war/peace

"It is a whitewash," said Representative Paul Hodes. "It appears to be the parting gift of the Pentagon to the [former] president [Bush]," he added, referring to an internal investigation (pdf) into the Pentagon's pundit program. From 2002 to 2008, the Pentagon cultivated retired military officers who serve as media commentators, to be "message force multipliers" on such controversial issues as Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay. Although participants were told "not to quote their briefers directly or otherwise describe their contacts with the Pentagon," and internal documents make clear that the program attempted to mold U.S. public opinion -- two hallmarks of illegal government propaganda -- the report from the Defense Department's inspector general said "there was an 'insufficient basis' to conclude that the program had violated laws." Several key Pentagon figures -- including Victoria Clarke and Lawrence DiRita, along with network news executives -- declined to be interviewed for the report. The report also found that the pundits didn't use their high-level Pentagon access to unfairly benefit their military contractor clients. However, it lists Barry McCaffrey -- among other pundits "with easily documented connections" to military companies -- as supposedly having no contractor ties. Democratic members of Congress "expressed concerns about the scope, methodology and accuracy of the report," noted the New York Times, which first reported on the Pentagon pundit program.

Until June 2008, William Lynn was senior VP-government operations for Raytheon, the world's fifth largest defense contractor. Despite that recent stint as a lobbyist, President-elect Barack Obama has nominated him to become deputy defense secretary, which would put him "in charge of day-to-day Pentagon operations." The nomination requires Congressional approval. According to O'Dwyer's, "The Washington Post predicts Lynn will oversee Defense Secretary Robert Gates' program to overhaul DOD's weapons acquisition activity." Before his stint with Raytheon, Lynn was the Pentagon's comptroller and chief budget officer. He also previously worked as director of DOD's program analysis and evaluation.

The Chicago-based ad firm Leo Burnett "has agreed to pay $15.5 million to settle charges that it over-billed the U.S. Army for work on its 'Army of One' campaign," while still claiming that it "believes the government's claims are without merit." Leo Burnett is charged with inflating its expenses on the Army account, by billing for work done by its Internet division as if the division were an independent subcontractor, and by excluding "lower cost smaller subcontractors [when] proposing, negotiating and billing its hourly rate in 2000 and 2001." Details of the over-billing were provided by two former Leo Burnett employees who became whistleblowers and filed suit against the firm in 2004. Leo Burnett worked on the "lucrative account" for five years, attempting "to craft a campaign that would help stop shortfalls in the Army's recruiting and retention targets, which were being hampered by the Iraq war." Leo Burnett is part of the Publicis Groupe communications giant; Interpublic Group's McCann-Erickson now has the Army contract. "This isn't the first time a Madison avenue firm has become embroiled in an over-billing scandal," notes the Wall Street Journal. In 2002, WPP's Ogilvy & Mather paid $1.8 million to settle charges that it had over-billed the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy.

This "Air Force Blog Assessment" chart specifies "rules of engagement" for dealing with bloggers.

"In the usual process," writes Greg Mitchell, "the U.S. government -- and media here -- are playing down questions about whether Israel overreacted in its massive air strikes on Gaza, while the foreign press, and even Haaretz in Israel, carries more balanced accounts. The early reports on Sunday already reveal the bombing of a TV station and mosque and preparations for an invasion." Mitchell cites eyewitness accounts that describe morgues full of civilians, along with editorial stating that Israel's bombing of Gaza "within the span of a few hours ... sowed death and destruction on a scale that the Qassam rockets never approached in all their years."

There's a telling email exchange quoted in the Defense Department Inspector General's report (pdf) on America Supports You (ASY), a Pentagon program launched in 2004, ostensibly to boost troop morale.

Allison BarberAllison Barber, who founded and led ASY until her recent resignation as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Internal Communications and Public Liaison (and who infamously helped President Bush stage a teleconference with troops in Iraq), asked in a June 2004 email: "Overseas, we make troops [not living on military bases] buy a digital receiver for their televisions so they can see AFRTS," the American Forces Radio and Television Service. "Is there a way for me to make this situation know [sic] to corporate America and offer them the option of 'sponsoring' a receiver? So the receiver might have a sticker on it that says 'brought to you by Sears'."

An attorney with the Defense Department's Standards of Conduct Office responded sharply: "Of course, you may not solicit anyone, especially corporate America, to sponsor the receivers. That's a no-no."

Judging by the Inspector General's report -- which was 18 months in the making -- Allison Barber was responsible for quite a lot of "no-no's."

The Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) has issued a statement strongly criticizing the National Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) for its continued use of retired Gen. Barry McCaffrey as an on-air military analyst, while failing to disclose McCaffrey's multiple conflicts of interest that were recently detailed in the New York Times. "When the retired general offers his insight on the air for NBC, CNBC and MSNBC, viewers are left with the impression he is an 'objective' observer, a former military man speaking from the depths of his experience," it states. "What the networks have failed to tell viewers is that McCaffrey has a financial interest in the war." According to Andy Schotz, the chairman of SPJ's Ethics Committee, "these networks -- which are owned by General Electric, a leading defense contractor -- are giving the public powerful reasons to be skeptical about their neutrality and credibility. ... These are raging conflicts of interest embedded into reporting on crucial news." Writing for the Columbia Journalism Review, Charles Kaiser asks if there is "any limit to the shamelessness of NBC News," which "has never once disclosed any of McCaffrey's multiple conflicts of interest on the air. ... McCaffrey is the living embodiment of all the worst aspects of entrenched Washington corruption -- a man who shares with scores of other retired officers a huge financial interest in having America conduct its wars for as long as possible."

Barry McCaffreyWhat will it take, for the Defense Department officials involved to be held responsible for an illegal government propaganda campaign? Why don't news professionals realize that they need to vet their commentators and disclose any potential conflicts of interest to their audiences? When will the cable and network television stations that featured the Pentagon's pundits tell viewers that their war commentary was anything but independent?

An in-depth article on one of 75 retired military officers covertly cultivated by the Pentagon to be its "message force multipliers" recently raised these questions yet again. Retired general, NBC News analyst and industry consultant Barry McCaffrey is a prime example of "a deeply opaque world," where "privileged access to senior government officials" and "war commentary can fit hand in glove with undisclosed commercial interests," writes New York Times reporter David Barstow.

The U.S. general heading NATO forces in Afghanistan wants to merge the office that provides NATO information to reporters with the office that carries out "information operations" against enemy forces. U.S. General David McKiernan ordered that the public affairs functions of NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan be combined with its Information Operations and PsyOps, starting December 1. The order is being reviewed by NATO headquarters in Brussels. An ISAF spokesperson called the review "an internal matter." NATO policy directs the separation of public affairs (PA) and information operations (IO), "to avoid creating a media or public perception that PA activities are coordinated by, or are directed by Info Ops." Reuters reports that "Germany has already threatened to pull out of media operations in Afghanistan," and one NATO official told Reuters that the merger would "totally undermine the credibility of the information" released by NATO. Back in 2006, the Columbia Journalism Review reported that the U.S. military had established a group in Kabul, Afghanistan called "Theaterwide Interagency Effects," to "synchronize public affairs, IO, and psyops."

Barry McCaffreyAfter outing the Pentagon's pundit program -- which recruited some 75 retired military officers who are frequent media commentators, to serve as the Bush Administration's "message force multipliers" -- New York Times reporter David Barstow profiles one particularly conflicted pundit, Barry McCaffrey. The retired general is an NBC News analyst; heads his own consulting firm, BR McCaffrey Associates; and holds lucrative positions with numerous military and security contractors, including Veritas Capital, DynCorp, Defense Solutions and HNTB Federal Services. McCaffrey was an early participant in the Pentagon pundit program, but then-Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld "abruptly cut [him] off" after McCaffrey's belated admission of concerns about U.S. military operations in Iraq. A chastened McCaffrey responded by publicly praising Rumsfeld and the Administration. McCaffrey's influence was so great that, even in semi-exile, the Pentagon continued to pay for him to visit Iraq and Afghanistan. "Other military analysts were invited on trips, but only in groups," Barstow writes. "McCaffrey went by himself." While McCaffrey's overseas visits, Pentagon contacts, media appearances and Congressional testimony benefited his corporate clients, neither he nor NBC disclosed those clients. NBC News president Steve Capus called McCaffrey an "independent voice" whose business obligations wouldn't color his commentary. McCaffrey simply claimed that his consulting "never has been a problem" for his punditry.