Flashback: Media Matters had documented conservative misinformation from military analysts with hidden ties to Pentagon
In an April 20 New York Times article, investigative reporter David Barstow reported that "the Bush administration has used its control over access and information in an effort to transform" media military analysts "into a kind of media Trojan horse -- an instrument intended to shape terrorism coverage from inside the major TV and radio networks." He also wrote: "Hidden behind that appearance of objectivity, though, is a Pentagon information apparatus that has used those analysts in a campaign to generate favorable news coverage of the administration's wartime performance." Prior to the Times' report, Media Matters for America had documented misinformation, falsehoods, and smears of progressives, including Sen. John Kerry in 2004 when he was running against President Bush, by several of the analysts identified in the Times article.
Following each analyst's name are excerpts from the Times report about that person followed by the Media Matters items documenting the analyst's misinformation, falsehoods, or smears of progressives.
Retired Lt. Gen. Thomas G. McInerney
Though many analysts are paid network consultants, making $500 to $1,000 per appearance, in Pentagon meetings they sometimes spoke as if they were operating behind enemy lines, interviews and transcripts show. Some offered the Pentagon tips on how to outmaneuver the networks, or as one analyst put it to Donald H. Rumsfeld, then the defense secretary, "the Chris Matthewses and the Wolf Blitzers of the world." Some warned of planned stories or sent the Pentagon copies of their correspondence with network news executives. Many -- although certainly not all -- faithfully echoed talking points intended to counter critics.
"Good work," Thomas G. McInerney, a retired Air Force general, consultant and Fox News analyst, wrote to the Pentagon after receiving fresh talking points in late 2006. "We will use it."
[...]
The group was heavily represented by men involved in the business of helping companies win military contracts. Several held senior positions with contractors that gave them direct responsibility for winning new Pentagon business. James Marks, a retired Army general and analyst for CNN from 2004 to 2007, pursued military and intelligence contracts as a senior executive with McNeil Technologies. Still others held board positions with military firms that gave them responsibility for government business. General McInerney, the Fox analyst, for example, sits on the boards of several military contractors, including Nortel Government Solutions, a supplier of communication networks.
[...]
That same day, Pentagon officials helped two Fox analysts, General McInerney and General Vallely, write an opinion article for The Wall Street Journal defending Mr. Rumsfeld.
Following Rumsfeld, supporters asserted that criticism of defense secretary helps America's enemies
O'Reilly again suggested employing Saddam's methods in Iraq
NY Post, Fox News touted flawed GOP poll to claim "America Says Let's Win [Iraq] War"
Retired Maj. Gen. Paul E. Vallely
Many also shared with Mr. Bush's national security team a belief that pessimistic war coverage broke the nation's will to win in Vietnam, and there was a mutual resolve not to let that happen with this war.
This was a major theme, for example, with Paul E. Vallely, a Fox News analyst from 2001 to 2007. A retired Army general who had specialized in psychological warfare, Mr. Vallely co-authored a paper in 1980 that accused American news organizations of failing to defend the nation from "enemy" propaganda during Vietnam.
"We lost the war -- not because we were outfought, but because we were out Psyoped," he wrote. He urged a radically new approach to psychological operations in future wars -- taking aim at not just foreign adversaries but domestic audiences, too. He called his approach "MindWar" -- using network TV and radio to "strengthen our national will to victory."
[...]
Back in Washington, Pentagon officials kept a nervous eye on how the trip translated on the airwaves. Uncomfortable facts had bubbled up during the trip. One briefer, for example, mentioned that the Army was resorting to packing inadequately armored Humvees with sandbags and Kevlar blankets. Descriptions of the Iraqi security forces were withering. "They can't shoot, but then again, they don't," one officer told them, according to one participant's notes.
"I saw immediately in 2003 that things were going south," General Vallely, one of the Fox analysts on the trip, recalled in an interview with The Times.
The Pentagon, though, need not have worried.
"You can't believe the progress," General Vallely told Alan Colmes of Fox News upon his return. He predicted the insurgency would be "down to a few numbers" within months.
[...]
On Friday, April 14, with what came to be called the "Generals' Revolt" dominating headlines, Mr. Rumsfeld instructed aides to summon military analysts to a meeting with him early the next week, records show. When an aide urged a short delay to "give our big guys on the West Coast a little more time to buy a ticket and get here," Mr. Rumsfeld's office insisted that "the boss" wanted the meeting fast "for impact on the current story."
That same day, Pentagon officials helped two Fox analysts, General McInerney and General Vallely, write an opinion article for The Wall Street Journal defending Mr. Rumsfeld.
"Starting to write it now," General Vallely wrote to the Pentagon that afternoon. "Any input for the article," he added a little later, "will be much appreciated." Mr. Rumsfeld's office quickly forwarded talking points and statistics to rebut the notion of a spreading revolt.
"Vallely is going to use the numbers," a Pentagon official reported that afternoon.
Following Rumsfeld, supporters asserted that criticism of defense secretary helps America's enemies
Retired Col. William V. Cowan
Information and access of this nature had undeniable value for trip participants like William V. Cowan and Carlton A. Sherwood.
Mr. Cowan, a Fox analyst and retired Marine colonel, was the chief executive of a new military firm, the wvc3 Group. Mr. Sherwood was its executive vice president. At the time, the company was seeking contracts worth tens of millions to supply body armor and counterintelligence services in Iraq. In addition, wvc3 Group had a written agreement to use its influence and connections to help tribal leaders in Al Anbar Province win reconstruction contracts from the coalition.
"Those sheiks wanted access to the C.P.A.," Mr. Cowan recalled in an interview, referring to the Coalition Provisional Authority.
Mr. Cowan said he pleaded their cause during the trip. "I tried to push hard with some of Bremer's people to engage these people of Al Anbar," he said.
[...]
"We could not be more excited, more pleased," Mr. Cowan told Greta Van Susteren of Fox News. There was barely a word about armor shortages or corrupt Iraqi security forces. And on the key strategic question of the moment -- whether to send more troops -- the analysts were unanimous.
[...]
Mr. Bevelacqua and another Fox analyst, Mr. Cowan, had formed the wvc3 Group, and hoped to win military and national security contracts.
[...]
On Aug. 3, 2005, 14 marines died in Iraq. That day, Mr. Cowan, who said he had grown increasingly uncomfortable with the "twisted version of reality" being pushed on analysts in briefings, called the Pentagon to give "a heads-up" that some of his comments on Fox "may not all be friendly," Pentagon records show. Mr. Rumsfeld's senior aides quickly arranged a private briefing for him, yet when he told Bill O'Reilly that the United States was "not on a good glide path right now" in Iraq, the repercussions were swift.
Mr. Cowan said he was "precipitously fired from the analysts group" for this appearance. The Pentagon, he wrote in an e-mail message, "simply didn't like the fact that I wasn't carrying their water." The next day James T. Conway, then director of operations for the Joint Chiefs, presided over another conference call with analysts. He urged them, a transcript shows, not to let the marines' deaths further erode support for the war.
FOX's Cowan denied that interrogators participated in Abu Ghraib abuse
Vietnam Veteran Carlton A. Sherwood
Information and access of this nature had undeniable value for trip participants like William V. Cowan and Carlton A. Sherwood.
Mr. Cowan, a Fox analyst and retired Marine colonel, was the chief executive of a new military firm, the wvc3 Group. Mr. Sherwood was its executive vice president. At the time, the company was seeking contracts worth tens of millions to supply body armor and counterintelligence services in Iraq. In addition, wvc3 Group had a written agreement to use its influence and connections to help tribal leaders in Al Anbar Province win reconstruction contracts from the coalition.
Retired Col. Timur J. Eads
"We knew we had extraordinary access," said Timur J. Eads, a retired Army lieutenant colonel and Fox analyst who is vice president of government relations for Blackbird Technologies, a fast-growing military contractor.
Like several other analysts, Mr. Eads said he had at times held his tongue on television for fear that "some four-star could call up and say, 'Kill that contract.' " For example, he believed Pentagon officials misled the analysts about the progress of Iraq's security forces. "I know a snow job when I see one," he said. He did not share this on TV.
"Human nature," he explained, though he noted other instances when he was critical.
Fox News hosts go off-message in hyping N. Korea missile tests
Retired Lt. Col. Robert L. Maginnis
Another analyst, Robert L. Maginnis, a retired Army lieutenant colonel who works in the Pentagon for a military contractor, attended the same briefing and recalled feeling "very disappointed" after being shown satellite photographs purporting to show bunkers associated with a hidden weapons program. Mr. Maginnis said he concluded that the analysts were being "manipulated" to convey a false sense of certainty about the evidence of the weapons. Yet he and Mr. Bevelacqua and the other analysts who attended the briefing did not share any misgivings with the American public.
Retired Maj. Gen. Robert H. Scales Jr.
Some e-mail messages between the Pentagon and the analysts reveal an implicit trade of privileged access for favorable coverage. Robert H. Scales Jr., a retired Army general and analyst for Fox News and National Public Radio whose consulting company advises several military firms on weapons and tactics used in Iraq, wanted the Pentagon to approve high-level briefings for him inside Iraq in 2006.
"Recall the stuff I did after my last visit," he wrote. "I will do the same this time."
[...]
In interviews, several analysts reacted with dismay when told they were described as reliable "surrogates" in Pentagon documents. And some asserted that their Pentagon sessions were, as David L. Grange, a retired Army general and CNN analyst put it, "just upfront information," while others pointed out, accurately, that they did not always agree with the administration or each other. "None of us drink the Kool-Aid," General Scales said.
Ignoring reports of poor performance, Fox analyst touted presence of Iraqi forces on Haifa Street
They won't care.
In fact, they'll think it's just great-- like who else do you want giving strategic advice, liberals?
The fact that these 'experts' earn money doing this just validates their authority. It's the best of all possible worlds for the Right.
These men have blood on their hands and silver in their pockets.
Not to mention the possibility of Fox Prolefeed staging or otherwise faking its own Iraqi coverage solely to present a positive and glowing picture of the situation.
And designed to confuse and mislead especially the Lower Classes such as are Fox Prolefeed's target audience.
may not be good with English but here goes.
By current media standards, it's enough to just praise voluntary Americans that have risked their lives while doing next to nothing for them on their return. With these standards, I would not be surprised if indeed the retired Majors and other 'experts' are forced to lie for monetary needs and/or other necessities/pressures.
We hear from the same media, Hannity et. al., that 'freedom is not free'. What price are we paying /paid for the 4000 odd Americans that sacrificed their lives? Zero.
To walk the talk, either re-instate the draft OR make any eligible person that wants to dodge the draft pay a commensurate price, either dollars or community service.
Recent, but proud and rational, American.
Welcome, my recent, but proud and rational American. Give us all you got, my friend. We need individuals like you. Your English is just fine!
What Donald said. Another rational voice is always welcome.
:)
Why should we trust any of these goombas? And, yes, that goes for Saint Petraeus, too.
Mary was right in her post above. These men have lost their souls. But, I think it's deeper than that.
America has lost it's soul.
Wow and cool. Sure, on the leading edge of monitoring the privately-owned and controlled "media", for their many instances of influencing and manipulating the political opinions of the American People (or at least trying to influence and manipulate our opinions)... sure, on that leading edge, the NYTimes investigative piece seems almost a dollar short, and about a thousand days too late.
It is brilliant, and appreciated (Mr. David Barstow seems to be the singular name behind the investigative piece... him and his employer too, the NYTimes), but right, what was in that piece that we didn't already know, or suspect at least, in "real time" as it was happening/ being broadcast/ printed?
Cool item here by MMFA. I've just skimmed it so far, and will read every word, but right away I see link after link, all identified by the title of the MMFA item, as it was published/posted, in what we'd call more "real time" than the NYTimes piece... in MMFA's case, about 24-48-72 hours after the broadcast or printed appearance of the misinformation/lie...
...versus the thousand day lag we suffered, before we saw the NYTimes piece appear, past Sunday.
Anyway, cool item MMFA. I'm looking forward to examining it more closely.
On skimming it, and seeing all the links to MMFA's items that cited these "military experts" in the day or so after their hack-work for the Bush administration's DOD...
It's like scanning the long criminal record of a villian, that the NYTimes only just last Sunday apprehended....
After years of MMFA being on the case, collecting all the evidence and recording all the statements, in a far more timely manner than the Times, and with much more due diligence.
Don't hold your breath, though.
Nerzog, you reference the Corporate Fascists... here's just a partial list of the Fascii, by corporate name (notice that in at least one case, General Electric, is a defense contractor also a broadcaster on the PUBLIC AIRWAVES: GE's corporate revenues being about 30% from defense contracting through the Pentagon, and at the same time their divisions NBC and MSNBC sell the American People on the Iraq invasion/occupation. Also, it took only 10 minutes or so to compile this list of names, from a page at Defense News http://www.defensenews.com/static/features/top100/charts/rank_2007.php?c=FEA&s=T1C which is very informative to say the least... and I posted this comment, that I re-post here, on the Huffington Post's pages, on a blog entry by Jon Soltz: but man am I starting to despise that HuffPo gang, with their worthless fascination with fluffy crap and gossip about celebrities, and advocacy for television crap especially "American Idol", and their consuming hatred of all things Clinton, as they run blog after blog of the most vile stuff written about her... anyway, I re-post here what I originally posted there, seeing as someone's got to identify these Fascii by name, and HuffPo's fast going the way of a worthless rag, as a place to find good info.)
Lockheed Martin,
Boeing,
Northrup Grumman,
Raytheon,
General Dynamics,
L-3 Communications (formed from 10 former business units of Lockheed Martin),
United Technologies,
KBR Inc. (aka Kellogg Brown & Root, spun off from Halliburton),
SAIC (Science Applications International Corporation),
General Electric,
Honeywell,
ITT,
Computer Sciences Corp.,
ATK (Alliant Techsystems),
DRS Technologies,
Booz Allen Hamilton,
Textron,
Rockwell Collins,
EDS (Electronic Data Systems),
URS Corporation (which contains EG&G as a division),
and Goodrich.
Just some of the U.S. defense contractors who are dipping their bread into the gravy of Iraq, listed here in order of their 2006 defense revenues, from most (Lockheed Martin at more than $36 billion) to least [source: Defense News].
I figured maybe you could use some of the specific names, which are behind this vaguely named thing called "The Pentagon" (which seems largely to be a central clearing house, for defense contracts drawing money out of the U.S. Treasury, specifically in the name of Operation Iraqi Freedom; a clearing house run mostly by the defense contractors themselves).
I figured you might want to know specifically who it is that employs these "military experts", and who pays them their small slice of that money, drawn from the U.S. Treasury in the name of Operation Iraqi Freedom (paid as a sort of "brokers fee" I guess).
A good title for this topic is...
"A Band of Liars..."
Feel free to use this at will...