Today, the Senate Armed Services Committee marked up a version of
the defense appropriations bill which does NOT include language
supporting the Thornberry/Smith amendment. That language could be
added back in when differences between the House and Senate versions
of the bill are reconciled in conference committee.
BuzzFeed (May 24) - "Senate Bill Drops 'Propaganda' Amendment"
http://www.buzzfeed.com/rebeccaelliott/senate-bill-drops-propaganda-amendment
gf
On 5/21/12 12:32 AM, Gregory Foster wrote:
...has singled himself out as another Texas Congressman worthy of
unseating. His district traverses the Texas panhandle including
Amarillo and Wichita Falls:
http://www.thornberry.house.gov/
http://www.thornberry.house.gov/District/InteractiveMap.htm
The FY2013 National Defense Authorization Act (HR 4310),
passed by the House on Friday, had two amendments introduced by
Representative Thornberry. Here's a summary of the first (source),
which was accepted:
114. Thornberry (TX), Smith, Adam (WA) #85 Would amend the
United States Information and Educational Exchange Act of 1948
(known as the Smith-Mundt Act) and the Foreign Relations
Authorization Act, Fiscal Years 1986 and 1987 to clarify the
authorities of the Department of State and the Broadcasting
Board of Governors to prepare, disseminate and use public
diplomacy information abroad and to strike the current ban on
domestic dissemination of such material. Would clarify that the
Smith-Mundt Act's provisions related to public diplomacy
information do not apply to other Federal departments or
agencies (including the Department of Defense). (10 minutes)
If I'm reading #114 correctly, that would authorize the deployment
of American propaganda on the American population. Here's the
BuzzFeed article that seems to have broken the story, which cites
an anonymous Pentagon source:
http://www.buzzfeed.com/mhastings/congressmen-seek-to-lift-propaganda-ban
Here's a press release (May 17) from Washington Representative
Adam Smith's website:
http://adamsmith.house.gov/News/DocumentPrint.aspx?DocumentID=121987
Here's a related press release (May 15) from Representative
Thornberry's website:
http://thornberry.house.gov/News/DocumentSingle.aspx?DocumentID=296108
Representative Thornberry's press release concerns his
introduction, with co-sponsor Smith, of HR 5736: "
To amend the United States Information and Educational Exchange
Act of 1948 to authorize the domestic dissemination of information
and material about the United States intended primarily for
foreign audiences, and for other purposes"; it's been referred to
the Committee on Foreign Affairs:
http://www.opencongress.org/bill/112-h5736/show
Wrapping up, I noticed the summary of the second amendment Mr.
Thornberry introduced for attachment to the FY2013 NDAA:
115. Thornberry (TX) #87 Would require the President to submit
to Congress a charter to establish an interagency body to
coordinate and deconflict full-spectrum military cyber
operations. (10 minutes)
Not sure if that amendment was accepted into the bill as passed.
The bill still has to navigate the Senate and win the President's
signature before it's law.
Worth noting that Smith's press release cites an announcement on
May 17th "
before a forum of 150 national security experts and practitioners"
with a link to a video; that link isn't working, but points to the
Center for Strategic and International Studies - now familiar to
me as the
home of cyberwar drummer James Andrew Lewis. Hunting for
that video turns up this appearance of the Smith and Thornberry
show in 2008, "Fighting Terrorism in the 21st Century: Sharpening
the Tools of Strategic Communication and Public Diplomacy"
(includes audio and downloadable
video):
http://csis.org/event/fighting-terrorism-21st-century-sharpening-tools-strategic-communication-and-public-diplomacy
Just beginning that video, and it seems to convey quite a bit
about what these fellows have been up to - for quite some time.
gf
--
Gregory Foster || [email protected]
@gregoryfoster <> http://entersection.com/
|
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