“I’m not talking about   confusion and inefficiency, which to a certain extent are products of   all wars, but about muddle-headed thinking, cover-your-ass orders, lies   and outright foolishness on the very highest levels.”  Cdr James   Meacham, 1968

The fact that the Pentagon   is overtly moving toward monitoring media is no real surprise. That   they will spend $20-million for a public relations contract is kinda   odd. Government has gotten good results with far less cost.

Peter Lance is a best selling   author. His third 9/11 investigative work, ‘Triple Cross’, is due   out in October.  Lance recently had his work ‘spun’ and manipulated   by National Geographic and feds attempting to rewrite history.

The venerable National Geographic   wanted to do a documentary on Lance’s book.  However, ‘something’  happened mid production. The author was dealt out and his work edited   with a cleaver.  They then replaced Lance with Jack Cloonan, one   of the very Feds that Lance’s research had found grossly negligent…very   ‘fox guarding hen house’ stuff.

Viewers of the ‘documentary’  “never saw any of this evidence critical of the Feds because Nat Geo   Channel, allowed the story of FBI failures in the Ali Mohamed case to   be told from the Bureau’s point of view.”  Huh?!? 
   
  According to Lance, “It was like doing Schindler’s List from   Hitler’s perspective.”

Several years ago the temporary   outplacement of U.S. Army psyops personnel was confirmed. " The assignment   durations have been short-term up to one full year, depending on the   mission.” When asked, "What were the missions?" responses   varied from "No comment.", "… need to know," to   smiles, and, in one case, an obscene recommendation.

Meanwhile in a recent government   solicitation, companies are being asked to demonstrate how they will   "provide continuous monitoring and near-real time reporting of   Iraqi, pan-Arabic, international, and U.S. media,". 
   
  This latest efforts comes in the wake of a White House effort to get   more offensive against critics of Iraq policy. It isn’t a stretch   to suggest similar efforts against critics of ‘other’ policies could   occur.  
   
  Control of the news media isn’t exactly a new concept.  From   ‘Tokyo Rose’ to Pravda, the dissemination of news, information and   propaganda has been a robust concern. The Catholic Church, Islam, Communist   regimes, and American administrations (not to mention our infamous ‘yellow   journalism’ phases) have all attempted to control what was reported   and how…perception becomes reality, and the first draft of history   is written in the news.

  A few years ago I wrote To Kill or Feed a Mockingbird in which I addressed “two   mutually exclusive and under reported stories”. One was the obvious   penchant for political operatives to leak classified information. The   other was a generational control of information dissemination by powerful   ‘controllers’. 
   
  The left leaning mainstream media cabal ‘enabled’ the Clinton administration   big time with spin, cover, and obfuscation. It may have been “more   ubiquitous, and at times even clumsy, but it was not unique.”…and   it was successful. 
   
  Operation ‘Mockingbird’ was a program reportedly hatched by State   Department official, Frank Wisner.  Wisner selected Philip Graham, then   publisher of the Washington Post to manage the program.  According to   Deborah Davis, author of ‘Katharine the Great’, "By the early   1950s, Wisner ‘owned’ respected members of the New York Times, Newsweek,  CBS and other communications vehicles, plus stringers, four to six hundred   in all, according to a former CIA analyst." 
   
  Investigators digging into MOCKINGBIRD were flabbergasted to discover   FOIA documents in which agents boast (in CIA office memos) of pride in   having placed "important assets" inside every major news publication   in the country. 
   
  This may sound like the stuff of Ludlum novels and conspiracy wackos,  but not until 1982 did the ‘Company’ finally concede that reporters   on the CIA payroll have been case officers to field agents. 
   
  The entire Valerie Plame/Joe Wilson fiasco (please read Christopher   Hitchens) reveals the sausage making aspect   of political spin.

Peter Lance had years of work   editorially bastardized by National Geographic and a small gang of C.Y.A.  federal officials.  The ‘rest of the story’ will come out when   his book is published in October.  Those who read the book, ‘Triple   Cross’, or read the reportage of the book, will discover a far different   story from the whitewashed, sanitized, ‘government approved’ version   National Geographic aired.

The late Reed Irvine (a dear   and missed friend) routinely took on America’s biggest and most influential   journalists and media companies to account for their errors, and stick   to the facts.

Ben Bradlee, when still at   the Washington Post, called Reed (in a letter) a “miserable, carping   retromingent vigilante.” I called Reed a hero…(I had to look up   ‘retromingent’.)

Peter Lance’s righteous indignation   will be validated as facts are revealed. However, don’t hold your   breath waiting for the FBI to throw themselves on their sword and admit   to eschewing ‘Duty, Honor, Country’ for personal C.Y.A.

 

Guest columns do not necessarily reflect the views of Accuracy in Media or its staff.

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