Legalizing US government funded PR/propaganda directed at US persons
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DickMcManus
May 20, 2012, 11:54:07 PM5/20/12
to Politics and Electoral Reform Working Group
Legalizing US government funded PR/propaganda directed at US persons
Republicans passed the Defense Spending Bill and it removes/repeals
the Smith-Mundt Act of 1948
The new law would give sweeping powers to the State Department and
Pentagon to push television, radio, newspaper, and social media onto
the U.S. public. “It removes the protection for Americans” (against US
government PR/propaganda operations)says a Pentagon official who is
concerned about the law. “It removes oversight from the people who
want to put out this information. There are no checks and balances. No
one knows if the information is accurate, partially accurate, or
entirely false.” The Pentagon spends some $4 billion a year to sway
public opinion already, and it was recently revealed by USA Today the
DoD spent $202 million on information operations in Iraq and
Afghanistan last year.
The Smith-Mundt Act of 1948 and Foreign Relations Authorization Act in
1987—that had been passed to protect U.S. audiences from our own
government’s misinformation campaigns.
last year, General William Caldwell, deployed an information
operations team under his command that had been trained in
psychological operations to influence visiting American politicians to
Kabul.
A U.S. Army whistleblower, Lieutenant Col. Daniel Davis, noted
recently in his scathing 84-page unclassified report on Afghanistan
that there remains a strong desire within the defense establishment
“to enable Public Affairs officers to influence American public
opinion when they deem it necessary to "protect a key friendly center
of gravity, to wit US national will," he wrote, quoting a well-
regarded general.
The defense bill passed the House Friday afternoon.
http://www.buzzfeed.com/mhastings/congressmen-seek-to-lift-propaganda-ban
Some Unknown History of Propaganda Directed at US Persons parts 1 and
2
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SomeUnknownUSHistory/message/512
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SomeUnknownUSHistory/message/513
Republicans passed the Defense Spending Bill and it removes/repeals
the Smith-Mundt Act of 1948
The new law would give sweeping powers to the State Department and
Pentagon to push television, radio, newspaper, and social media onto
the U.S. public. “It removes the protection for Americans” (against US
government PR/propaganda operations)says a Pentagon official who is
concerned about the law. “It removes oversight from the people who
want to put out this information. There are no checks and balances. No
one knows if the information is accurate, partially accurate, or
entirely false.” The Pentagon spends some $4 billion a year to sway
public opinion already, and it was recently revealed by USA Today the
DoD spent $202 million on information operations in Iraq and
Afghanistan last year.
The Smith-Mundt Act of 1948 and Foreign Relations Authorization Act in
1987—that had been passed to protect U.S. audiences from our own
government’s misinformation campaigns.
last year, General William Caldwell, deployed an information
operations team under his command that had been trained in
psychological operations to influence visiting American politicians to
Kabul.
A U.S. Army whistleblower, Lieutenant Col. Daniel Davis, noted
recently in his scathing 84-page unclassified report on Afghanistan
that there remains a strong desire within the defense establishment
“to enable Public Affairs officers to influence American public
opinion when they deem it necessary to "protect a key friendly center
of gravity, to wit US national will," he wrote, quoting a well-
regarded general.
The defense bill passed the House Friday afternoon.
http://www.buzzfeed.com/mhastings/congressmen-seek-to-lift-propaganda-ban
Some Unknown History of Propaganda Directed at US Persons parts 1 and
2
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SomeUnknownUSHistory/message/512
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SomeUnknownUSHistory/message/513
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