Pentagon Reveals News Correction Unit

Jonas Wisser writes "BBC is reporting that a newly created Pentagon unit has a mandate to fight 'inaccurate' news stories. From the article: 'The Pentagon has set up a new unit to focus on promoting its message across 24-hour rolling news outlets, and particularly on the internet. [...] A Pentagon memo seen by the Associated Press news agency said the new unit will "develop messages" for the 24-hour news cycle and aim to "correct the record". A spokesman said the unit would monitor media such as weblogs and would also employ "surrogates", or top politicians or lobbyists who could be interviewed on TV and radio shows.'"

Office of Strategic Influence?

[unwesen]

Sounds suspiciously like a rehash of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Office_of_Strategic_I nfluence [wikipedia.org]

The other war

[XanC]

The propaganda war is probably just as important as the "hot" war itself, so yes, the Pentagon probably really is getting its priorities right.

The terrorists' objective is to hold out as long as possible, and make things messy enough that the Americans lose their will to stick it out. It's happened before: Vietnam, Beiruit, Iraq the first time around, Somalia, etc.

They're doing everything they can to convince Americans to leave, and their willing accomplices in the media are glad to oblige, because they don't like George Bush.

Well we can't leave again. There's no choice but to make them blink first.

They already have a department for that.

[Anonymous Coward]

They already have a department. Its called PSYOPS.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychological_operati ons_(United_States) [wikipedia.org]
http://www.iwar.org.uk/psyops/ [iwar.org.uk]

Some of thier articles are quite interesting.

The point is that the US military already spout/counter proproganda. The only reason I can think of that they are claiming they are creating a new office is to distract from the fact that PSYOPS are doing the same thing they claim to be fighting.

Re:Astonishing

[bvdbos]

Even Hans Blix says likewise... [allheadlinenews.com]
Blix also claims the situation would have been better if the war had not taken place, saying, "Saddam would still have been sitting in office. Okay, that is negative and it would not have been joyful for the Iraqi people. But what we have gotten is undoubtedly worse."

Re:Either way, you're screwed

[ben there...]

Well, it's been going on in this administration at least since 2002. The Office of Strategic Influence [wikipedia.org] was its former name, which was officially shut down because of backlash from the press, but its activities continued. That office was intended to influence foreign media, but the question is, how much of the disinformation makes its way back into (or is spread directly into) our media in the form of blowback [wikipedia.org]. Contracts for this type of work run into the hundreds of millions of dollars [timesonline.co.uk] in Iraq. You better believe they are using the same strategies at home [nytimes.com] (no reg. [truthout.org]).

Re:Let it go, XanC

[ScentCone]

What was the last time you heard anybody mention Al Quaeda in Iraq?

How about: every day. Al Qaeda is the single highest-profile player in the jihaddi insurgency in that country. Why not read the BBC's summary [bbc.co.uk], dated today, as a refresher? Do you think that the average Iraqi is behind the large-scale slaughter of the average other Iraqi? Check in with Iran. It's not about Sunni vs. Shia, though that's how it's being portrayed. It's about destabilizing democracy and preventing a rational, world-friendly society from hatching out right next door to corrupt or outright crazy places like Iran and Syria. Iran hates the idea, and they're behind the vast majority of this. Al Qaeda's local Iraqi franchise operator (the guy that replaced the delightfully deceased - though much praised by Osama Bin Laden - Al Zarqawi, if you've been paying attention) is busy stoking the local fires, and already talking in terms of Taliban-izing the country once they kick out the infidels and kill off the traitorous election-having locals, blah blah blah. Wake up.