Pentagon Suspends Military Media Analysts Program

AFP reports:

The Pentagon has suspended a public affairs program that has come under fire for using retired military "media analysts" as surrogates to get out its messages on the Iraq war, a spokesman confirmed Monday.

Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said the program was undergoing an internal review following criticism that the retired officers offered Pentagon talking points as their own during the run-up to the Iraq invasion and thereafter.

The program, which was first reported in the Sunday New York Times on April 20, came under intense scrutiny from journalists. Ari Melber has a roundup of some of the criticism.

But as HuffPost's Jason Linkins notes, the Times has done little to advance its blockbuster story since it was first reported (unlike the Washington Post's aggressive series of follow-up stories on the Walter Reed scandal):

There has been a single editorial comment, inexplicably published on Saturday, six days after the story broke. On the same day, David Barstow followed up by reporting on the Pentagon's decision to suspend "its briefings for retired military officers who often appear as military analysts on television and radio programs."

Buried in Barstow's follow-up, however, was an admission: the Grey Lady had been scooped on the story by Stars and Stripes a day earlier. Additionally, the New York Times seems completely unaware that two days after they published their story, Fox News aired quotes from one of the individuals named in their original article, retired Major General Robert H. Scales. It is impossible to know every single possible avenue for follow-up, but surely we can agree that when one of the named networks brazenly deploys one of the named "message force multipliers" in its coverage, it's worth a mention.

Meanwhile, Melber reports that Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama weighed in on the program. John McCain has not:

Hillary Clinton's campaign finally came out against the Bush administration's secret program to promote Iraq policy through television analysts on Monday, saying it raises questions of "credibility and trust at the Pentagon" and calling for an Inspector General investigation, in a statement provided to The Nation. The program, first reported by the New York Times on April 20, drew criticism from media watchdog groups and some Democrats, but none of the presidential candidates had previously addressed it. Barack Obama's campaign also finally weighed in on the controversy, telling The Nation that the Illinois Senator was "deeply disturbed" that the administration "sought to manipulate the public's trust," and saying the program "deserves further investigation to determine if laws or ethical standards were violated." Senator McCain's campaign did not respond to a request for comment.

A Pentagon official announced that it would "suspend" the program for "retired military analysts" pending further review, in an interview with the military's Stars and Stripes newspaper on Thursday. The Pentagon added that the suspension is "temporary" on Monday.

Comments

[LarsGruber]

but what about Rev Wright?

[tropicartisan]

Ha Ha Ha what a great response.

[CarlsV]

In another unrelated story ...

The funny thing about the whole Miley Cyrus pictures is that she thinks her posters will be hanging on the walls of teenage boys!

Little did she know more would be hung on the walls of 50'ish republican men!

The GOP --- where absolutely disgusting is just a starting point!

[abouttime]

The Defense Department has problems that resemble mob rule. How so many former officials could in good conscience be part of a scheme to deceive the American public about going to war is beyond belief. I mean, the rest of the world, including our enemies knew the US Network and Cable news Monopolies were conspiring with war mongers in the US Government to lie to Americans whose news comes from the mainstream media. However most Americans knew something was wrong with the evidence for war. They relied on the internet, public radio and real news stations like C-Span and democracynow.com Happily, Clinton and Obama have asked for investigations, but John “Bomb, bomb, bomb” McCain is silent.
Anyhow, I’d say the Government’s checks and balances against the abuse of power have been effectively shut down.

Look, we have over 2 million Americans in jail. Before leaving as Drug Chief in 2000, McCaffery said at a press conference (viewed only on C-Span and censored by media, altogether) hat a half million prisoners in US custody "Do not belong there."

It's time to put former government and existing officials, elected or otherwise, on trial for crimes whose victims range in the millions. Replace victimless inmates and put the likes of traitors in their place.

[CarlsV]

Just another nail in the gop coffin!

[whathehell]

It doesn't matter because the press is doing a fine job of propagandizing to the "little people", and let's face it, "people power" has no place in American democracy.

At the National Press Club, Jeremiah Wright was asked by some little neoconette twit whether he was patriotic and loved America. He responded by pointing out that the MSM is constantly looping his words and playing them over and over, out of context. Then he went on to say that he spent 6 years in the military and that Cheney did everything to avoid combat. The press jeered that comment, much to his surprise. Why be surprised? They've been shilling for Bush for eight years and will continue their attacks on Obama, unabated.

Isn't it sweet that both the media and the government are working against its own people? That's the same kind of democracy that these worms are attempting to export to other countries.

[humuhumunukunukuapuaa]

The great virtue of telling the truth is that you never have anything to hide. But as Stephen Colbert said, :The Truth has a Well Known Liberal Bias".

[DeanGilberry]

Not to mention history, reality, humility, generosity, and compassion.

[Relay]

We are sheep;;;;.... we have let this administration run amuck, unchecked with a blank check to our treasury to boot. Do you honestly think you will hear anything more about the web of deception that has been spun in Iraq? Not in your life time.
I blame the media for this for allow this to go on, they are the front line when it comes to “truth, fact” and they have been bought off……. They haven't got the balls to report the "Truth".............
I am not relying on them anymore for the facts, not another dime spent or media program watched and could care less if they went out of business. The only bad thing about that is that they will declare bankruptcy and go crying to congress to bail them out and we the tax payer will get stuck with the bill.

[patapsco99]

I think all middle-class Americans should go file bankruptcy. It is the middle class trap. Keep giving them enough credit. to make minimal payments until their whole check is taken in minimal payments, which makes them always have to work. A credit score is a scam. When they give you a higher interest rate, they expect you to fault on the loan. There should be no credit score, either you are approved or not. The middle class is so screwd.

[VisiteDeVoltaire]

Let's see now if this is clear.

We couldn't believe them before when they were lying to us in order to legitimize their war agenda, but we can believe them now when they say that they have suspended the program which was in fact them lying to us?

Didn't this whole fiasco start because their boss, the Decider and his administration, lied to us about the threat from Iraq?

[PaceSetter]

So everyone has finally caught on to the fact that the people sent out in front of the cameras to tell the world that Syria must be attacked, that North Korea is proliferating nuclear weapons, that Iran has weapons of mass destruction are part of a domestic disinformation operation.

The "enemy" found out about the plan, so now the agents must be rolled up.

I'm trying to figure out why everyone bows to the alter of "the troops" when time after time the people in charge of the troops prove themselves to be be ignoble liars who have no problem sending men and women off to dishonor themselves and die, not for their country, but for the generals' own corporate bottom lines.

[JuneCleaversBeaver]

Things get too hot for jb and the other sock boob shows up.

How convenient!

[BlackHelocopter]

Sort of like yin and yang, excepting the incredibly moronic tendencies.

[arvada]

i find them amusing,and sad

[Probus]

This program should not be suspended it should be disbanded altogether. These so called "analysts" deceived the public. The Pentagon and Bush and which ever networks these so called "analysts" appeared on owe the American people an apology.

[lobear00]

They all belong behind bars, for Treason, and the media executives right along with them.

[dotmafia]

Why is anyone surprised by this supposed "revelation"? I sure the hell am not. In fact, I knew all along that they were towing the "administration's" Iraq line because it was too damn obvious. Are Americans really that blind?!?

[kae]

some are blind most are distracted - the rest are looking at Miley Cyrus' 14 year old body

[blytzd]

This story is just another level of propaganda. "Whoops we got caught, program suspended" The day any governement stops propaganda is the day hell freezes over.

[condieshoes]

This is what Dwight Eisenhower was talking about, i.e., Military Industrial Complex....right here, right now in our pockets, in our government, in our political life in the form of lobbyiest and worse.

[ChristianEcon.com]

"Right here, right now." Exactly; can't say we weren't warned.

[foghornleghorny]

Remember, we've always been at war with Eurasia.

[BeyondGoodAndEvil2]

It was prescient and rings true all these years and wars later:
http://coursesa.matrix.msu.edu/~hst306/documents/indust.html

[swooge]

I'd say in the form of our current administration, DOJ, most of the Congress, the Supreme Court, etc........

[OttoCrumb]

The presidential candidates are beginning are somewhat concerned that there is a possibility that this administration and the Pentagon might not be entirely on the up and up with the good citizens of this country. There's just something about this massive, corrosive, illegal Propaganda effort that seems a little bit fishy and could someone maybe look into that when they get a chance...

Everyone step to the back, please. There appears to be another Orwellian Elephant in the room, size super gigantic.

Not that I'm pessimistic or anything, but maybe we shouldn't put so much emphasis on branding the American experience as Home of the Free, ease off the Liberty angle a bit, and come up with some new goals. More realistic and appropriate goals, like starting a circus or something.

[Podewumun]

We got circuses, Otto, what we need is bread!

[marignymitch]

Ya think?

[kardwell]

We have no shortage of monkeys and clowns in this administration.

[Alethea]

The American Experience is just fine. It's all a matter of actually practicing it.

Right now we are not free. We are not free to say what we really think and we are not free to know the truth.

Luckily, I think Bush tried to turn the wrong country into Orwell's 1984. We might be sleepy sometimes, but when we get mad, it doesn't matter if you've got all the power in the world, because in the end, we WILL do what we please. Americans are ultimately far to independent to stay afraid for too long.

And on top of it, I think generally Americans do believe in Justice. Once we do know the full truth, although it may be many years from now, I think people will be very unforgiving.