On 2006-01-27T21:30:06+0100, Eugen Leitl wrote:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4655196.stm
"Psyops messages will often be replayed by the news media for much larger audiences, including the American public," it goes on.
The document's authors acknowledge that American news media should not unwittingly broadcast military propaganda. "Specific boundaries should be established," they write. But they don't seem to explain how.
Empty rhetoric. The government has no interest in shielding the American public from propaganda. In fact, isn't propaganda more effective at convincing "soft" people living in relative luxury in a developed nation than it is at convincing freedom fighters -- I mean terrorists -- and their neighbors in the rest of the world?[0] Certainly it can make a difference if people in other countries support your cause, but the much more immediate concern is whether the American people support it. They can vote you out of office, or can complain to Congress which can get your funding cut. If the American people are on-board, you can blunder all you want on foreign soil, or on U.S. soil for that matter. [0] Who started the "one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter" meme? I tried to track it down once upon a time and got several possible sources... notably Margaret Thatcher, William Casey (deputy dir of the CIA under Reagan), or Reagan himself. I'm inclined to believe it was Casey, since leaders often adopt views and sayings of their underlings to make themselves look smart. -- The six phases of a project: I. Enthusiasm. IV. Search for the Guilty. II. Disillusionment. V. Punishment of the Innocent. III. Panic. VI. Praise & Honor for the Nonparticipants.