"possibly even false ones"? "and even Western Europe". As official policy? I wonder which genius comes up with those ideas.
---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Tue, 19 Feb 2002 01:08:47 -0500 From: David Farber <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: IP: Pentagon Readies Efforts to Sway Sentiment Abroad http://www.nytimes.com/2002/02/19/international/19PENT.html By JAMES DAO and ERIC SCHMITT The Pentagon is planning to provide news items, possibly even false ones, to foreign media in order to influence public opinion in both friendly and unfriendly countries. The plans, which have not received final approval from the Bush administration, have stirred opposition among some Pentagon officials who say they might undermine the credibility of information that is openly distributed by the Defense Department's public affairs officers. The military has long engaged in information warfare against hostile nations � for instance, by dropping leaflets and broadcasting messages into Afghanistan when it was still under Taliban rule. But it recently created the Office of Strategic Influence, which is proposing to broaden that mission into allied nations in the Middle East, Asia and even Western Europe. The office would assume a role traditionally led by civilian agencies, mainly the State Department. <snip> For archives see: http://www.interesting-people.org/archives/interesting-people/
