Odierno's CNN Propaganda spot
By John Amato Wednesday Aug 08, 2007 2:27pm
The military is pulling out all the stops to promote the surge and to secure the funding in September. CNN airs a spot about Iran to start with and them goes to the General.
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I think we've had some success in providing that stability...Now we have to continue to move forward on the economic and political piece.
The theme is the common one that the propagandists in the WH have chosen to promote and sadly in my view they are using some in the military to that end. They announced also that they are using the warbloggers to help their cause---so they are as desperate as they are shameless.
The rapid-response team has been shut down but several sources tell me that another of Smith’s spin projects is ongoing. This project seeks to bypass the traditional media and work directly with talk radio and bloggers, mostly those with a heavily conservative tilt. The unit, which one source says was originally called “Surrogates Operation” but was later rechristened “Communications Outreach,” also reportedly provides talking points and briefings to retired military officials who now support the administration in appearances as media pundits.
I'm so sorry for his son and wish we were never lied into war, but using this piece of information to push his creds was also quite sad. Isn't being a General enough?...Odierno uses Al-Qaeda in Iraq as the talking point. C&L readers and most of America knows the score on that tired and faulty theme. The military never lies to us, they always tell the truth...Oh, wait..Let's ask the Tillman family. We are going to see more and more messengers sent to our airwaves in the coming days to pave the yellow brick road for Petraeus to skip down on.
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I am not going to comment first.
All of this, of course, will be done to keep yours (and the *news* networks') attentions away from the real story:
The pending collapse of the world economy.
If Bull-shit was money, we could pay off our massive National Debt with what the whitehouse puts out every day.
I think progress will be rapid as soon as they clear everyone from Baghdad.
From CNBC: "The stock selloff picked up steam in late trading amid growing worries about hedge funds exposed to risky debt. "I think what you are seeing in the market is the brokers that have lent money to hedge funds are demanding more collateral and are seizing assets," said Peter Boockvar, equity strategist at Miller Tabak." (Emphasis added by me.)
Umm...1929, anybody? Read up on what really took place in the run-up to the Crash, and you'll see charming similarities between then and now.
YAYY!!! WE'RE WINNING!! YAYYY!!!
The collapse of the Iraqi government is stability? Oh well.
How fu*king stupid do they think we are? Okay, let me restate that question. How fu*king stupid do they think we still are?
Ok, you first people. I found your video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLpmGB3CPVk
If we were as smart and organized as the military, we would catalogue each of these appearances for cross-referencing. One-offs like these are good, but we also need to assess their tactics in the aggregate.
It doesn't matter WTF propagandists do. Congress' batting average says they'll get their funding.
Prepping us for the next el foldo by the Democrats in congress...
He sees some stability? Where?
Even when the military thinks they're telling the truth, they have the same fault as any bureaucracy, of telling the truth that aids their own self-perpetuation.
Who is that anchorlady? Hot.
JC @ 15:
Keira Phillips, reichwing water-carrier.
Domestic psy-ops operations are illegal. The military is prohibited from using funds allocated for foreign strategic communications resources against Americans in pursuit of policy objectives, and Congress can't allocate those resources to be used in the US - nor can the Pretzelnit.
Not that the law is relevant anymore what with our extra-constitutional Congress and President, but just thought I'd point that out.
JC @ 15:
Not.
Polls show shift in attitudes on Iraq following military inroads
By TOM RAUM
Associated Press
— Polls suggest that Bush has had some degree of success in linking Islamic militants in Iraq with the al-Qaida terrorist movement.
"The administration is aggressively engaged in shifting (public) attitudes. And our side has been less aggressive than it needs to be," said Democratic pollster Celinda Lake. "The administration has been making inroads on their Iraqi argument, particularly linking it to terrorism."
Clearly, there needs to be a more aggressive effort on the part of the Democrats to not let any positive news sway people's opinions.
Probably the worst thing Bush/Cheney have done is turning much of the the Pentagon into a mere partisan propaganda outfit.
It is unseemly.
-GSD
CNN is in many ways worse than Fox News. They blindly support a war right before it happens in order to get the best embedded reporting positions and direct access to the war. They turn into a propaganda machine prior to and during the actual conflict. This has been their strategy since the enormous amount of money they made during Desert Storm.
Now they've even been turning conservative on issues such as health care, as seen in that ridiculous piece by Sanjay Gupta. We also see that stupid Headline Prime show, which is probably more conservative than Fox News.
I've long abandoned them.
The only use that they provide is in watching their change in polarity as a sign of an impending war. Are we seeing one now?
I believe it was in the book "Fiasco" that I learned that Odierno is first class jerk. A real macho guy who hasn't much ambition to become friendly with the Iraqi citizens. Probably explains some of the problems we see now over there.
When bush was asked today about Tillman's death, he handled it about as poorly as anyone could. Heartless bastard!
This is propaganda!
He wants us to believe that he can relate to parents with dead kids because his kid lost an arm or whatever.
This guy will never be a negotiator, but he is a political tool.
I don't blame CNN because they have to pay the bills.
If only we would have had these PR warriors in Viet Nam we would have . . .hung around even longer than we did before admitting it was a mistake and getting out.
Orwell's Illegitimate Son @ 5:
The crash in '89 was said to be worse, but then the various governments around the world knew the recipe to fix it, as learned from experience with Keynes and his theories put into practice by FDR.
Of course, neither of those times had the US been in such debt as today, so I reckon, you lot might be screwed.
Dr. Acula @ 16:
Let's hope her water doesn't break.
Sanjay to aisle three with the mop; Sanjay to aisle three.
I see Booosh is defending the economy like he and his minions defend this war of lies and the big time Col Klink AG and let me tell you this, if I wasn't an athiest I'd say may God help us all ...
War, perpetual constant unending war, is what so many of these bastards have been waiting so long for, that they are now refusing to give it up, even though it is obvious to everyone now that we are NOT doing the right thing, the it is NOT our security he is fighting for (thanx Marianne Faithfull). Even though every day only brings more suffering and death.
dennis -
The paragraph doesn't refer to actual success against terrorists.
It claims Bush's WORDS are successful in "linking Islamic militants in Iraq with the al-Qaida terrorist movement."
At this point...
..We are NOT going to rely on the same people that got it all wrong and continue to spew propaganda..
We cant rely on our government..
We cant rely on the media..
We cant rely on the television..
We cant rely on the radio..
What can we rely on for an UNcensored intelligent analysis and conversation...?
Where are all the patriots...?
The ones now IN and formerly in the government...
...before they are censored...
time to read everything....
Especially The ones that have predicted everything that we are now seeing... Rapid response...
I wonder what a patriotic former employee of the Central Intelligence Agency and U.S. State Department’s Office of Counter Terrorism has to say..
http://noquarterusa.net/blog/about-the-authors-2/about-the-authors/
more to come...
Fuck this shit!!! I'm sick of getting played over this friggin war!
Everybodies workin an angle...Bush, Congress, the armed forces... And general Petraeus??.....Or is it betrayus??? Wonder which it is??? A well oiled propaganda machine isn't going to impress me... And that's what the deal to prop up this mess now looks like to me.... At this point, I don't really know how I'd feel if we were really actually kicking total haji ass and taking names... This depraved shit should never have been launched in the first place... Wrong war, wrong reasons... Just wrong wrong wrong!!!!
I just don't know how we can ever justify this mess... Even if we win on the battlefield, it is immoral... How can we reconcile the immorality and illegality of it even if we do win... We've sold our national sovereign souls for a piece of Chimpy, Dick and the rest of those neocon armchair warriors wet dream... ya know I could rant ad nuseum about how I feel about the war, the politics, the soldiers, the victims and the sons of bitches that put us there... But fuck that... I am just totally fed up with all of it...
End this shit.... End it now... Fuck the propaganda pro or con, fuck winning or losing... Just end it... Give it over to the Iraqies, get our people the hell out, and JAIL the bastards who put us there instead....................That at least would be something real, something by way of action that ligitimately addresses the reality of this nightmare.........Then, if that much could possibly happen, then we could deal with reparations issues and repairing our tattered international reputation.... IF... Unfortunately, The way it's playing out now, we're the ones who will end up being the biggest rogue nation on the block... And I don't think that really works for the 'majority' of honest Americans........ :-( JD
Stocks Close Sharply Lower as Credit Jitters Spook Investors
http://www.cnbc.com/id/20185535
There are some very sobering quotes included within.
A Fox reporter was reporting from a military arms show somewhere. He was showing un-manned trucks, planes etc. Looks to me like pretty soon we can kill a whole country of people without even breaking a sweat. I wish they spent as much time and money figuring how to avoid war as they do to prepare for it.
Expect more of the same BS for the next 24 days(while bush-lite and Congress are on
vacation)....and what disappoints and makes me equally as angry(if not more so) is
fact that ALL of the MSM falls for this propoganda spin. MSM is sure to endorse
and support any and all positive news coming out of Iraq because they know, as do
we all, that when Gen. P. makes his Sept. 15th report, it will contain only good news..
and the MSM wants to be on board with his upcoming report. Weak kneed and slime
ball and scumb...that is an adequate and short definition of the MSM.
Gen P. is going to say we have made some progress, but not enough.
Then he'll say the Iraqi govt is making some progress, but not enough.
Then he'll say the soldiers are doing their part but the Iraqi soldiers aren't doing enough.
Then we'll hear about another six months needed to make the progress needed.
If soldiers, regardless of rank, are going to stand in front of cameras and give their "opinions", then all soldiers should be allowed to do the same without fear of retribution. I am tired of seeing the neo-cons parading forth people in uniform to support their total failure. The right should feel real shame (but they never do) in using our military as props.
busco still trying to "catapult the propaganda" I see.
pissed off patricia @ 35:
I'd say that's right on the money POP!
pissed off patricia @ 35:
I hear you loud and clear...and let's see, if on an average "only" 80 U.S. troops are killed
each month, then from now to Sept. 15th, we will have 80 plus new names on the list,
and then between 9/15 and 3/15(another 6 months) an additional 240+ will be killed...
and this does not even include the number wounded nor the larger number of Iraqis
citizens killed....all of which categories are evidently dispensible. What a crock of
shit and it only continues.
pissed off patricia @ 22:
P.O.P. Isn't he one of those born again bible thumpers also...I've read so many books on Iraq and Bushco lately, everything is starting to blur.
That interview was most likely scripted. At the end, he touches his face just as if he was pushing a pair of glasses closer to his eyes so he could see something more clearly. He probably wears glasses, but put in his contacts for the television faux interview. He may have been having trouble reading the tele-prompter.
Opps...my math was bad...I meant "only another 480 U.S. troops killled."..
The march to war in Iran will begin in earnest after Bush come back from vacation...oops sorry, recess.
Fed is already poised to increase liquidity. Murdoch has control of the media. What else, and the Army is now a political arm of the RNC. Arlington Group (christian right church group) has already sent letters to members to blast the increasing and demonic influence of oil and the Muslim. Spy-anywhere-everywhere act is already approved by Congress/Senate. Opposition party too blind to see what's ahead, and too coward to shout an opinion. What else, oooh, economy is on the brink of the recession.
All conditions that are ripe for one insane ideological person to sway the public's opinion that only he alone can save this nation from poverty and march towards progress.
"The unit, which one source says was originally called Surrogates Operation but was later rechristened Communications Outreach, is today known to insiders as "Operation Brass Monkey Circle Jerk”.
I watched a little bit of this yesterday, and what really struck me was how much the talking head (whatever her name was; yes, I'm lazy) was sucking up to Odierno with her slo-pitch questions. Sad.
Calling this line of reasoning propaganda is too dismissive. No doubt the war is a fiasco from day one, but there is this fact: the military strategy in Iraq has indeed changed. Is it moving the country toward stability? Well, it seems to me that at the very least more troops + the exclusive focus on security (at the expense of reconstruction) is a more promising strategy at the moment than sitting in the Green Zone handing out money and wondering why there are bodies piling up in the streets.
A BETTER question from the sycophant Kyra Phillips, would have been WHY do you believe in the OCCUPATION ?, not "why do you believe in this war,Sir". Ever since Dutch Reporter Abe Vries broke the story Ft. Benning Psyops worked at CNN at CNN's Atlanta HQ, as "interns", I have no trust for any " reporter" or infotainer at CNN and even though by the pentagon's own statement, years ago, "Al Qaeda is less than 10% of all the fighters, the complicit misinformation infotainers, NEVER challenge assertions that Al qaeda is responsible for most of the violence . What's particularly galling is, this occupation general saying we " turned over responsibility too fast " as if the Iraqis were little kids to be manipulated and controlled .
Just listen to her gushing words for the gen. " blunt" "bold statement" "sir" 4,5 times, it's as if Kyra Phillips is wearing a military uniform and reading a Pentagon script, providing a platform for the military to advance their propaganda.
You'll NEVER hear K P ask ...How long will the U.S. military reserve the right to KICK DOWN doors, in Iraq ?
Why was it necessary to build a high tech Embassy city, with 24/7 elec./clean water/ pools, movie theaters/ watered lawns, when Iraqis drink dirty water w/ little electricity ? Won't that create MORE anger and resistance ?
What happened to the million's of dollars worth of GOLD shipped out of the country by the U.S. military?
Why do you never refer to people in Iraq, who DO NOT want to live under an occupation as a RESISTANCE?
Why are reporters (foreign) held for several months in U.S. jails in iraq?
Why do the over 20,000 prisoners in iraq, held by U.S. military, deserve no due process, no lawyers, or rights to see relatives, why are they still being held ?
Does Kyra Phillips have an arrangement with the Pentagon, is she paid off, because her gushing, her adulation, her cheer leading ,reflect no intention of acting as a PROFESSIONAL UNBIASED JOURNALIST .
Nothing new there. They are shameless as it gets.
CAN WE PLEASE STOP pretending we don't know how this big September announcement is going to play out???
The apparently all-knowing General will say:
• The surge has had an effect and things are looking better
• The Iraqi government still has work to do--but is ready to turn the corner
• It would be a mistake to pull out now
And the spineless Dems will go right along with this, because God forbid the GOP accuses them of being soft and weak.
Count on this war continuing...with full funding...well into the future.
sorry but i don't trust anyone in uniform, not anymore, not ever.
This kind of manipulative, top-down-orchestrated propaganda is why I never watch CNN.
Not many generals die in combat.
Same old rhetoric, Al Qaeda is there to destroy our way of life here in America. Does that make sense to anyone out there? They are there to destroy our way of life here. Millions of Iraqis have been displaced and thousands killed and all this to destroy our way of life here, Dumbf**k, USA.
Hey General,
"For those who are about to die and have died, there is no future "!
The General feels that the more woulded he sees the better he is able to cope and believe in all of this.
I do this not because I like being a General and making my mark in history, but I do it because I "think it has "something" to do with Americas's security ".
Now there is a reason to lay your life on the line. It ought to be a recruitment slogan.
General, how many years, lives, money, and at what point does Americas future become at risk in "staying the course". Then there is the terrorist vs the Iraqi's.
Most of all can someone ask the General, " how do of soldiers tell who is who in all these skirmish exchanges " ? Are they wearing "bad guy patches: ?
How can they claim stability when the Iraq government is falling apart? Crazy, man.
There's a big difference in what he said and what's being reported. He said he "believes" Iran is involved and CNN is reporting that IRAN "is" involved which denotes proof. You don't need proof to believe something. Ask a Christian or any other member of faith.
Juan Cole should be invited on to provide balance after these Pravda segments for the Pentagon
The book Fiasco singles out Odierno repeatedly as a blood thirsty moron. Now he is second in charge of forces in Iraq. Idiots flow uphill in this administration.
Chinese cuts funding, war over Joe.We no longer control our own destiny,we've been sold out .Chinese get the oil without firing a shot.
Let's see. Continued sectarian bombings targeting civilians. No water in Baghdad. No electricity in the horrible summer heat. Missing guns, missing oil, billions of dollars missing. Troops under supplied and over worked. A government that continues to fall apart even when it's on holiday. Yeah, things are so much better. Just ask Bush.
Besides this propaganda, I have noticed that the overall propaganda of the regular television and national media has stepped up. More stories are simply quoting the military who supports the Adm. line. There seems to be little questioning of reports and presentation of alternative thought. As the saying goes Deja Vue, all over again.
CNN personalities like Kira Phillips and Lou Dobbs are at least facilitating the drumbeat for some kind of military action against Iran. Kira Phillips just loves interviewing Generals, and never fact checks what the say. I can't believe this is happening all over again. This time the media should take its share of the blame because they should know better.
Kira Phillips is Iranian. And that's absolutely true.
Q @ 63:
I know her husband is Iranian, but I'm not so sure about Kira.
keira phillips, the entertainment/news reader, actually refers to herself as a journalist. This is the sad state of jounalism in the u.s.
Of course the Bush administration is going to use the military and the mainstream media to push their propaganda.
Anyone notice the daily goings on in Iraq aren't at the top of the news cycle lately?
The bombings continue, soldiers are dying and civilians continue to get killed. But the mainstream media just can't bring themselves to report it on the teevee. Even Countdown opened the show tonight with a teaser for an upcoming Kevin Federline story.
pissed off patricia @ 22:
I've seen this skinhead bastard on PBS multiple times. He always parrots the ReThug's talking points blandly & meaninglessly ad infinitum. (Having come up thru the punk movement right after high school I don't use the term "skinhead" lightly, either-- he reminds me of those flag-waving, racist, ignorant, genocidal wanna-be s.o.b's) Anyway, good to get some real background effort on this evil prick.
Go moonbats!
odierno, with his modern military machine, which cost us a fortune, is getting punked by an impoverished iraqi insurgency. this lackey needs to take a job with some defense contractor and leave the battle planning to real military leaders.
I like how the general said how his son having his arm blown off helped him understand how other soldiers who are servely injured will be a'ight, i.e. he's more 'comfortable' it.
pissed off patricia @ 22:
I read Ricks' book "Fiasco" and your assessment of Odierno is much too kind. This guy is a major league asshole.
So what we're saying is that any organization who wants to can get their news out through the blogging community but when the military does it, it's a desperate measure? They are not "bypassing" the main stream media, as has been said by Ken Silverstein. Quite the contrary, press releases are still going out, the national media is engaged by the military on a daily basis. The program was brought about because bloggers, including myself, were asking the military for information in the same way as the main stream media. The military does not tell the bloggers what to write or what questions to ask. It's not about winning or losing the IO war because IO is an entirely seperate matter. This has to do with Public Affairs and giving the bloggers who asked what they want in the same way we would answer questions from Barb Starr or any other press person.
It's obvious what they're going to do: just what they've done before. A full-bore marketing campaign in September; and they plan to win it. We can examine and debunk what's coming in, but we'll win only if our leadership is ready with an insurgent campaign before they are. The generals are going to cherry-pick. The media will play up every wacko with some hair gel in his baggage, and actually reverent when chimpie speaks. As though they've never been sandbagged before.
We need to learn the book on the wireless wiretapping debacle, and be waiting there next time with a satchel charge, and charge back at 'em when they go for the surprise charge.
Odierno's 'mission' in Iraq is to make sure his son 'didn't lose his arm in vain'.
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