Big Dan's Big Blog: Big Dan's Big News June 20, 2008

Propaganda Meets Corporate Lobbying

(bd: How can Republican voters even stand propaganda and military lobbyists? Please don't have the attitude, "They're our party, so it's 'OK'"! Do you like it when your own party screws you? That's even WORSE! They're screwing EVERYBODY INCLUDING YOU! They pushed a war of lies on US and made $$$ to boot! YOUR tax money. Tax money doesn't see "party".)

"The Pentagon launched its covert media analyst program in 2002, to sell the Iraq war. Later, it was used to sell an image of progress in Afghanistan, whitewash the U.S. detention center at Guantanamo Bay, and defend the Bush administration's warrantless wiretapping, as David Barstow reported in his New York Times expose."

"But the pundits weren't just selling government talking points. As Robert Bevelacqua, William Cowan and Carlton Sherwood enjoyed high-level Pentagon access through the analyst program, their WVC3 Group sought "contracts worth tens of millions to supply body armor and counterintelligence services in Iraq," reported Barstow. Cowan admitted to "push[ing] hard" on a WVC3 contract, during a Pentagon-funded trip to Iraq."

"Today, the broadcast and cable networks are steadfastly refusing to cover or otherwise address the Pentagon military analyst program, with very few exceptions. In this case, though, the pundits' undeclared financial interests are only part of a larger and much more serious problem. These officers participated in a covert government program designed to shape U.S. public opinion -- an illegal program, and one that relied on the willingness of major media to play along, without asking too many questions. And that's exactly what happened."

● What the Pentagon Pundits Were Selling on the Side. The Pentagon pundit scandal was not only a corrupt marriage of propaganda and corporate lobbying -- it was completely illegal.

● The Pentagon military analyst program was launched in early 2002 by then-Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs Victoria Clarke. The idea was to recruit "key influentials" to help sell a wary public on "a possible Iraq invasion." Former NBC military analyst Kenneth Allard called the effort "psyops on steroids." [1] Eight thousand pages of the documents relative to the Pentagon military analyst program were made available by the Pentagon in PDF format online May 6, 2008 at this website:

● PentagonMoney Website: Pentagon Finances= No Accountability. News and analysis on how the Pentagon misuses our tax dollars

● SueAnn Arrigo's Explosive Revelations: Exposing Pentagon and CIA Corruption