The Office of Strategic Influence is no more — or is it? We can’t really trust Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld when he said he would disband the Pentagon bureau. You see, the whole point of the Office of Strategic Influence was to disseminate misinformation in the first place.Formed after the Sept. 11 attacks, the office was supposed to tell the American side of the story and counter anti-American propaganda in the foreign media.
Then Air Force Brig. Gen. Simon P. Worden, the director of the office, began circulating proposals to spread disinformation and lies to the press abroad, including our allies in Britain, France and the rest of Western Europe. The “public relations” campaign would make use of the Internet and covert operations as well as “coerce” foreign journalists and “punish” those who did not adhere to the Pentagon’s bogus line.
Even President Bush and his aids have become furious at the Pentagon’s shenanigans. When asked if he had ordered Rumsfeld to close the office, the President replied, “I didn’t even have to tell him this; he knows how I feel.”
So now we heard on Tuesday that Rumsfeld has decided to disband the Office of Strategic Influence but the damage has already been done.
If the Pentagon is willing to spread lies to our allies in the hopes of molding public opinion, who’s to say it won’t do it here. Time and time again, the Pentagon has shown absolute disdain and disregard for the American media, the fourth estate. It restricts access to wartime operations, keeps a classified lock on the most mundane information and acts skittish when asked about its operations by the American people.
The American government has issues with trust here and abroad and the Pentagon’s boneheaded scheme has worsened that problem.
Let’s hope Rumsfeld was being honest when he said he would close the Office of Strategic Influence. Unfortunately, we can only take him at his damaged word.
