LAT: PR Meets Psy-Ops in War on Terror (use of misleading info debated)

[DeepModem Mom]

PR Meets Psy-Ops in War on Terror
The use of misleading information as a military tool sparks debate in the Pentagon. Critics say the practice puts credibility at stake.

By Mark Mazzetti, Times Staff Writer


WASHINGTON — On the evening of Oct. 14, a young Marine spokesman near Fallouja appeared on CNN and made a dramatic announcement.

"Troops crossed the line of departure," 1st Lt. Lyle Gilbert declared, using a common military expression signaling the start of a major campaign. "It's going to be a long night." CNN, which had been alerted to expect a major news development, reported that the long-awaited offensive to retake the Iraqi city of Fallouja had begun.

In fact, the Fallouja offensive would not kick off for another three weeks. Gilbert's carefully worded announcement was an elaborate psychological operation — or "psy-op" — intended to dupe insurgents in Fallouja and allow U.S. commanders to see how guerrillas would react if they believed U.S. troops were entering the city, according to several Pentagon officials....

***

Officials at the Pentagon and other U.S. national security agencies said the CNN incident was not an isolated feint — the type used throughout history by armies to deceive their enemies — but part of a broad effort underway within the Bush administration to use information to its advantage in the war on terrorism.

The Pentagon in 2002 was forced to shutter its controversial Office of Strategic Influence (OSI), which was opened shortly after the Sept. 11 attacks, after reports that the office intended to plant false news stories in the international media. But officials say that much of OSI's mission — using information as a tool of war — has been assumed by other offices throughout the U.S. government....


http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-warinfo1dec01,0,321180.story?coll=la-home-headlines

[w13rd0]

1. And we are to believe that an Administration...

...willing to lie to its people about matters of life and death wouldn't lie to us about something as trivial as our democracy, our rights? Just another example of Bush despotism.

[MSgt213]

2. Well why not the military has the US media which is complicit in these

types of actions by their failure to distance themselves from the military and this administration by actually doing reporting. We have highly paid transcribers and regurgitating pin heads, but no real news reporters.

[trapper914]

3. The Right Wing Mantra

"The Liberal Media never reports the good things happening in Iraq."

Could it be that, in some cases, the media recognizes the propaganda and refuses to report it? The CNN incident will make them very wary when reporting ANYTHING coming out of Iraq. If the right thought they weren't getting enough "good news" before, I gotta feeling the spoonfed, good news from Feith and Co. may be ignored from here on out.