post poll of public opinion shows that most Americans still believe, incorrectly of course, that Saddam's Iraq supported the 9/11 terrorists and had weapons of mass destruction.

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