http://www.emperors-clothes.com/articles/devries/psyops.htm More links on this url. U.S. Army 'Psyops' Specialists worked for CNN Trouw, 21 February, 2000 By Abe de Vries Translated from the Dutch by an Emperors-Clothes volunteer www.tenc.net [emperors-clothes] WASHINGTON, ATLANTA - For a short time last year, CNN employed military specialists in 'psychological operations' (psyops). This was confirmed to Trouw by a spokesman of the U.S. Army. The military could have influenced CNN's news reports about the crisis in Kosovo. "Psyops personnel, soldiers and officers, have been working in CNN's headquarters in Atlanta through our programme 'Training With Industry,'" said Major Thomas Collins of the U.S. Army Information Service in a telephone interview last Friday. "They worked as regular employees of CNN. Conceivably, they would have worked on stories during the Kosovo war. They helped in the production of news.'' These military, a "handful" according to Collins, stayed with CNN for at least a couple of weeks "to get to know the company and to broaden their horizons''. Collins maintains that "they didn't work under the control of the army." The temporary outplacement of U.S. Army psyops personnel in various sectors of society began a couple of years ago. Contract periods vary from a couple of weeks to one year. CNN is the biggest and most widely viewed news station in the world. The intimate liaisons with army psyops specialists raise serious doubts about CNN's journalistic integrity and independence. The military CNN-personnel belonged to the airmobile Fourth Psychological Operations Group, stationed at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. One of the main tasks of this group of almost 1200 soldiers and officers is to spread 'selected information'. American psyops troops try with a variety of techniques to influence media and public opinion in armed conflicts in which American state interests are said to be at stake. The propaganda group was involved in the Gulf war, the Bosnian war and the crisis in Kosovo. So far CNN has not commented on the allegations. "I don't believe that we would employ military personnel; it doesn't seem like something we would normally do," said CNN-spokeswoman Megan Mahoney on Friday evening. But when the U.S. Army Information Service confirmed the news, Mahoney said she would have to contact CNN's senior officials. However, on Sunday evening CNN still could not provide an offical statement to Trouw. CNN's coverage of the war in Kosovo, and that of other media, has attracted criticism from several sides as having been one-sided, overly emotional, over-simplified and relying too heavily on NATO officials. On the other hand, journalists have complained about the lack of reliable information from NATO; for almost all of them it was impossible to be on the battlefield and file first-hand reports. For more on the connection between CNN and U.S. Army opinion-control operations, see 'The American army loves CNN' *** Producing Emperors-clothes costs money. If you'd like to help with a credit card donation please click here or go to http://www.emperors-clothes.com/howyour.html . Or you can mail a check to Emperor's Clothes, P.O. Box 610-321, Newton, MA 02461-0321. Thanks for making our work possible. To browse articles from Emperors-Clothes.com, click here Or go to: http://www.emperors-clothes.com www.tenc.net [emperors-clothes]
From: "Deuce" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Brasscheck" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <Recipient List Suppressed : ;> Sent: Monday, February 28, 2000 12:47 PM Subject: PsyOps at CNN February 28, 2000 PsyOps at CNN Sam Smith of the Progressive Review passed along a summary of this very interesting article which appeared at: http://www.emperors-clothes.com ABE DE VRIES, TROUW, NETHERLANDS: For a short time last year, CNN employed military specialists in 'psychological operations'. This was confirmed to Trouw by a spokesman of the US Army . . . "Psyops personnel, soldiers and officers, have been working in CNN's headquarters in Atlanta through our program 'Training With Industry,'" said Major Thomas Collins of the US Army Information Service in a telephone interview last Friday. "They worked as regular employees of CNN. Conceivably, they would have worked on stories during the Kosovo war. They helped in the production of news" . . . CNN is the biggest and most widely viewed news station in the world. The intimate liaisons with army psyops specialists raise serious doubts about CNN's journalistic integrity and independence. The military CNN-personnel belonged to the airmobile Fourth Psychological Operations Group, stationed at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. One of the main tasks of this group of almost 1200 soldiers and officers is to spread 'selected information'. American psyops troops try with a variety of techniques to influence media and public opinion in armed conflicts in which American state interests are said to be at stake. The propaganda group was involved in the Gulf war, the Bosnian war and the crisis in Kosovo. So far CNN has not commented on the allegations. FROM AN EARLIER ARTICLE BY DE VRIES: Colonel Christopher St. John is Commander of the Fourth Psychological Operations Group. In a military symposium on Special Operations on that was held behind closed doors in Arlington Virginia in early February, Col. St. John said the cooperation with CNN was a textbook example of the kind of ties the American army wants to have with the media. According to a report in the latest edition of the French magazine "Intelligence Newsletter" the Kosovo experience was the focus at this symposium. In the Kosovo crisis there was no military censorship of the kind that existed during the Gulf war. This time NATO tried to use more subtle methods to regulate the flow of information. The US Army leadership seems to have concluded that new and more aggressive measures in psychological warfare are needed. Not only do the psyops people want to spread hand-picked 'information' and keep other news quiet, the army also wants to control the Internet, to wage electronic warfare against disobedient media, and to control commercial satellites. ARTICLES BY ABE DE VRIES http://www.emperors-clothes.com/articles/devries/psyops.htm EMPERORS CLOTHES http://www.emperors-clothes.com ============================================== Brass Check - http://www.brasscheck.com "...if only the press were to do its duty, or but a tenth of its duty, this hellish system could not go on." - William Cobbett, Rural Rides, 1830 "The man in the street does not notice the devil even when the devil is holding him by the throat." - Johann von Goethe ============================================ ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Why wait for a credit decision? Get one instantly! Apply for the Capital One 9.9% Fixed APR Visa Platinum! http://click.egroups.com/1/1896/2/_/640718/_/951783001/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Visit: http://www.theforbiddenknowledge.com/
