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Pentagon corrupts military media

An investigative report in the New York Times revealed that many media military analysts have been paid by the Pentagon to push the Bush administration’s pro-war message on several cable news networks.

These analysts are mostly retired military men who are experts on national security and were termed “message force multipliers” by Pentagon officials, who provided the analysts with talking points approved by the White House.

If you have flipped through the channels recently you will notice Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly, confronting a general or two. Most of these military analysts have also been shown on other networks such as, CBS ABC and CNN.

Over time, the Pentagon recruited more than 75 retired officers to appear on the networks to talk about war tactics.

The largest contingent was affiliated with Fox News, followed by NBC and CNN. The White House kept a close watch on which analysts that had been identified by the Pentagon, by requesting lists of recruits and where they stood on the war.

At first, it was not such a bad idea to have military analysts with credentials who had experience on the war to help inform the public on what was happening in Iraq and other countries.

But not until there was a secret agenda caused by not only the major networks but also the military of defense.

When the administration discovered that the military analysts were not shaping the war in the positive light, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld called out the generals and met with them.

During the so-called “generals revolt” meeting, Rumsfeld instructed the military analysts on what he wanted them to say.

Rumsfeld also met with networks to disrupt and undermine the public’s view through these military analysts and how a new support for the war would be in effect.

An investigation discovered records and scripted interviews of Rumsfeld’s meetings detailing what the military analysts should say about the war.

The New York Times reports this was just another hidden agenda that the Bush Administration had in controlling the analysts as an instrument to shape terrorism coverage from inside the major TV and radio networks.

Reports show that the analysts were in private briefings with senior military leaders, including officials with influence over contracting and budget matters.

They have been taken on tours of Iraq and given access to classified intelligence.

The Pentagon defended its relationship with military analysts, saying they had been given only factual information about the war.

Whether these movers and shakers or so called key influential people are helpful in understanding the war, it does not matter, especially when bribery is involved to generate support for a cause that not everyone is completely in favor of.

It’s propaganda of the worst sort for the Pentagon and the White House to try to hijack objective news coverage in this way. And it’s embarrassing that the news networks allowed themselves to be hijacked in this way.

Shame on the networks for not acting independently and blurring the lines of communication between what is fact and fiction.

Having military analysts decipher publicly what their views are especially when they are being told what to say by the government is not right.

Whether they were puppets on a string, bribed, given a hidden agenda or told to lie, these are military men, so called analysts, are not journalist or reporters and they could never really be unbiased.

They will always be military officers and take orders. So why are they on the TV if they cannot speak freely about it?

If you want to know about pro tactics on war crimes and military, buy a book on it or join the military. Why do we have to cover it constantly on TV, especially, networks that are more concerned on entertainment rather than on real news? It is disgraceful for all in the military who continue to fight in this on going war while others go on media outlets solely for entertainment purposes.

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Unsigned editorials represent the opinion of the Campus Times Editorial Board.

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