March 22, 2006 at 09:49:09

Iraq Propaganda Program Cleared by Military Inquiry. But Is It Right?

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By Ron Fullwood (about the author) Page 2 of 2 page(s)

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We can't expect Rumsfeld or the Pentagon to police themselves and reform their own meddling. With the full force of our nation's military deployed in a seemingly intractable conflict in Iraq, the rest stationed in Afghanistan and around the globe as mercenaries of the new American imperialism, and Bush's eye on Iran, there is no time to wait and see if they cross the line into suppressing dissenting views here in the US, or muddling them with disinformation abroad which ultimately ends up in the mainstream press here and elsewhere.

This Bush regime sees opposition to their manufactured mandate to conquer as threats to their consolidation of power. Woodrow Wilson was also obsessed with good press during the war. He urged legislative action against those who had "sought to bring the authority and 'good name' of the Government into contempt." He worried in his declaration of war, about "spies and criminal intrigues everywhere afoot" which had filled "our unsuspecting communities and even our offices of government."

During his presidency more than 2,000 American citizens were jailed for protest, advocacy, and dissent, with the support of a compliant Supreme Court. Although he upheld convictions surrounding the war which curtailed free speech and dissent, Justice Holmes worried in a minority opinion that, "A patriot might think that we were wasting money on aeroplanes, or making more cannon of a certain kind than we needed, and might advocate curtailment with success."

That's the real danger in allowing the Pentagon to control news out of Iraq. What will be their reaction when our protests of these Bush wars, as they change public attitudes and erode support for the occupation, begin to actually thwart what they've been insisting are matters of national security? I think their notion of information warfare as 'firepower' in the 'long war', has to be addressed and clarified before a culture of crushing dissent is codified to further their own calculating propaganda.

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Ron Fullwood, is an activist from Columbia, Md. and the author of the book 'Power of Mischief' : Military Industry Executives are Making Bush Policy and the Country is Paying the Price

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