Free Press:: "Dear Congressmen Skelton, Tierney and Waxman:
We write to you today on a matter of great national urgency.
On April 20, 2008, the New York Times exposed a quiet military campaign to infiltrate U.S. media with propaganda. According to the article, top Pentagon and Bush administration officials recruited dozens of military officers to serve as pro-war pundits for major news media.
These pundits appeared more than 4,500 times on cable and broadcast networks to press the administration's view of events in Iraq, Afghanistan and, increasingly, Iran. Many spoke directly from White House talking points but did not disclose their direct role in the Pentagon scheme -- or their conflicts as employees of major defense contractors.
In late May, Scott McClellan, the former press secretary for President Bush, confirmed that the administration had led a 'political propaganda campaign' to mislead the American public on the war. But he also implicates mainstream media in the scheme for 'enabling' this propaganda: The mainstream media didn't live up to its watchdog reputation, McClellan writes. 'If it had, the country would have been better served.'
By secretly spinning America's involvement in the war, the Pentagon appears to be in violation of federal law against 'covert propaganda.' The corporate press' role in enabling this propaganda"
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