From C.S. Bryan: Gee, propaganda like this? Taxpayer money well spent:
http://www.military.com/entertainment/nascar/ CB ----- Original Message ----- From: "Mark Crispin Miller" <mailto:[email protected]><[email protected]> To: <mailto:[email protected]>[email protected] Sent: Tuesday, February 10, 2009 8:05:59 AM GMT -08:00 US/Canada Pacific Subject: [MCM] The Pentagon is a gigantic propaganda mill Here's an eye-popper: DoD has 27,000 working in its propaganda wing--and that does not mean just the propaganda aimed at, say, al Qaeda or the Taliban, and/or at the hearts-and-minds of the Iraqis or Afghanis, but also the propaganda aimed at you and me and everybody else right here at home. For "PR and recruiting" is just one more euphemism for propaganda, which also has been variously known (and masked) as "strategic communication," "public diplomacy," "lobbying" and--going way back--"public information," among other hazy terms. I wonder just how much the Pentagon has grown its propaganda staff since, say, 1990, when its Public Affairs Department employed 10,000 of our fellow-citizens. In any case, this sort of thing, AP reports, now costs $4.7 billion every year, which is money coming from us so that Team Gates (put in place, let's not forget, by Bush & Co.) can pitch unending bullshit at us. And that, of course, is not the only cost, or the one that takes the greatest toll. MCM 27,000 Work in Pentagon PR and Recruiting By Noah Shachtman <mailto:[email protected]> February 05, 2009 | 5:41:42 PMCategories: <http://blog.wired.com/defense/info_war/index.html>Info War <http://blog.wired.com/photos/uncategorized/2009/02/05/pao_logo2.jpg> <http://blog.wired.com/defense/2009/02/27000-work-in-p.html>http://blog.wired.com/defense/2009/02/27000-work-in-p.html Forget the <http://blog.wired.com/defense/2009/02/drone-surge-pre.html>drone stuff. Here is <http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5goNYO5JYwfyoPwhA3gpfKNEcstkgD965LH980>your eye-popping statistic of the day: "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." That's from an Associated Press investigation, "which 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." Staff costs take up most of the money, more than $2 billion. Another $1.6 billion goes into recruiting. About a half-billion goes towards "psychological operations, which targets foreign audiences." And, finally, "$547 million goes into public affairs, which reaches American audiences." That last one may be the most amazing figure of 'em all. Because getting a straightforward answer out of most military public affairs shops is still a root-canal-painful procedure. You'd think it'd be easier, with all those resources brought to bear. ========================= In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. You are receiving this message because you are signed up to be on Baltimore News Network's News List. To be removed, please send a reply message with REMOVE in the subject line. For information about Baltimore News Network, Inc., a 501(c)(3) organization, or to make a donation to BNN via PayPal, visit <http://baltimorechronicle.com/>http://baltimorechronicle.com. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to Mark Crispin Miller's "News From Underground" newsgroup. To unsubscribe, send a blank email to [email protected] OR go to http://groups.google.com/group/newsfromunderground and click on the "Unsubscribe or change membership" link in the yellow bar at the top of the page, then click the "Unsubscribe" button on the next page. For more News From Underground, visit http://markcrispinmiller.com -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
