Sunday, June 12, 2005
Taxpayers to subsidize the culture of lies
Via the Chimp:
Psychological warfare effort to be outsourced
Army command hires three firms to sway Afghans and Iraqis
BY JAMES W. CRAWLEY
MEDIA GENERAL NEWS SERVICE
Jun 10, 2005
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.
...
So far, said defense analyst William Arkin, American propaganda efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan have "produced nothing positive and nothing negative." He suggested the $100 million might be better spent on guns and bullets.Winning the contracts were Science Applications International Corp., SYColeman Inc.[a subsidiary of L-3] and Lincoln Group Corp [formerly known as Iraqex].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.
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