Office of Strategic Influence (Office of Propaganda)

this frightens me...particularly the concept of publishing false news items...this reminds me of "1984"...I don't like it.

 

Good. About time.

MadMax:

What are we supposed to do, not counter the endless streams of anti-US propaganda that our enemies are constantly spewing? This is just a recognition that we can no longer ignore it.

I wouldn't worry about the "false information" bit; I don't think the intention is to feed the Euros (or our public, for that matter) false news stories; the intention is to ise disinformation and information warfare strategies against our enemies' populations. Such has been the way of warfare since the dawn of history.

 

<B>The Pentagon is developing plans to provide news items, possibly even false ones, to foreign media organizations as part of a new effort to influence public sentiment and policy makers in both friendly and unfriendly countries, military officials said.</B>

And we wonder why other countries' people and governments don't trust us...

 

Major:

What other countries - even so-called "allies" consistently spread/publish/report lies about us all the time. We are not allowed to do the same?

At least this is in the context of information warfare in wartime. Everyone else does it regularly during peacetime, and for much less admirable reasons.

 

Then counter with the truth. It should be on our side.

 

i don't like it...it will go on with or without my approval...but i don't like it.

 

So, if every other country was jumping off a bridge, would you do it too?

 

yeah, mom!! i know!!!

 

Puedlfor:

99% of the time we can.

All this is saying is that at times we'll really be "here", but we'll tell everyone we're "over there", that type of thing. Feeding the enemy misinformation is nothing new - it's been done in pretty much every war in history. You're reading too much into it.

RM95:

Great analogy. Comparing suicide with wartime defense...

This is called fighting back.

 

<B>What other countries - even so-called "allies" consistently spread/publish/report lies about us all the time. We are not allowed to do the same? </B>

I thought we were a little better than that. Like Puedlfor said, use the truth.

<B>I wouldn't worry about the "false information" bit; I don't think the intention is to feed the Euros (or our public, for that matter) false news stories; </B>

<I>The Pentagon is developing plans to provide <B>news items</B>, possibly even false ones, to foreign media organizations as part of <B>a new effort to influence public sentiment and policy makers</B> in both friendly and unfriendly countries</I>

This is not military disinformation, which as you said, has always been going on. This is fake news to sway public opinion... It reminds me of the whole Israeli / Palestinian news problem.

 

The Pentagon is developing plans to provide news items, possibly even false ones, to foreign media organizations

I guess this is based on their success with providing such news items to the American media organizations.

Or would you believe that they would feed the truth to Americans, but lies to foreigners? With the internet how effective would that be?

To tell you the truth, I don't think it really represents any change from the status quo.

 

You don't do something the wrong way just because everyone else is. At some point, we have to adhere to a higher moral principle or we are just sinking to their level and trouncing upon everything we believe in.

Plus, isn't that like saying, "Well, we really do suck, so we'll tell you lies as a way to convince you we are good even though we aren't." ???

Don't we have to have faith in who we are and that our principles will be embraced? If we are so uncertain of ourselves, why even bother saying anything?

 

Your parents never used that one treeman?

My point was that just because other countries are doing doesn't mean that we should resort to their level. For one thing, I don't think it will work, and will ultimately backfire in causing more and more people to hate us, especially those in "friendly" countries. I'm thinking that those who are already unfriendly to us aren't going to change their minds anytime soon.

 

Major:

And I said, 99% of the time, we can.

Well, I think you're reading too much into it, and conveniently ignoring the "possibly" part. 99% of it should be accurate, because the truth is on our side. It is usually not that hard to counter/expose a false news item or message if the facts don't support it...

I suspect that if they actually do intend to put forth false news items, they will be very, very careful about it, and I would expect such activity to be very rare. It's just damn near impossible to get away with in the age of modern communications, and with armies of nosy reporters crawling around every crack and crevice of the planet.

You're reading too much into it.

 

One more minor point:

As it already is, pretty much all of the world already thinks that every news clip that comes from an American source is already false, so if anything, I wouldn't expect this to be too effective regardless of whether or not the particular news item is true or not.

Conspiracy theories are very popular in many corners (aren't they, glynch?). They already think it's false anyway...

The main goal of this organization should be to work harder on actually getting the truth out there, and working on the credibility of the source, as that is the real problem. If it does not do that, then it will not be effective.

And if it actually does start putting out false news clips like there's no tomorrow (as everyone here appears to think), then I will join you all in s*itting upon it. I will reserve judgment on it, though, until we see what it actually does.

Why is everyone here always so quick to assume the worst about American intentions and activities in wartime? It really baffles me...

 

To me, treeman, one time is too many times. I don't care if they use this strategy sparingly or all the time, I don't think they should do it at all.

 

Well, I admire your moral fortitude, Rm95. Glad you're not calling the shots in this war.

 

Wow, I couldn't have said it better myself. We act as the watchdog of the world with our sense of moral and social superiority, yet if the truth does not set us free then what makes us any better than these regimes.

What makes the US strong is that the power rests in the hands of the people and that there is a system of checks and balances. The freedom of speech is there to criticize the government and promote any change for the better or worse, because the will of the people is what rules supreme.

Yet if we get into the business, and i'm not naive enough to believe it hasn't been going on for decades, we lose our own
principles. And if we don't stand for truth and justice then we are doing a disservice to our forefathers who fled those same sort of regimes and created America.

 

We're already considered the modern perfidious Albion... now we're confirming the truth of such allegations!

Let it never be said again: "no, we're the honest ones... they're the liars."