Is the Pentagon waging a propaganda campaign against Americans?

The Associated Press

An American soldier stands near the site of a car bombing in Iraq.

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Is the Pentagon waging a propaganda campaign against Americans?

The military analysts you see on television are often ex-military officers retired to public life. But it turns out many of them may still be in the fight: The New York Times reports today that the Pentagon organized the analysts to deliver a unified message of victory in Iraq, which the analysts delivered to audiences -- even when they suspected the truth was more grim. Why? Many had post-military business interests that depended on access to the Pentagon. One analyst said the setup reminded him of a "psyops" operation. Is this a case of the Defense Department running a propaganda campaign against Americans?

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Michael Goldfarb/The Weekly Standard

The paper offers no evidence that any of these men were using their influence to directly further a personal interest (unless one counts "networking"), and it offers no evidence of coercion on the part of the administration. So the charge is a lack of transparency, and it rests on the assumption that Americans are too stupid to surmise the likely ideological and institutional biases of a former general officer in the United State military.

Of course, Americans are not so stupid, and I suspect most will appreciate the irony of the New York Times judging retired military officers as insufficiently objective in their analysis of the war in Iraq.

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The Capetbagger Report

We’ve known for a while that the Bush administration has been manipulating Iraqi media for propaganda purposes, but the U.S. maintains an independent fourth estate. At least, it’s supposed to.

Many of these retired military commanders knew they were being manipulated by the administration, and knew they were telling the public misleading information, but felt compelled to play along anyway.

For five years, these men have been dominating the airwaves, telling Americans that we’re “winning,” that the Bush policy is “working,” and that the media is ignoring the “good news.” It wasn’t true, as some of them are now willing to admit.

But as offensive as it is to learn about the retired military leaders regurgitating White House talking points for fear of losing lucrative contracts, it’s even more offensive that the Bush gang would view retired commanders as puppets, and the public as suckers.