The Pentagon's public relations machine is working overtime these days trying to sell a theme of "progress" in Afghanistan to push back against calls to end the war. The message machine behind this push is gargantuan, costing $547 million and employing more than 27,000 people. But, as our latest Rethink Afghanistan video shows, all that wasted P.R. money can't paper over the fact that the Afghanistan War isn't making us safer, and it's not worth the cost.
So far, we've seen General David Petraeus give headline interviews on NBC, CBS, BBC, FOX News and schedule an upcoming headline interview on ABC. He's given interviews to the New York Times and the Washington Post. He's kicked the Pentagon's P.R. apparatus, especially that of the U.S. 3rd Army and its paid contractors, into gear, churning out articles to push his narrative of "progress."
An investigation last year by the AP uncovered the staggering reach of the Pentagon's P.R. apparatus:
This year, the Pentagon will employ 27,000 people just for recruitment, advertising and public relations -- almost as many as the total 30,000-person work force in the State Department... [T]he Pentagon's rapidly expanding media empire... is now bigger in size, money and power than many media companies.
$547 million goes into public affairs, which reaches American audiences. And about $489 million more goes into what is known as psychological operations, which targets foreign audiences.
It should surprise no one that General David Petraeus is working the levers of this message machine as hard as he can. After all, in the counterinsurgency (COIN) manual he co-authored, it clearly states: "Information operations (IO) must be aggressively employed to... [o]btain local, regional, and international support for COIN operations." (p. 152)
The manual urges commanders to personally engage the media to convey their messaging (p. 163), and discusses the importance of information operations to "reinforce the will of the U.S. public." (p. 164)
All of this is Pentagon bureaucracy-speak, of course, for using taxpayer dollars to fight a propaganda battle at home against war opponents (or, in this case, some 60 percent of the American people) to prevent them from effectively pressuring their elected officials to end this misbegotten war.
But no matter how much the Pentagon spins their message into the mainstream U.S. media, the facts on the ground show that the insurgency continues to spread, that violence is increasing, that U.S. troop deaths are increasing, and that the U.S. lacks one of counterinsurgency's own premises for success: a legitimate host nation government.
You, American Citizen, are now the target, the "human terrain," in a taxpayer-funded campaign to sell a failing war strategy. The Pentagon knows what you think. They don't like it. So they're just going to try to pummel you with spin until you roll over and let them continue their ugly, futile waste of lives and resources.
At Brave New Foundation, we're working to get the word out through Rethink Afghanistan about what's really going on in Afghanistan, but we need your help. Please join the tens of thousands of others getting together to fight back against the spin. You can connect with the movement in several ways:
Help us get the truth out about this brutal, costly war that's not making us safer.
Follow Derrick Crowe on Twitter: www.twitter.com/derrickcrowe
CFJ USAF 67-72 a volunteer
547 million P.R. money to sell us on the war
780 billion a year on an overblown wasteful military
700 billion to bail out banks and wall street
8 billion for a missile defense system in Israel
3 billion to Mexico for cannabis eradication
27 billion to our mercenary army
3 trillion for a war no one wins
51 billion to military no bid contracts
6 billion to backwater to train cops in Iraq
20 billion to corporate farms for growing corn
100 billion war on the poor (aka drug war)
7.5 billion aid for Pakistan
half billion dollar planes that cannot fly in the rain
600 million this year for “The Mexicans are Attacking”
a navy eleven times the size of the next nation
spending more than the next 15 nations combined on military
added by caffeineod:
9 billion to Israel so they can have national health care
7 billion to Egypt to not attack Israel
7 billion to Jordan for the same reason
Someone has their panties in a wad over one of my other comments and thinks this is going to help.
SAVE AMERICAN LIVES.
STOP THE WAR NOW.
What do they do to win? Shoot everyone they see not wearing the US flag on their shoulder?
Traditional battlefield warfare is over in human history. No one can compete with American technology or with the size of China's army. Therefore every war from here on out will be fought guerrilla style. And anytime we take someone to task doing this we will over-extend our nation to the brink of financial insolvency.
If anything guarantees we will continue to fight the same people and have more and more attacks on US soil, it is our permanent occupation in the Middle East. Military bases on Muslim holy land aren't up for negotiation with these people. We either stop trying to put McDonalds and KFC's all over their countries while taking their resources as we pay off the royals/sheiks or we continue to fight this war over and over and over again to further detriment of our country and more importantly our sovereignty.
from the very start with unrelenting dedication and focus and determination.
An international cooperative man hunt for public enemy #1 and his SMALL group of minions.
This is what were were supposed to be doing.
This is what Congress authorized in the use of force agreement.
We all know this and we all know what happened 6 months later.
The hunt for Bin Laden was called off.
We know that every soldier who volunteered to serve their country,
wanted to help bring the people who attacked us on 9/11 to justice.
It sickens me to think how absolutely foolish we as a nation have been, to fall for the spin.
To fall for the endless propaganda and lies and deception.
To see thousands upon thousands killed or injured while they keep moving the goal post,
keep finding new justifications to feed the beast.
Their budget is not solely for "Afghanistan" like this article suggests.
This story is missing some facts about the money that should be realized.
Off course you see Gen Petraeus doing interviews. Would you expect less? Isn't it better to have the top commander face the press and not just do a Rolling Stone interview? This is the guy who led the Iraq War that our POTUS just ended. Should he not be given the chance to do the same thing here?
Do you feel this same animosity towards teachers? A few have had sexual relations with students.
How about a few doctors who do wrong? Lawyers? Politicians?
My point is in every situation you can find wrong. You can find absolute crap at times. But that does not always taint the rest. You know this. So why bring it up? Your point of one bad thing does not make everyone bad.
I have to get some sleep now. Nice arguing with you. Have a good day.
I'm currently deployed on my 4th tour of Afghanistan and I did 2 in Iraq.
I'm proud of the work we have done here. Yes, it's a war so it's tough. But every single day I see better things. I see things that proves we are doing our job and we are winning our battles.
I'd rather listen to cheers than the criticism that isn't factual any day of the week.
I am sorry you have been lied to. Please resolve yourself and what you have chosen to do with The Lord as soon as possible.
Grace,
~Manq
We have been told time and time again that this is a battle for the hearts and minds of the Afghani people. Let's assume that this is true -- that this is what the war is really about. If so,
1. How many hearts and minds have we won thus far?
2, How many must we win to declare victory?
Pentagon?
Anyone?
It took us 90 years to end slavery.
It took us 150 years to give women the right to vote.
It took 190 years to end segregation.
All of that with our high education and better way of life.
Democracy is not always easy. We expect an instant change in a society life Afghanistan that lives entirely in abject poverty, with limited education
Afghan leaders have to work against insurgents, Taliban and Al Qaeda leaders all trying to keep the status quo and resist change. Any change would be a direct hit to their base of power. Their livelihood. We need to give the people more help not less. More hope not less. More education not less. More support not less.
It did not take us 90 years to end slavery. More than half that time was not actually spent attempting to end it (by any American political figure). That took about thirty years.
Same with women's rights and segregation.
Do you even know what democracy is? You do know that America is a Democratic Republic, right? Do you really understand what that means?
If you are so concerned about the little people, why are you not in Darfur? Are you really concerned about human rights or about what your chain of command has told you to be concerned about?
The situation in Afghanistan is not the worst in the world as far as human rights go. Go to Africa. Ever been there? I am guessing not.
I think you are under the illusion that Americans lives are more valuable than Afghans or Muslims, or any third world citizen. They are equal. Unless you see this you will never really know what human rights are.
US occupiers in Afghanistan and Afghanis are not part of any united "we".
the government in Afghanistan will always be a puppet government - as long as the country is occupied. and when the occupier departs, the government always falls.
you can't seriously expect to transplant US "culture" into Afghanistan. you'd need centuries for that. and what gives you the right, anyway?
Which scenario do you prefer?
It's a hard road and a difficult emotional subject no doubt. But I think sometimes we miss some of the bigger issues.
Yemen; Sudan; Germany; wherever.
you don't evidently understand the first thing about guerrilla warfare doctrine. try reading Sun-Tzu.
We go to war with ourselves?!? Ha!