Diane Farsetta asks for help…
In this article for Counterpunch, Ms. Farsetta solicits participation from you and me in her research on the Pentagon-Media spin factory. It’s a worthwhile venture; and we encourage any and all to lend a hand.
Exposing the Talking Points for War
Cracking the Pentagon Pundit CodeBy DIANE FARSETTA
As reporters and researchers know all too well, releasing information isn’t necessarily the same thing as releasing useful information.
Case in point: the Pentagon’s military analyst program. In early 2002, the Defense Department began cultivating “key influentials” — retired military officers who are frequent media commentators — to help the Bush administration make the case for invading Iraq. The program expanded over the years, briefing more participants on a wider range of Bush administration talking points, occasionally taking them overseas on the government’s dime.
In April 2006, the group was used to counter criticism of then-Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. The apparent coordination between the Pentagon and the pundits piqued the interest of New York Times reporters. Two years later — after…
Timothy R. Anderson:
My Central California area is ” blessed ” with the presence of
a nationally-known “key influential ” on the A.M. radio ……
Monday through Friday, 3 hours per afternoon.
He is likely to say that the surge is successful, not likely to mention that person named President Bush, likely to use the phrase
” Stop The Radical Express , ” not likely to mention that
more than 75,000 Iraqis have died since March 2003, likely to
say to a caller ” You’re A Great American ! ” , not likely to
mention that more than 500 billion dollars’ worth of American money spelled b-o-r-r-o-w-e-d money has been spent on the Iraq War since March 2003, likely to say that Barack Obama ’s former pastor
said ” G - d damn the United States ” , not likely to mention
that the Pentagon has awarded contracts to private security companies who employ Chileans who worked for Pinochet, LIKELY TO
say that America’s businesses have absolutely nothing to apologize for and that the free market capitalist system is succeeding,
NOT LIKELY TO say that the American dollar has lost value
and is likely to continue to lose even more value.
The key ingredient to his performance is repetition.
His last name rhymes with ” Dannity. ” The Pentagon
benefits, no doubt in my mind about it ! , from him
staying on the air.
Timothy R. Anderson .
13 August 2008, 1:00 pmAditya:
Not sure where this fits but here are two stories about rape in the military worth checking out.
Why Soldiers Rape
Culture of misogyny, illegal occupation, fuel sexual violence in military
By Helen Benedict
http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/3848/
Sexual Assault in the Military: A DoD Cover-Up?
15 August 2008, 8:40 amBy Col. Ann Wright
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20080801_sexual_assault_in_the_military_a_dod_cover_up/
Timothy R. Anderson:
Days Don’t Cost Anything. Really ? An Essay by Timothy R. Anderson.
In December 2006, at a time when the current Iraq War was more than
one thousand three hundred and fifteen days old, my local newspaper
published an opinion-editorial by a person that the Pentagon is
likely very, very pleased by ………. Jonah Goldberg.
In it, Goldberg tosses up this nugget : ” Days don’t cost anything, lives do. ”
In the context of the piece here are the sentences before that one and after that one : ” Rumsfeld’s way is better, at least on paper.
It’s better to have a long war with fewer casualties than a short war
with more of them. That’s why the World War Two comparison is so
frivolous : Days don’t cost anything, lives do. But it now seems
that the light footprint hasn’t made enough of an impression on
Iraqi soil or Iraqi society. By trying to inflict as little collateral damage as possible, by trying to fight a war on the cheap, we
inadvertently emboldened our enemies by what appeared to be a
lack of will. ” ( source: Jonah Goldberg, Thursday, December 7, 2006, page B- 9, The Fresno ((( California ))) Bee newspaper )
The days actually DO cost something, though. Just how much is a matter for the viewers / contributors of this site to put forward.
I’ll give you all a head-start :
According to page 5 -A of the Tuesday, February 8, 2005
USA Today newspaper, in an article written by Judy Keen and
Jim Frinkard, ” Operations in Iraq are costing about $ 1 billion
a week. ” To my mind , at the very least, that kind of indicates
that days indeed do cost quite a bit !
Days Cost ! The Pentagon may want the citizens in the USA not to think that way, but it is T RUE . Days COST ! That’s why Congress and the Pentagon and the White House keep “requesting ” ( and receiving ! ) more money for the Iraq War ! Days COST !
Timothy R. Anderson
19 August 2008, 1:18 pmTimothy R. Anderson:
Another Aspect Of Cracking The Pentagon Pundit Code :
Today’s News Of An Agreement, tentative though it may be,
That The U.S.A.’s government has hammered out a deal with
Iraq’s government to “redeploy” SOME American military
servicemembers away from Iraq is a case in point. Where’s the
cost ? WHERE Is The MONEY ? Show me the money ! How much
money will the Iraq War cost the USA , its citizens , and its
future-citizens ? Because I assure you the Bush Administration
AND the Pentagon AND the ” key influential ” s won’t be
emphasizing the money aspect of the continued military presence
of the USA’s military on Iraq’s soil.
Meanwhile, the current preferred method of getting more money
to continue the Iraq War is to paint the opposition as
abandoning the troops.
Each time, every time. Abandoning the troops.
Timothy R. Anderson
21 August 2008, 1:25 pmTimothy R. Anderson:
The Pentagon-Media Consolidation Project must’ve met the news of the Iraq War hitting its 2, 000 th Day mark with glee. Looking back
at my local newspaper from February 2008 , it provides some psychological basis for why the American public, even though it disapproves of President Bush a majority, continues to tolerate the continuing Iraq War !
Senator / Presidential candidate John McCain:
” I guarantee you this: If we had announced a date for withdrawal from Iraq and withdrawn troops the way that Senator Obama and Senator Clinton want to do, al-Qaida would be celebrating that they had
defeated the United States Of America and that we surrendered.
I will never surrender. ”
Senator / Presidential candidate John McCain,
speaking in Wichita, Kansas on Friday, February 8 , 2008.
Thus he makes it simple, doesn’t he ? Pulling American military servicemembers out of Iraq equals surrendering to al-Qaida !
Wow !
Please discuss this development !
Timothy R. Anderson
14 September 2008, 2:17 pmTimothy R. Anderson:
One More From The Archives.
There’s a lot of psychology involved in keeping the Powers That Be, well, in power. Gooodness knows that if Vice President Dick Cheney was out there on the campaign trail with Senator McCain the Republicans would need several tens of millions of dollars more
to spend on their ” McCain For President ‘ 08 ” campaign. The
local newspaper has a columnist named Cal Thomas who, it says,
” writes for Tribune Media Services ( Chicago, Illinois ) and , in December 2005, this was published ….. / possibly with the intention of helping the Pentagon look better, if not absolutely sinless.
Headline: ” Liars about Iraq don’t include Bush. ”
Article: ” The Bush Administration is partly responsible for
declining poll numbers and the growing public disapproval of the
war in Iraq. ”
” Instead of responding immediately to questions
concerning the reasons for the war and the honesty
Instead of responding immediately to questions
concerning the reasons for the war and the honesty
of top-level members of the Bush Administration , it allowed
these allegations to fester until they became accepted,
in many quarters, as fact. ”
” This led to an escalation in calls for troop withdrawals and
exit timetables that President Bush and members of his administration
wanted to avoid, for fear
it would give our enemy
the perception of a weak America with no stomach for protracted
warfare. ”
” The ‘ insurgents ‘ are not the only reason
that the war is difficult. ”
” The United States Of America is forced to fight
differently from the terrorists. ”
” The ‘ insurgents ‘ use torture, beheadings, and ‘ suicide-
bombings ‘ that take the lives of noncombatants. ”
” But when someone charged that the United States uses intense or
unusual - whatever that means ! - techniques to pry information
from a captive …… that could save lives ……..
war critics and the media go wild ! ”
” Terrorists are also winning the psychological warfare,
partly because the jihadists are unified behind a goal and we,
often, are not . The jihadists want to kill ‘infidels’ and the
jihadists want territory.
American leftists want ‘peace’, without realizing that
peace is a byproduct of defeating evil. ”
source: Cal Thomas,
page B- 9,
Fresno (California ) Bee newspaper
Thursday, December 1, 2005
Now, I hope people’ ll take a lot of time to think about
the ‘ fact’ that peace is a byproduct of defeating evil.
Because that’s the thinking that guides the well-meaning
obedient masses to put up with sending American young men
and American young women to far-off distant lands,
again and again and again and again and again.
Timothy R. Anderson
28 October 2008, 5:06 pmTimothy R. Anderson:
The Pentagon Pundits do not want numerous Americans, young Americans among them, to read this, but here’s a link:
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/riverside/20090121-1806-bn21marines.html
The Pentagon would rather that this news-article not be highlighted.
Timothy R. Anderson
13 February 2009, 3:24 pmTimothy R. Anderson:
Another grrrrrrrreat way of downplaying the tragic consequences of war(s) is to have numerous newspapers never show any pictures of injured soldiers.
Farsetta could, possibly, gain a better understanding of how the Iraq War is marketed by looking at the following, from page 6-A of the USA Today newspaper, Tuesday, July 29, 2008 ; a news-article authored by
Jim Michaels : ” U.S. combat deaths in Iraq appear headed to the lowest monthly total since the start of the war as the top U.S. general there said overall violence is declining toward ‘normal ‘
levels. ”
I kept that particular news-article, mainly because I had a suspicion, which now is proving to be a worthwhile suspicion that the “combat deaths” would not stay low……
Guess what everyone, since January 10, 2009 a “non-low” number of USA military servicemembers have died in Iraq ; at least a dozen of those deaths were due to combat ! Since February 1, 2009 at least eight USA military servicemembers have died in combat in Iraq.
It seems perfectly hand-in-hand, to me at the very least, that the Mainstream Media and the Pentagon choose not to highlight the
FAILURE FAILURE FAILURE FAILURE over there in Iraq, but instead
talk about “success”, ” progress, ” ” durability,” “stability, ”
and ” a level of normal or latent violence. ”
From the same page as the above Jim Michaels news-article, same day, written by The Associated Press and found on Page 6- A :
” BAGHDAD, IRAQ: Multiple suicide bombers struck Shiite pilgrims
in Baghdad and Kurdish protesters in northern Iraq, killing at least
57 persons Monday (Monday, July 28, 2008 ). ”
Persons such as Hannity get to claim that the surge in Iraq worked.
Of all people, Hannity should be made to stay in the non-GreenZone
Iraq for oh let’s say eighteen months ; live like an Iraqi, Hannity,
then testify how grrrrrreatly the surge succeeded . . . .
Anyway, I doubt that President Obama will make much mention of the civilians of Iraq during his speech tonight. Ironic, isn’t it : government officials of this country were so determined to prove that they CARED for the regular persons of Iraq ……… anyone else remember that ? Former President Bush, Cheney, Powell, Rumsfeld, Rice, Rove, they made
such an effort to portray themselves as the helpful ones ! Now I guess it is President Obama’s turn to show whether he cares or not. Period.
Timothy R. Anderson
24 February 2009, 2:12 pmTimothy R. Anderson:
While the mainstream American media is obsessing about the
life and death of one American person, Senator Kennedy,
the families and friends and neighbors of American military servicemembers wait to hear what has happened ( or not happened )
in Afghanistan and Iraq. This approaching October, October 2009,
will mark EIGHT YEARS since the USA-led “coalition” started military operations in Afghanistan.
It is likely a little frustrating for some of those persons who work inside the Pentagon because they likely think ” Geeee, if
only we had 700 billion dollars more to spend in Afghanistan we
could really get that place lookin’ good ! ” . It is likely to become even more frustrating for those same persons. The addiction phase is rubbing itself against a very awkward truth. It’d be
done by now if only the USA had got more help from other countries. But the USA does not perform to the degree needed when
assembling the ” coalition.” Not Bush. Not Obama.
Anyway, while all this stuff is becoming more and more evident with each passing day, a much more articulate phrasing of what I just typed in, presented via “Counterpunch” was posted this week.
I wholeheartedly recommend reading it; reading it at least twice.Ithink it is worth that much effort !
http://www.counterpunch.org/solomon08272009.html
It might be time to revisit the days immediately following the 9/11/01 attacks ——— I seem recall a lot of emphasis on how the American civilians killed that day had done nothing to deserve being killed. Might it also be said that the non-terrorist civilians who’ve died in Afghanistan and in Iraq since 9/11/01
also did nothing to deserve being killed ? The mainstream American press does not give names of dead civilians in Iraq and in Afghanistan —- have you ever noticed that ? It is like the
mainstream American press feels like it is doing its job if
the American civilian population is kept from the ugly truth of
war . . . . . . . .
Timothy R. Anderson
28 August 2009, 12:46 pmTimothy R. Anderson:
Another nice piece of writing by Dave Lindorff, available to be seen at Counterpunch - http://www.counterpunch.org - this one is titled
” Picturing The Dead. ”
The Pentagon knows what to keep hidden.
Timothy R. Anderson
17 February 2010, 2:08 pmTimothy R. Anderson:
Cracking The Pentagon Pundit Code, Indeed. Hi there everybody ; this is the day
of President Obama’s upcoming BP Spill speech.
But that’s not what on the minds of some folks working in the US Dept. Of Defense today . . The technology available today threatens to expose some of
the questionable actions of today’s US military
As Peter Grier writes
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Military/2010/0607/Soldier-arrested-in-WikiLeaks-classified-Iraq-video-case
The Pentagon is behaving like it is scared that its own activities are somehow
not entirely honorable.
Timothy R. Anderson
P.S. Has anyone else noticed that the USA’s professional athletes do not join the “all-volunteer ” USA military since the death of Pat Tillman ? Anyone else notice that ? Is there ONE example of a pro. athlete signing up for the USA’s military ? Who ?
15 June 2010, 1:14 pm(Boer) Tom:
@Timothy R. Anderson
16 June 2010, 9:45 amDo you think that they were recruiting those athletes, or that the athletes stopped enrolling of their own?
Timothy R. Anderson:
Thanks For The Contribution !
The athletes do not enroll. The athletes do not enroll. That kinda
says something, doesn’t it ? The athletes do not enroll.
At some level, ” The War On Terror ” ( the violence acts to, uhhhhhh,
end violence ) does NOT reach within the souls of young, athletic
men and women here in the USA and spark an urge to go to Afghanistan, an urge to go to Iraq . . It doesn’t do it.
So here’s a question: Open to all who view the question :
When the USA was involved in World War II, weren’t there numerous
professional baseball players, major-league players, who stopped
their careers in baseball to be in the USA’s military ? I think
so ! Would anyone please name some of them for me ? Because I think that displays a key difference between life in these United States Of America circa 2010 and life here in, say, the year 1943 . .
I think it says A LOT.
Timothy R. Anderson
16 June 2010, 12:17 pmTimothy R. Anderson:
Must I ? Okay, Ted Williams. For starters. There WERE more .
Contributions, Anyone ?
Timothy R. Anderson
17 June 2010, 1:10 pmTimothy R. Anderson:
Okaaaaaaaay. I guess the Major League baseball players who served in the U.S. military subject won’t be happening soon, so I’ll move on……
One thing that gets avoided by the American Mainstream Media that Diane Farsetta should consider ( as well as the non-baseball-history-loving viewers )….. they all should consider how much WAR (s) contribute to keeping the American ECONOMY afloat, such as it is……
Without the wars, these companies would assuredly have fewer employees …… ( please chime in with more companies’ names if the mood hits you, Mister Goff and Everyone )
a.Lockheed Martin ; b. Boeing ; c. Northrop Grumman
d. General Dynamics ; e. Raytheon ; f. Halliburton
g. L-3 Communications Holding Inc. ; h. B.A.E. Systems
i. United Technologies ; j. Science Applications
International ; k. Xe ( formerly known as Blackwater)
Those companies receive contracts from the Pentagon
and money from U.S. taxpayers. I type this in knowing
I type this in ….knowing that to some ( most ? ) who read this blog already know this but what better way
to illustrate the disconnect from reality that goes on in Washington D.C. and the civilian millions who chooooooose to remain uneducated and the non-terrorist citizens of countries such as Afghanistan and Iraq ?
You know, it sure would stink, to use a mild term, if every day your neighbors and your neighborhoods were being destroyed and killed someone else far, far, far, far away is making money, BIG MONEYYYYYYYYY off of it. That would stink.
Plus it kinda reinforces the widely-popular preconceived notion among persons in places such as Afghanistan, Iraq, and Pakistan that the Americans won’t ever leave because they just make too daaaaaang much money when the Americans decide to stay ……
Wasn’t it Colin Powell that complained to Donald Rumsfeld that Rumsfeld was ruining the USA’s image ?
Well now, isn’t the USA ruining the USA’s image ?
Timothy R. Anderson
30 June 2010, 6:39 pm