[I giornalisti del portale online sui Balcani "Southeast European
Times", e di altri simili servizi "informativi", sono stipendiati dal
Pentagono: lo rivela candidamente il Washington Post...]
"...The Pentagon asked its inspector general to review its use of
Fairfax, Va.-based Anteon International Corp. to run Web sites aimed
at audiences in the Balkans and North Africa. The Web sites, known as
the Southeast European Times and Magharebia, include articles from
journalists paid by the Pentagon through the company..."
http://www.uruknet.info/?s1=1&p=13272&s2=02
Pentagon doles out up to $300 million for 'psyops'
THE WASHINGTON POST
WASHINGTON -- The Pentagon awarded three contracts last week,
potentially worth up to $300 million over five years, to companies it
hopes will inject more creativity into its psychological operations
efforts to improve foreign public opinion about the United States,
particularly the military.
"We would like to be able to use cutting-edge types of media," said
Col. James Treadwell, director of the Joint Psychological Operations
Support Element, a part of Tampa-based U.S. Special Operations
Command. "If you want to influence someone, you have to touch their
emotions."
He said SYColeman Inc. of Arlington, Va., Lincoln Group of Washington,
D.C., and Science Applications International Corp. will help develop
ideas and prototypes for radio and television spots, documentaries, or
even text messages, pop-up ads on the Internet, podcasting, billboards
or novelty items.
Treadwell's group was established last year and includes a graphic
artist and videographer, he said. It assists "psyops" personnel
stationed at military headquarters overseas.
Col. Sam Taylor, a spokesman for the Special Operations Command, which
runs the Army's Special Forces, Navy SEALs and other elite combat
units, said the contractors might help the military develop
commercials in Iraq, for example, illustrating how roadside bombs
meant for soldiers also harm children and other innocent civilians.
The companies declined to comment.
The contracts come as the Bush administration has been criticized for
its uncoordinated efforts to repair the United States' post-Iraq image
problems abroad, particularly in the Muslim world. The State
Department, for instance, has been slow to mount a new public
diplomacy program headed by former White House aide Karen Hughes. Vice
President Dick Cheney said in March that public diplomacy "has been a
very weak part of our arsenal."
A Government Accountability Office report in April noted that the
Pentagon had been pressing initiatives on "strategic communications"
to fill "the planning void left by the lack of strategic direction
from the White House." A September 2004 Defense Science Board report
concluded that the "U.S. strategic communication must be transformed."
"The department is always looking for ways to improve our
communication efforts, and we are working closely with the State
Department to support their public diplomacy initiatives where
appropriate," Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said in response to
questions about how the new psyops program fits into an administration
plan.
Some previous Defense Department efforts in the field have been
controversial. In 2002, the Pentagon abandoned its Office of Strategic
Influence after reports surfaced, which the Pentagon denied, that it
would disseminate inaccurate information to foreign media.
After other agencies were criticized for hiring journalists to promote
their policies, the Pentagon asked its inspector general to review its
use of Fairfax, Va.-based Anteon International Corp. to run Web sites
aimed at audiences in the Balkans and North Africa. The Web sites,
known as the Southeast European Times and Magharebia, include articles
from journalists paid by the Pentagon through the company, as well as
articles translated from U.S. newspapers. That review is ongoing.
Treadwell said there is no connection between the Office of Strategic
Influence and the Joint Psychological Operations Support Element,
adding: "I have never approved a product that was a lie, (or) that was
intended to deceive."
SYColeman, a unit of L-3 Communications, is a government-services
company with about 1,100 employees, most in the Washington region.
According to its Web site, Lincoln Group provides communications
services and strategic planning. San Diego-based SAIC, which has
16,000 employees in the Washington region, is among the Pentagon's
largest contractors. Its work includes playing a major role in the
Army's $100 billion modernization effort and a failed program to
create a computerized case-management system for the FBI.
:: Article nr. 13272 sent on 01-jul-2005 21:07 ECT
:: The address of this page is : www.uruknet.info?p=13272
:: The incoming address of this article is :
www.theolympian.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2005506120315
Times", e di altri simili servizi "informativi", sono stipendiati dal
Pentagono: lo rivela candidamente il Washington Post...]
"...The Pentagon asked its inspector general to review its use of
Fairfax, Va.-based Anteon International Corp. to run Web sites aimed
at audiences in the Balkans and North Africa. The Web sites, known as
the Southeast European Times and Magharebia, include articles from
journalists paid by the Pentagon through the company..."
http://www.uruknet.info/?s1=1&p=13272&s2=02
Pentagon doles out up to $300 million for 'psyops'
THE WASHINGTON POST
WASHINGTON -- The Pentagon awarded three contracts last week,
potentially worth up to $300 million over five years, to companies it
hopes will inject more creativity into its psychological operations
efforts to improve foreign public opinion about the United States,
particularly the military.
"We would like to be able to use cutting-edge types of media," said
Col. James Treadwell, director of the Joint Psychological Operations
Support Element, a part of Tampa-based U.S. Special Operations
Command. "If you want to influence someone, you have to touch their
emotions."
He said SYColeman Inc. of Arlington, Va., Lincoln Group of Washington,
D.C., and Science Applications International Corp. will help develop
ideas and prototypes for radio and television spots, documentaries, or
even text messages, pop-up ads on the Internet, podcasting, billboards
or novelty items.
Treadwell's group was established last year and includes a graphic
artist and videographer, he said. It assists "psyops" personnel
stationed at military headquarters overseas.
Col. Sam Taylor, a spokesman for the Special Operations Command, which
runs the Army's Special Forces, Navy SEALs and other elite combat
units, said the contractors might help the military develop
commercials in Iraq, for example, illustrating how roadside bombs
meant for soldiers also harm children and other innocent civilians.
The companies declined to comment.
The contracts come as the Bush administration has been criticized for
its uncoordinated efforts to repair the United States' post-Iraq image
problems abroad, particularly in the Muslim world. The State
Department, for instance, has been slow to mount a new public
diplomacy program headed by former White House aide Karen Hughes. Vice
President Dick Cheney said in March that public diplomacy "has been a
very weak part of our arsenal."
A Government Accountability Office report in April noted that the
Pentagon had been pressing initiatives on "strategic communications"
to fill "the planning void left by the lack of strategic direction
from the White House." A September 2004 Defense Science Board report
concluded that the "U.S. strategic communication must be transformed."
"The department is always looking for ways to improve our
communication efforts, and we are working closely with the State
Department to support their public diplomacy initiatives where
appropriate," Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said in response to
questions about how the new psyops program fits into an administration
plan.
Some previous Defense Department efforts in the field have been
controversial. In 2002, the Pentagon abandoned its Office of Strategic
Influence after reports surfaced, which the Pentagon denied, that it
would disseminate inaccurate information to foreign media.
After other agencies were criticized for hiring journalists to promote
their policies, the Pentagon asked its inspector general to review its
use of Fairfax, Va.-based Anteon International Corp. to run Web sites
aimed at audiences in the Balkans and North Africa. The Web sites,
known as the Southeast European Times and Magharebia, include articles
from journalists paid by the Pentagon through the company, as well as
articles translated from U.S. newspapers. That review is ongoing.
Treadwell said there is no connection between the Office of Strategic
Influence and the Joint Psychological Operations Support Element,
adding: "I have never approved a product that was a lie, (or) that was
intended to deceive."
SYColeman, a unit of L-3 Communications, is a government-services
company with about 1,100 employees, most in the Washington region.
According to its Web site, Lincoln Group provides communications
services and strategic planning. San Diego-based SAIC, which has
16,000 employees in the Washington region, is among the Pentagon's
largest contractors. Its work includes playing a major role in the
Army's $100 billion modernization effort and a failed program to
create a computerized case-management system for the FBI.
:: Article nr. 13272 sent on 01-jul-2005 21:07 ECT
:: The address of this page is : www.uruknet.info?p=13272
:: The incoming address of this article is :
www.theolympian.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2005506120315