Newsgroup: it.politica.internazionale
Titolo: Informazione pubblicitaria

Chissa' se quando ci diranno che gli iraniani strappano i bambini dalle
incubatrici, metteranno il bollino "informazione commerciale"...
Queste aziende di "public relations" da guerra sono proprio una figata!
No Breach Seen in Work in Iraq on Propaganda
Article Tools Sponsored By
By THOM SHANKER
Published: March 22, 2006
WASHINGTON, March 21 — An inquiry has found that an American public
relations firm did not violate military policy by paying Iraqi news
outlets to print positive articles, military officials said Tuesday. The
finding leaves to the Defense Department the decision on whether new rules
are needed to govern such activities.
The inquiry, which has not yet been made public, was ordered by Gen.
George W. Casey Jr., the senior American commander in Iraq, after it was
disclosed in November that the military had used the Lincoln Group, a
Washington-based public relations company, to plant articles written by
American troops in Iraqi newspapers while hiding the source of the
articles.
The final report was described by officials in Washington and Iraq who
have read or been briefed on it and were granted anonymity because they
were not authorized to speak publicly about it.
Pentagon officials said Tuesday that Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld
was considering new policies for regional commanders to clarify existing
doctrine and rules on military communications and information operations.
Officials at the Pentagon and in Iraq said the Lincoln Group's contract
remained fully in effect. The group's work, under a contract estimated at
several million dollars, has included paying friendly Iraqi journalists
stipends for favorable treatment.
Commanders in Iraq have said the group's efforts may continue unless a new
policy to restrict or halt the practice is issued in Iraq or from the
Pentagon. Those officials said the review acknowledged the "gray area" in
which military communications and information operations are conducted in
the battle zone, but found that no legal violations had been committed by
the Lincoln Group in planting the stories.
The results of the investigation have been awaited with apprehension
across the military and within the Bush administration, where officials
have been struggling to find a way to improve the American image around
the globe in the face of particular hostility in the Muslim world.
The findings are narrow in focus, and conclude that the Lincoln Group
committed no legal violations because its actions in paying to place
American-written articles without attribution were not expressly
prohibited by its contract or military rules.
Officials who have read or been briefed on the review said the delay in
its public release reflected discomfort in the Pentagon about the actions
by the Lincoln Group and about the lack of clarity in broader Defense
Department policy.
After disclosure of the secret effort to plant articles, angry members of
Congress summoned Pentagon officials to a closed-door session to explain
the program, saying it was not in keeping with democratic principles, and
even White House officials voiced deep concern.
Mr. Rumsfeld and the Pentagon's civilian and military leaders were able to
deflect direct criticism at the time because the contract had been signed
by the military command in Baghdad. But the inquiry now leaves them to
address whether new guidelines are needed to balance American values of a
free press against the needs of commanders in the fight against insurgents
in Iraq.
Paige Craig, a Lincoln Group executive vice president, said by telephone
on Tuesday that his organization had not been informed of the review's
findings. He cited client confidentiality in declining to discuss the
organization's contract with the military, its work and its payments.
Officials familiar with the review said it did not deal deeply with how
the Lincoln Group had received the contract, or with whether the
organization had established sufficient expertise or experience to carry
out the contract effectively.
General Casey has given no timetable for release of the official findings,
and last commented on the investigation on March 3, when he said at a news
conference, "By and large, it found that we were operating within our
authorities and responsibilities." He said then that he had not ordered
any halt to the practices because findings of the review, conducted by
Rear Adm. Scott Van Buskirk, were still being evaluated.
Lawrence Di Rita, co-director of a Pentagon panel studying communications
questions for the Quadrennial Defense Review, which was released last
month, said Mr. Rumsfeld and other senior officials were now considering
new policies for regional combat commanders.
He declined to comment on the specifics of the investigation but
acknowledged that the issues arising from the Lincoln controversy — and
the more sweeping question of how the Defense Department should
communicate about its actions and policies overseas — demanded more
analysis inside the Pentagon.
"The big issue in our world is whether our doctrine and our policy are up
to date," said Mr. Di Rita, a senior adviser to Mr. Rumsfeld. "We owe more
thinking to the combatant commanders. What are the things that should be
balanced when you look at information and communications issues?"
Across the Bush administration, officials are wrestling with how to
counter radical anti-American messages that resonate throughout huge parts
of the world. With the pace of technology, and against the backdrop of
American counterterrorism efforts around the world, the role of
information has been given greater prominence in Pentagon planning.
The question for the Pentagon is its proper role in shaping perceptions
abroad. Particularly in a modern world connected by satellite television
and the Internet, misleading information and lies could easily migrate
into American news outlets, as could the perception that false information
is being spread by the Pentagon.
-- 
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 Queste aziende di "public relations" da guerra sono proprio una figata!
Non gli mancherà certo il lavoro...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4827424.stm
sul fatto del novembre 2005 e quello fresco del 15 marzo.
Prevedo già un... "terroristi iracheni riescono ad uccidere bambini
iracheni strenuamente difesi dai nostri eroici marines"


 Non gli mancherà certo il lavoro...
Infatti loro a chi viola la legge lo sbattono in galera.
Pero' non basta che qualcuno spara una ca***ta a dimostrare che
qualcun'altro ha violato la legge.
-Stefano