Stealth Campaign for Stealth Fighter Jets

by Diane Farsetta [1] — February 4, 2009 - 5:16pm

From PreserveRaptorJobs.com [6]PreserveRaptorJobs.com [6] is "a one-page site that urges visitors to write President Obama [7] in support" of the F-22 Raptor, a $340 million stealth fighter jet Defense Secretary Gates [8] has said is not useful in the so-called war on terror [9]. PreserveRaptorJobs.com disagrees. "American jobs, national security, and billions of dollars [are] at stake," warns the website, which is promoted on banner ads on WashingtonPost.com "and other DC-oriented websites." The website doesn't say who's behind it, but it "sits on the servers of DC-area public relations firm Democracy Data & Communications [10]," writes Noah Shachtman. The firm, a member of the Public Affairs Council [11], sets up "grassroots [12]" campaigns for corporate clients, including Ford [13], Microsoft [14] and Fannie Mae [15]. In 2006, the PR firm conducted an international conference on "the role of technology" in "expanding and strengthening democracy," which staffers from the U.S. government-funded International Republican Institute [16] and National Democratic Institute for International Affairs [17] addressed by satellite hook-up, live from Baghdad, Iraq [18].

Main Source:

Wired.com blog "Danger Room," February 3, 2009 [19]

Links:
[1] http://dev.prwatch.org/users/6/diane-farsetta
[2] http://dev.prwatch.org/topics/public-relations/astroturf
[3] http://dev.prwatch.org/topics/media/internet
[4] http://dev.prwatch.org/topics/war-peace
[5] http://www.addtoany.com/share_save?linkurl=http%3A%2F%2Fdev.prwatch.org%2Fspin%2F2009%2F02%2F8191%2Fstealth-campaign-stealth-fighter-jets&linkname=Stealth%20Campaign%20for%20Stealth%20Fighter%20Jets
[6] http://www.preserveraptorjobs.com
[7] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Barack_Obama
[8] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Robert_M._Gates
[9] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/war_on_terror
[10] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Democracy_Data_&_Communications
[11] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Public_Affairs_Council
[12] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Astroturf
[13] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ford
[14] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Microsoft
[15] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Fannie_Mae
[16] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/International_Republican_Institute
[17] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/National_Democratic_Institute_for_International_Affairs
[18] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Iraq
[19] http://blog.wired.com/defense/2009/02/f-22-astroturf.html