Antiwar.com Blog » Propaganda

Does visiting a farm boost your husbandry credentials?

Tim Swanson — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 17:15:05 +0000

It would be an interesting case study to pin point the exact moment in time in which the political class was given a free pass by the press regarding visits to foreign countries.

For instance, one of the recent headlines that continues to run across the network tickers is Barack Obama’s visit to Europe and the Middle East — to boost his foreign policy credentials.

Exactly how does visiting heads-of-state, for mere hours, boost ones credentials? Remember, these are the same officials that never drive themselves, use their own Blackberry’s or ride the very public transportation that they champion at election time — let alone breath the same air as hoi polloi.

In fact, I have spent the last year living and working in Korea and Taiwan yet I wouldn’t consider myself an expert on anything but the ability to find the nearest washroom (and McDonalds).

Thus, what about the foreign policy credentials of backpackers, retirees, businessmen and other expats who at least lived with and regularly dialogued with the local taxpayers? If Obama or McCain visited a nuclear power plant for an hour, do they receive a engineering bump and are now capable of designing reactor cores? Dare one relish the day when the politicos visit a brain surgeon or OBGYN?

Just Because You’re Paranoid, Doesn’t Mean They Aren’t Out to Get You

Tim Swanson — Tue, 20 May 2008 05:03:00 +0000

This month’s edition of Radar magazine has a detailed discussion of some of the nefarious Continuance of Government programs that have been created and expanded post-9/11. And while regular readers of AWC may be unsurprised at the the findings they unearthed, the issues of privacy and civil liberties erosion are never more germane.

For instance, in a move reminiscent of Stasi-controlled East Germany, the Consumerist is reporting that Crime Stoppers is paying snitches to tattle-tale. While this endeavor is certainly not new, one sergeant is quoted as saying informants “can make better than a minimum-wage job.”

This comes hot on the heels of the report that the FBI is trying to plant moles (informants) within local protest groups for the upcoming Republican National Convention in Minnesota.

In tough economic times, vengeance, or just quick kicks, it seems neighbors can easily become part of the evergrowing state apparatus.

Be sure to also read:

The Fear Factory from Rolling Stone magazine
Are You on the VIP List?
The Lives of Others

Good Morning Vietnam, Now With Adsense

Tim Swanson — Mon, 05 May 2008 06:22:05 +0000

Not content with using former military officers to justify their modus operandi, or funding academic research to further their agenda, the State Department is now purchasing text ads through Google’s AdSense program.

The Bureau of International Information Programs has created, at taxpayers expense, an entire website devoted to “Telling America’s Story,” or rather whitewashing the foreign policies enacted by the administration.

For those looking for objective independent analysis, you might as well tune in to the American Forces Network, at least with them you get to hear some decent tunes between speeches by Tokyo Rose.

I Lied and I’m a Coward

David Henderson — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 19:13:18 +0000

I’m not a big fan of the New York Times, but today’s front-page investigative report on the Pentagon’s managing of the news is absolutely first-rate. One of the Pentagon officials, Torie Clarke, the Pentagon’s main propagandist, said her goal had been to achieve “information dominance.” In other words, she wanted the Pentagon’s message to get out and crowd out the independent information from others. To do this, the Pentagon recruited retired military officers and fed them select information that was often at odds with reality. Wow! I’m already sounding like a spin doctor. What I mean in the earlier sentence is that the Pentagon lied.
The payoff for many of these retired officers was that various “defense” contractors for whom they worked got a better shot at military contracts. [Why "defense" in quotation marks? Because most of what the Department of Defense does has nothing to do with defense: it's offense, much of which makes us less safe.]
Interestingly, some of the retired military knew they were being lied to and passed the information on as truth nevertheless. In other words, they lied. One, General Paul E. Vallely, a FOX News analyst from 2001 to 2007, stated, ““I saw immediately in 2003 that things were going south [in Iraq.]” But on his return, Vallely told FOX’s Alan Colmes, “You can’t believe the progress,” and predicted that the number of insurgents would be “down to a few numbers” within months. Of course, it wasn’t. And it turned out that Vallely didn’t “believe the progress.”
How did they rationalize their lying? Take Timur J. Eads. Please. Eads is “a retired Army lieutenant colonel and Fox analyst who is vice president of government relations for Blackbird Technologies, a fast-growing military contractor.” Eads said he had withheld the truth on television for fear that a four-star general would call and say, “Kill that contract.” I’ve heard of people running from battle because they might be literally killed. And I’m sympathetic. But lying because the consequence of telling the truth is that your employer might lose business and you might get fired? Wowee. Pretty scary.
The whole article is well worth your time.