Pentagon Ready For Primetime

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U.S. Military public affairs officers at Central Command in Qatar are putting the finishing touches on their media center. USA Today reports that a $250,000 briefing stage has been shipped in from Chicago at a cost of $47,000. "Painted battleship-gray and backed by a 38-foot repeating world map, the set has five plasma screens, two rear screen projectors, two podiums and five digital clocks, including one giving Baghdad time. Behind the set is a state-of-the-art control room that requires at least three service members to operate," USA Today writes. "It's much cheaper than one bomb, and it can do a lot more. It is the face of the military," George Allison, who designed the Defense Department set, told USA Today. The Pentagon is expecting 1000 journalists at its daily briefings in Qatar. Meanwhile, the New York Times reports that "images of that war are likely to follow not long
afterward at the local multiplex - all shot in the latest
high-definition digital video. ... From the military point of view, the project 'is intended to maintain a strong connection with the American public ...' "