Government investigation clears itself in propaganda allegations.

[vhx]

http://rawstory.com/news/afp/I...rs_Penta_01162009.html

An internal investigation has cleared the Pentagon of violating a ban on domestic propaganda by using retired military officers to comment positively about the war in Iraq in the US media.

In a report posted on its website Friday, the Pentagon's inspector general said "we found the evidence insufficient to conclude that RMA (retired military analysts) outreach activities were improper."

The report said the controversy, which erupted in April following an expose in the New York Times, warranted no further investigation.

The Times found that the Pentagon laid on special briefings and conference calls for the retired officers, many of whom then repeated the talking points as military experts on television news shows.

It also found that many of the media analysts also worked as consultants or served on the boards of defense contracting companies, but that those ties often went undisclosed to the public.

US law bars government agencies from using funds for domestic propaganda, but the inspector general's report said the definition of propaganda is unclear.

The report said historically it has been interpreted to mean publicity for the sake of self aggrandizement, partisanship, or covert communications, and that by those standards the evidence did not show a violation of the ban.

"Further, we found insufficient basis to conclude that (the office of the assistant secretary of defense for public affairs) conceived of or undertook a disciplined effort to assemble a contingent of influential RMAs who could be depended on to comment favorably on DoD (Department of Defense) programs," it said.

It said the Pentagon invited retired military analysts to 121 meetings, 16 Pentagon briefings, 105 conference calls and nine trips -- four to Iraq and five to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

"We determined that those activities were conducted in accordance with DoD policies and regulations," it said.

It said some 70 retired military officers were involved with the program at one time of another.

One, retired general Barry McCaffrey, was not invited back after he criticized the war effort, the report said. Another was blocked from attending, possibly because of a dispute with an unnamed senior military officer, it said.

It said it found no instances where retired officers with ties to military contractors "used information obtained as a result of the ... outreach program to achieve a competitive advantage for their company."

"Of the 70 RMAs that we examined, we found that 20 (29 percent) had some type of corporate association," it said.

All this from the New York Times is insufficient evidence (some 8000 pages) and warrants no further investigation? Nice. http://www.dod.mil/pubs/foi/milanalysts/

In other news, after careful review of myself, I have determined I have never done anything wrong in my life.

 

[theflyingpig]

No.

 

[EXman]

We all know that TV and print media are unbiased too. This thread is dumb.

just wait till Obamas propaganda machine starts rolling. He still has e-mails and phone numbers of coolaid drinkers everywhere that will be spoonfed anything as long as he says Change and Hope in there somewhere.

The world is full of propagandists. So what. That is what God gave you a brain for.

 

[SSSnail]

Originally posted by: EXman
We all know that TV and print media are unbiased too. This thread is dumb.

just wait till Obamas propaganda machine starts rolling. He still has e-mails and phone numbers of coolaid drinkers everywhere that will be spoonfed anything as long as he says Change and Hope in there somewhere.

The world is full of propagandists. So what. That is what God gave you a brain for.

I was with you right up to where you said "God...".

 

[EXman]

Originally posted by: SSSnail

Originally posted by: EXman
We all know that TV and print media are unbiased too. This thread is dumb.

just wait till Obamas propaganda machine starts rolling. He still has e-mails and phone numbers of coolaid drinkers everywhere that will be spoonfed anything as long as he says Change and Hope in there somewhere.

The world is full of propagandists. So what. That is what God gave you a brain for.

I was with you right up to where you said "God...".

ok so you're not perfect...

 

[0marTheZealot]

That's like a Death Row inmate saying he's innocent.

 

[DealMonkey]

Nothing like investigating yourself and turning up nothing. Story of the Bush Administration, right there.

 

[Jaskalas]

Originally posted by: DealMonkey
Nothing like investigating yourself and turning up nothing. Story of the Bush Administration, right there.

Do not pretend that this is not also true of the Clinton and the upcoming Obama administration. The recipients of handouts are always looking to please the hand that feeds them.

 

[jackschmittusa]

Couple this with the Bush administration paying reporters to report favorably on programs like NCLB, and supplying networks with prepared clips and asking to have them use them as their own.

Bush's attempts to control the media went far beyond anything ever done before. I think he sucks for doing it. I also doubt it has all been legal.

 

[WHAMPOM]

Independent investigation, don't need it, don't want it, couldn't get away with the stuff we did with one.

 

[GarfieldtheCat]

Originally posted by: DealMonkey
Nothing like investigating yourself and turning up nothing. Story of the Bush Administration, right there.

Didn't Palin clear herself of wrongdoing with the troopergate issue also? :laugh:

 

[CADsortaGUY]

Originally posted by: GarfieldtheCat

Originally posted by: DealMonkey
Nothing like investigating yourself and turning up nothing. Story of the Bush Administration, right there.

Didn't Palin clear herself of wrongdoing with the troopergate issue also? :laugh:

Yep, just like BHO's team did over the Blago allegations.

 

[GarfieldtheCat]

Originally posted by: CADsortaGUY

Originally posted by: GarfieldtheCat

Originally posted by: DealMonkey
Nothing like investigating yourself and turning up nothing. Story of the Bush Administration, right there.

Didn't Palin clear herself of wrongdoing with the troopergate issue also? :laugh:

Yep, just like BHO's team did over the Blago allegations.

:roll:

Umm...the republican federal prosecutor agreed with BHO being "clean", and the bipartisan Alaska state gov disagreed with Palin being "clean"

So what's your point? I don't see a connection.

 

[CADsortaGUY]

Originally posted by: GarfieldtheCat

Originally posted by: CADsortaGUY

Originally posted by: GarfieldtheCat

Originally posted by: DealMonkey
Nothing like investigating yourself and turning up nothing. Story of the Bush Administration, right there.

Didn't Palin clear herself of wrongdoing with the troopergate issue also? :laugh:

Yep, just like BHO's team did over the Blago allegations.

:roll:

Umm...the republican federal prosecutor agreed with BHO being "clean", and the bipartisan Alaska state gov disagreed with Palin being "clean"

So what's your point? I don't see a connection.

WRONG - BHO wasn't the target of the investigation by Fitz - it does NOT clear him or his team and they did do an internal "investigation" and cleared themselves.

 

[GarfieldtheCat]

Originally posted by: CADsortaGUY

Originally posted by: GarfieldtheCat

Originally posted by: CADsortaGUY

Originally posted by: GarfieldtheCat

Originally posted by: DealMonkey
Nothing like investigating yourself and turning up nothing. Story of the Bush Administration, right there.

Didn't Palin clear herself of wrongdoing with the troopergate issue also? :laugh:

Yep, just like BHO's team did over the Blago allegations.

:roll:

Umm...the republican federal prosecutor agreed with BHO being "clean", and the bipartisan Alaska state gov disagreed with Palin being "clean"

So what's your point? I don't see a connection.

WRONG - BHO wasn't the target of the investigation by Fitz - it does NOT clear him or his team and they did do an internal "investigation" and cleared themselves.

WRONG

You actually make part of my point for me. BHO wasn't involved in the Blago investigation, as Fitzgerald has pointed out several times (miss that part, did you?) So he has no direct involvement with Blago. Understand so far?

Palin was accused of improper conduct, and she and her staff issued a report claiming that she did nothing wrong. Direct involvement, get that part as well?

So unless Obama is accused of selling his Senate seat himself, AND he released a report saying that he did nothing wrong, there is no comparison. Get it yet?

In addition, the federal prosecutor (a republican, even) has repeatedly stated that Obama wasn't involved. Still with me?

And the Alaska State gov (bipartisan, so no politics involved, they voted all together in supporting the report) said Palin DID abuse her authority.

What part of that doesn't make sense to you? The pentagon investigated itself and said it did nothing wrong. That is the same thing Palin, *not* Obama did. Unless you have proof somewhere that Fitzgerald isn't investigating Blago, but is investigating Obama for directly trying to sell his old seat? I didn't think so.

You are just trying to randomly trash people, and throwning shit everywhere, and hoping some will randomly stick.

 

[CADsortaGUY]

Originally posted by: GarfieldtheCat

Originally posted by: CADsortaGUY

Originally posted by: GarfieldtheCat

Originally posted by: CADsortaGUY

Originally posted by: GarfieldtheCat

Originally posted by: DealMonkey
Nothing like investigating yourself and turning up nothing. Story of the Bush Administration, right there.

Didn't Palin clear herself of wrongdoing with the troopergate issue also? :laugh:

Yep, just like BHO's team did over the Blago allegations.

:roll:

Umm...the republican federal prosecutor agreed with BHO being "clean", and the bipartisan Alaska state gov disagreed with Palin being "clean"

So what's your point? I don't see a connection.

WRONG - BHO wasn't the target of the investigation by Fitz - it does NOT clear him or his team and they did do an internal "investigation" and cleared themselves.

WRONG

You actually make part of my point for me. BHO wasn't involved in the Blago investigation, as Fitzgerald has pointed out several times (miss that part, did you?) So he has no direct involvement with Blago. Understand so far?

Palin was accused of improper conduct, and she and her staff issued a report claiming that she did nothing wrong. Direct involvement, get that part as well?

So unless Obama is accused of selling his Senate seat himself, AND he released a report saying that he did nothing wrong, there is no comparison. Get it yet?

In addition, the federal prosecutor (a republican, even) has repeatedly stated that Obama wasn't involved. Still with me?

And the Alaska State gov (bipartisan, so no politics involved, they voted all together in supporting the report) said Palin DID abuse her authority.

What part of that doesn't make sense to you? The pentagon investigated itself and said it did nothing wrong. That is the same thing Palin, *not* Obama did. Unless you have proof somewhere that Fitzgerald isn't investigating Blago, but is investigating Obama for directly trying to sell his old seat? I didn't think so.

You are just trying to randomly trash people, and throwning shit everywhere, and hoping some will randomly stick.

Exactly - Fitz didn't have BHO as a target of his investigation - that doesn't mean he or his team was "clean" like you claimed. Only BHO's internal investigation claimed that.