Fort Bragg: Einblicke ins Infowar-Zentrum des US-Militärs

--- Die New York Times liefert heute einen ausführlichen Einblick ins Herz der Infowar-Operationen des US-Militärs:

The 1,200-strong psychological operations unit based at Fort Bragg turns out what its officers call "truthful messages" to support the United States government's objectives, though its commander acknowledges that those stories are one-sided and their American sponsorship is hidden. "We call our stuff information and the enemy's propaganda," said Col. Jack N. Summe, then the commander of the Fourth Psychological Operations Group, during a tour in June. Even in the Pentagon, "some public affairs professionals see us unfavorably," and inaccurately, he said, as "lying, dirty tricksters." The recent disclosures that a Pentagon contractor in Iraq paid newspapers to print "good news" articles written by American soldiers prompted an outcry in Washington, where members of Congress said the practice undermined American credibility and top military and White House officials disavowed any knowledge of it. President Bush was described by Stephen J. Hadley, his national security adviser, as "very troubled" about the matter. The Pentagon is investigating. But the work of the contractor, the Lincoln Group, was not a rogue operation. Hoping to counter anti-American sentiment in the Muslim world, the Bush administration has been conducting an information war that is extensive, costly and often hidden, according to documents and interviews with contractors, government officials and military personnel. Lincoln says it planted more than 1,000 articles in the Iraqi and Arab press and placed editorials on an Iraqi Web site, Pentagon documents show. For an expanded stealth persuasion effort into neighboring countries, Lincoln presented plans, since rejected, for an underground newspaper, television news shows and an anti-terrorist comedy based on "The Three Stooges." Like the Lincoln Group, Army psychological operations units sometimes pay to deliver their message, offering television stations money to run unattributed segments or contracting with writers of newspaper opinion pieces, military officials said. "We don't want somebody to look at the product and see the U.S. government and tune out," said Col. James Treadwell, who ran psychological operations support at the Special Operations Command in Tampa. The United States Agency for International Development also masks its role at times. AID finances about 30 radio stations in Afghanistan, but keeps that from listeners. The agency has distributed tens of thousands of iPod-like audio devices in Iraq and Afghanistan that play prepackaged civic messages, but it does so through a contractor that promises "there is no U.S. footprint."

Dazu passend: U.S. Air Force expanding cyberwar mission.

Und sonst: Französische Geheimdienste klärten die USA schon vor langem über falsche Informationen über das angebliche Bedrohungspotenzial des Iraks auf: France's spy service warned the U.S. various times before the war that there was no proof Iraq sought uranium from Niger, ex-officials say.

Es stürmte noch nicht genug in den USA in diesem Jahr: U.S. Won't Join in Binding Climate Talks.

Nach wie vor keine Meinungsfreiheit in Afghanistan: Post-Taliban Free Speech Blocked by Courts, Clerics. Jailed Afghan Publisher Faces Possible Execution. Aber auch in Europa sieht es verdammt schlecht aus für die Pressefreiheit, warnt der VDZ, denn die Vorratsdatenspeicherung und der damit einhergehende Großangriff auch auf die Informationssphäre von Journalisten scheint unabwendbar.

Zwei interessante Artikel aus der Huffington Post: Jihad vs. McSex und Seeds of Abu Ghraib.

Der britische Auslandsgeheimdienst MI6 hat bei CIA-Verschleppungen mitgewirkt, welch Wunder. Und Die Welt verteidigt Folter.

Wer hätte gedacht, dass die Dame überhaupt noch weiter spionierte? Die im Mittelpunkt eines Washingtoner Enthüllungsskandals stehende CIA-Agentin Plame arbeitet nicht mehr für den US-Geheimdienst. Laut Medienberichten will sie sich nun mehr ihrer Familie widmen.

US-Söldner im Irak mal wieder außer Rand und Band? U.S. Military Probing Video Of Road Violence.

<a href="http://del.icio.us/esmaggbe/infowar" rel="tag">infowar</a>, <a href="http://del.icio.us/esmaggbe/PsyOps" rel="tag">PsyOps</a>, <a href="http://del.icio.us/esmaggbe/propaganda" rel="tag">propaganda</a>