Third Party Technique

American Association of Public Health Physicians: "Tobacco Bill Is a Scam"

by Anne Landman — July 1, 2008 - 12:28pm

The American Association of Public Health Physicians (AAPHP) has published an updated analysis of H.R. 1108, the massive bill currently under consideration by Congress that would give the U.S. Food and Drug Administration authority to regulate tobacco products. AAPHP concludes, "This bill is a scam.

Main Source: 
American Association of Public Health Physicians, June 19, 2008

Playing Politics with Refugees

by Diane Farsetta — June 11, 2008 - 5:02pm

Western Sahara -- a North African territory and one of the last remaining official colonies, or non-self governing territories -- is controlled by Morocco. The Polisario Front, a political group of indigenous Sahrawis, wants independence. Tens of thousands of Sahrawis live in Polisario-run refugee camps in Algeria. Recently, "a delegation of six Sahrawi refugees ...

Main Source: 
New York Times, June 4, 2008

Waste Not, Want Not for Friends on the Campaign Trail

by Diane Farsetta — June 2, 2008 - 1:38pm

After top campaign aides resigned over unsavory lobbying activities, Republican presidential candidate John McCain "adopted a five-point policy ... to help restore his reputation as a Washington reformer," reports the Wall Street Journal.

Main Source: 
Washington Post, May 31, 2008

GMA Is Fueling the Ethanol Backlash

by Diane Farsetta — May 28, 2008 - 1:09pm

The Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) "has been leading an 'aggressive' public relations campaign ... in an effort to roll back ethanol mandates that passed in last year's energy bill," reports Anna Palmer.

Main Source: 
Roll Call, May 14, 2008

Pentagon's Propaganda Documents Go Online, but Will the TV Networks Ever Report this Scandal?

by John Stauber — May 6, 2008 - 1:53pm
  • Topics: Iran, Iraq, Journalism, Pundits, Terrorism, Third Party Technique, Democracy, Ethics, Lobbying, Media, Politics, Propaganda, U.S. Government, War / Peace

    • Eight thousand pages of documents related to the Pentagon's illegal propaganda campaign, known as the Pentagon military analyst program, are now online for the world to see, although in a format that makes it impossible to easily search them and therefore difficult to read and dissect. This trove includes the documents pried out of the Pentagon by David Barstow and used as the basis for his stunning investigation that appeared in the New York Times on April 20, 2008.

    Deja Vu: NYT, US Propaganda and War with Iran

    by John Stauber — May 5, 2008 - 1:11pm
  • Topics: Iran, Iraq, Terrorism, Third Party Technique, Propaganda, War / Peace

    • Greg Mitchell of Editor and Publisher notes that New York Times military reporter Michael Gordon, "who contributed several false stories about Iraqi WMD in the run-up to the U.S. attack in Iraq," has been writing about Iran's alleged involvement in attacks against U.S. service members in Iraq. Gordon's latest article, "Hezbollah Trains Iraqis in Iran, Officials Say," is "based solely on unnamed sources," notes Mitchell.

    An article from McClatchy's Baghdad bureau also contradicts Gordon's New York Times piece. McClatchy reports that the Iraqi government "seemed to distance itself from U.S. accusations towards Iran." Iraqi government spokesperson Ali al-Dabbagh said the government had formed a committee to find "tangible information" about Iranian activities in Iraq, instead of relying on "information based on speculation." Al-Dabbagh also told Agence France-Press that there is no "hard evidence" of Iranian support of insurgents in Iraq.

    Retired U.S. Air Force Colonel Sam Gardiner has seen this sort of poorly-sourced reporting before in the New York Times as part of the propaganda campaign that led America directly into the disastrous quagmire in Iraq.

    What the Pentagon Pundits Were Selling on the Side: Propaganda Meets Corporate Lobbying

    by Diane Farsetta — May 2, 2008 - 4:30pm
  • Topics: Pundits, Third Party Technique, Corporations, Democracy, Ethics, Fake TV News, International, Lobbying, Media, Propaganda, Secrecy, U.S. Government, War / Peace

    • The Pentagon launched its covert media analyst program in 2002, to sell the Iraq war. Later, it was used to sell an image of progress in Afghanistan, whitewash the U.S. detention center at Guantanamo Bay, and defend the Bush administration's warrantless wiretapping, as David Barstow reported in his New York Times expose.

    But the pundits weren't just selling government talking points. As Robert Bevelacqua, William Cowan and Carlton Sherwood enjoyed high-level Pentagon access through the analyst program, their WVC3 Group sought "contracts worth tens of millions to supply body armor and counterintelligence services in Iraq," reported Barstow. Cowan admitted to "push[ing] hard" on a WVC3 contract, during a Pentagon-funded trip to Iraq.

    Then there's Pentagon pundit Robert H. Scales Jr. The military firm he co-founded in 2003, Colgen, has an interesting range of clients, from the Central Intelligence Agency and U.S. Special Operations Command, to Pfizer and Syracuse University, to Fox News and National Public Radio.

    Of the 27 Pentagon pundits named publicly to date, six are registered as federal lobbyists. That's in addition to the less formal -- and less transparent -- boardroom to war-room influence peddling described above. (There are "more than 75 retired officers" who took part in the Pentagon program overall, according to Barstow.)

    The Pentagon pundits' lobbying disclosure forms help chart what can only be called a military-industrial-media complex. They also make clear that war is very good for at least some kinds of business.

    Syndicate content