One of my biggest complaints has been that although they understood that the terrorists were planing a media war, to influence the American public, to work hand in hand with the fighting of said war, the administration has not done enough to fight the war on that front, the media.
al-Qaeda statements have shown that they understand the importance of the media and shaping what is shown to the American public, I have wondered if our administration understood exactly how effective that would be.
Osama Bin Laden: Al-Qaeda Intends To Launch "A Media Campaign ... To Create A Wedge Between The American People And Their Government." (Letter From Osama Bin Laden To Mullah Omar, Released By The White House Press Office, 9/5/06)
Bin Laden: This Media Campaign Will Stress "That [The American] Government Would Bring Them More Losses, In Finances And In Casualties."
Bin Laden: The Media Campaign "Aims At Creating Pressure From The American People On The American Government To Stop Their Campaign Against Afghanistan."
Although the news that has come out today is late, years late, it is a welcome change from the way information has come to us these past four years.
WASHINGTON - Shaping the Bush administration’s message on the Iraq war has taken on new fervor, just as anticipation is building for the September progress report from top military advisers.
For the Pentagon, getting out Iraq information will now include a 24-hour-a-day, seven-day-a-week Iraq Communications Desk that will pump out data from Baghdad — serving as what could be considered a campaign war room.
According to a memo circulated Thursday and obtained by The Associated Press, Dorrance Smith, assistant defense secretary for public affairs, is looking for personnel for what he called the high-priority effort to distribute Defense Department information on Iraq.
[...]
Morrell called it a “smarter way of doing business” and said the intent is to “create a central clearinghouse of information so we can pull in all that is coming out of Baghdad and Iraq and have it come into one point, so we can better be able to share it with people who are interested.”
Some of the information collected, he said, would include data from briefings in Iraq, which take place when people on the U.S. East Coast are sleeping.
“It’s for our benefit and for your benefit,” said Morrell.
[...]
Less than a year ago, Smith developed plans for teams of people to “develop messages” for the 24-hour news cycle and “correct the record” when news agencies put out what the Pentagon considered inaccurate information.
At the time, he outlined an operation that resembled a political campaign — such as that made famous by Bill Clinton’s 1992 presidential campaign war room — calling for a “Rapid Response” section that quickly answers opponents’ assertions.
It was set up to focus more resources on the Internet and blogs and book civilian and military guests on television and radio shows.
While portions of the plan were put in place, much of it was shelved when Donald H. Rumsfeld stepped down as defense secretary and Robert Gates took over. At the time, Rumsfeld was complaining bitterly that the news media were focusing too much on bad news coming out of Iraq and not enough on progress there.
Finally.
There has been too much reporting from stringers in Iraq, reporters writing stories that were based in rumor, then having to retract those stories but doing so with far less fanfare than the original stories received when they came out in the first place and leaving the American people with the belief that the original story was true.
This should have been done years ago, but better late than never.
Keep an eye on the reactions to this news because I would be willing to bet that "certain" people will not be happy that access to the information will now be available and that we do not have to count on our MSM which the American people have already stated clearly they find to be biased and to report inaccurately.
(NOTE: Instead of leaving you with the advertisements I usually have at the bottom of each post, I will leave you with one of the videos from Freedoms Watch) [30 second video.]
Wounded Veteran:
Tracked back by:
Pentagon Hub No “War-Room” from shyspeak.net...
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