[Dialogue] Pentagon Suspends Program for Military 'Media Analysts'

[Harry Wainwright]

Published on Tuesday, April 29, 2008 by Agence
<http://www.afp.com/english/home/>  France Presse 

Pentagon Suspends Program for Military 'Media Analysts'

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.
<http://www.commondreams.org/archive/wp-content/photos/0429_02.jpg>
<http://www.commondreams.org/archive/wp-content/photos/0429_02.jpg> 0429 02
<http://www.commondreams.org/archive/wp-content/photos/0429_02.jpg> 

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.

"It's temporarily suspended so we can take at look at some of the concerns,"
said Whitman.

Teleconferences and briefings for the military analysts have been halted
pending the review, which is being conducted by the Pentagon's public
affairs office, he said.

US Defense Secretary Robert Gates has not directly addressed the issue since
the New York Times carried a lengthy report on the program April 20, except
to say that the analysts should make clear they were speaking only for
themselves.

The New York Times found
<http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/20/washington/20generals.html?ex=1366689600&
en=eefc8e0bdd6ffc91&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink>  that the
Pentagon laid on special briefings and conference calls for the retired
officers, many of whom then repeated the talking points as military experts
on television news shows.

The Times also found that many of the media analysts also worked as
consultants or served on the boards of defense contracting companies, but
that those ties often went undisclosed to the public.

The only time Gates has met with the military media analysts was in March
2007, Whitman said, revising his earlier recollection that the secretary met
with them in September.

Whitman said the program was designed to provide information to the US
public "by any number of means, the media being one of them - analytical
assessments and discussions on network television is another."

He said the Pentagon also interacted with bloggers, corporate leaders and
education leaders as part of the effort to reach out to the public.

C 2008 Agence France Presse

Article printed from www.CommonDreams.org 

URL to article: http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/04/29/8587/

 

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