You're wrong, Steve! He's not disturbed by the reports that it happened and not that it's out of his control. He's disturbed that the information got out!
Posted by buck turgidson at December 5, 2005 08:15 AMBuck is right.
It's kind of funny. Considering that the WH presumably initiated this policy and has certainly known the full details for at least three years.
Even in 2002 it was "nothing new to all but the most naïve."
From the NYT front page - 19 Feb 2002:
OSI is said to be headed by Brig. Gen. Simon P. Worden, US Air Force. The new office has begun circulating classified proposals calling for aggressive campaigns that use not only the foreign media and the Internet, but also covert operations. General Worden reportedly envisions a broad mission ranging from "black" campaigns that use disinformation and other covert activities to "white" public affairs that rely on truthful news releases. One of the office's proposals are said to call for planting news items with foreign media organizations through outside concerns that might not have obvious ties to the Pentagon. Another proposal allegedly involves sending journalists, civic leaders and foreign leaders e-mail messages that promote American views or attack unfriendly governments.
To help the new office, the Pentagon has reportedly hired the Rendon Group, a Washington-based international consulting firm.. The firm has done extensive work for CIA, the Kuwaiti royal family and the Iraqi National Congress, the opposition group seeking to oust President Saddam Hussein. It is well known for running propaganda campaigns in Arab countries, including one announcing and denouncing atrocities by Iraq during its 1990 invasion of Kuwait. The firm appears to have been hired as part of the preparations for the campaign to oust Saddam Hussein.
But the new office has also stirred a sharp debate in the Pentagon, where several senior officials have questioned whether its mission is too broad and possibly even illegal. Critics argue that mixing the more surreptitious activities with the work of traditional public affairs will undermine the Pentagon's credibility with the media, the public and governments around the world. Moreover, critics say, disinformation planted in foreign media organizations, like Reuters or Agence France-Presse, could end up being published or broadcast by American news organizations.
Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, while broadly supportive of the new office, has apparently not yet approved its specific proposals and has reportedly asked the Pentagon's top lawyer, William J. Haynes, to review them. Regarding all this, one might consider that the OSI office has a legitimate mission, but that publicity about it and its programs are anathema to its objectives. It should be a “black” office, never seen or heard from in public, operating closely with State Department and CIA officers in the same business. The Pentagon critics, with access to classified information, have obviously leaked the substance of both the office and its proposed classified programs, something which the SecDef has denounced and should investigate. The press is obviously having a special fit. One last consideration: the fact that we are inundated by spin-meistering, propaganda, misinformation and disinformation, by both US and foreign government and media sources, including happenings in the Middle East and Iraq, is nothing new to all but the most naïve. (New York Times 9 Feb 02, p. 1 // J. Dao & E. Schmitt)
LINK at http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/fr/631175/posts
Posted by Tortoise at December 5, 2005 08:27 AMDoesn't it seem strange that all this is going on without the President knowing? These things aren't like...4 staplers were purchased. These are major decisions that the commander-in-chief should be aware of.
Think Progress covered Hadley's take on this over the weekend.
Posted by GoreGirl at December 5, 2005 12:39 PMDoesn't it seem strange that all this is going on without the President knowing?
LOL. Not really considering that we're talking about GWBush. He's just the spokesmodel, they don't give him the details, they just tell him that everything is going great because that's what he likes to hear.
Posted by ann at December 5, 2005 01:26 PM