Psychological warfare effort to be outsourced
10 June 2005, James W. Crawley, Media General News Service
WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Special Operations Command has hired three firms to produce newspaper stories, television broadcasts and Web sites to spread American propaganda overseas. The Tampa-based military headquarters, which oversees commandos and psychological warfare, may spend up to $100 million for the media campaign in the next five years.
The Pentagon backed away from a similar campaign in 2002. The use of contractors in psyops is a new wrinkle. But psychological warfare expert Herb Friedman said he is not surprised. With only one active-duty and two reserve psyops units remaining, Friedman said, "The bottom line is, they don't have the manpower."
Federal law prohibits sending propaganda to Americans, and some experts worry that psychological warfare messages, especially disinformation efforts, might blow back to American audiences via the Internet and satellite news channels.
"In this age of the Internet and instant access, it's of great concern," said Nancy Snow, a propaganda expert at California State University-Fullerton. "If you plant false stories, how can you control where that story goes? You can't."
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Winning the contracts were Science Applications International Corp., SYColeman Inc. and Lincoln Group Corp.
SAIC, a California-based defense contractor with a major presence in McLean, Va., ran the U.S.-sponsored Iraqi Media Network, a print, radio and television operation, after the fall of Baghdad in April 2003. The firm was criticized for problems and exorbitant costs and declined to bid on the contract renewal.
SYColeman, a subsidiary of L-3 Communications based in Arlington, Va., advertises it created the Army's Web site honoring the only Medal of Honor winner so far from the Iraq war.
Lincoln, based in Washington and formerly known as Iraqex, provides various services, including public relations, in Iraq.
Spokesmen for the companies referred inquiries to the Pentagon. A Pentagon spokesman referred them to the Tampa command, which said special operations officials were unavailable this week because of a symposium and trade show.
The companies will get their marching orders from a joint psychological operations support element created last year.
The entire contract could total $100 million by 2010, records show.
US: Pentagon Funds Diplomacy Effort
11 June 2005, Renae Merle, The Washington Post
excerpt:
A Government Accountability Office report in April noted that the Pentagon had been pressing initiatives on "strategic communications" to fill "the planning void left by the lack of strategic direction from the White House." A September 2004 Defense Science Board report concluded that the "U.S. strategic communication must be transformed."
"The department is always looking for ways to improve our communication efforts, and we are working closely with the State Department to support their public diplomacy initiatives where appropriate," Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said in response to questions about how the new psyops program fits into an administration plan.
Some previous Defense Department efforts in the field have been controversial. In 2002, the Pentagon abandoned its Office of Strategic Influence after reports surfaced, which the Pentagon denied, that it would disseminate inaccurate information to foreign media.
After other agencies were criticized for hiring journalists to promote their policies, the Pentagon asked its inspector general to review its use of Fairfax-based Anteon International Corp. to run Web sites aimed at audiences in the Balkans and North Africa. The Web sites, known as the Southeast European Times and Magharebia, include articles from journalists paid by the Pentagon through the company, as well as articles translated from U.S. newspapers. That review is ongoing.
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