Pentagon sets sights on public opinion MSNBC Friday, February 6, 2009
WASHINGTON - As it fights two wars, the Pentagon is steadily and dramatically increasing the money it spends to win what it calls "the human terrain" of world public opinion. In the process, it is raising concerns of spreading propaganda at home in violation of federal law. An Associated Press investigation found that over the past five years, the money the military spends on winning hearts and minds at home and abroad has grown by 63 percent, to at least $4.7 billion this year, according to Department of Defense budgets and other documents. That's almost as much as it spent on body armor for troops in Iraq and Afghanistan between 2004 and 2006. (ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW) This year, the Pentagon will employ 27,000 people just for recruitment, advertising and public relations - almost as many as the total 30,000-person work force in the State Department. "We have such a massive apparatus selling the military to us, it has become hard to ask questions about whether this is too much money or if it's bloated," says Sheldon Rampton, research director for the Committee on Media and Democracy, which tracks the military's media operations. "As the war has become less popular, they have felt they need to respond to that more." Full story here. Research related articles: 1.. Network VP Dismisses Military Pundits Scandal: 'Everyone Understands' Pentagon Spreads Propaganda 2.. Pentagon to test unclassified alternative to Talon 3.. Pentagon to deploy $300 million propaganda team in Iraq to sell war to Iraqis 4.. Pentagon closes controversial intelligence unit 5.. Internal investigation clears Pentagon of propaganda violations 6.. Pentagon Expanding Number of Aliens Recruited 7.. Opinion: Austin, It's Time to Rise Up 8.. China cancels, postpones military exchanges with US: Pentagon 9.. Pentagon Auditors Pressured To Favor Contractors, GAO Says 10.. Pentagon Attempted To Cover-Up KBR's Negligence In Electrocution Of U.S. Soldier 11.. Hurricane Gustav: National Emergency Environment Sets the Stage for the McCain Election Campaign 12.. Pentagon may deploy cyber-warriors Get your ad SEEN by our millions of monthly visitors AND support the Infowar. CLICK HERE for our advertising rates. a.. b.. Social bookmarks c.. d.. Email this article e.. f.. Print this page Leave a Reply Name (required) Mail (will not be published) (required) Website http://www.prisonplanet.com/pentagon-sets-sights-on-public-opinion.html [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
