An article in the current edition of Rolling Stone restores my faith in investigative journalism.
It tells the story of "perception manager" John Rendon and his role in selling wars for imperial America. James Bamford discovers connections throughout the media and political elite in London, Washington and Australia. The New York Times' Judith Miller, Ahmad Chalabi, WMD, bogus intelligence and media manipulation all play key roles.
The Iraq war was never about democracy or freedom. And an all-too-willing media and cynical cheerleaders contributed to the deception.
I dare anybody to read this long piece and not realise that unaccounted individuals are greasing the wheels in Washington. Lies become the "truth." And war becomes a seeming necessity. Corporate media cannot be trusted:
"As the acknowledged general of such propaganda warfare, Rendon insists that the work he does is for the good of all Americans. "For us, it's a question of patriotism," he says. "It's not a question of politics, and that's an important distinction. I feel very strongly about that personally. If brave men and women are going to be put in harm's way, they deserve support." But in Iraq, American troops and Iraqi civilians were put in harm's way, in large part, by the false information spread by Rendon and the men he trained in information warfare. And given the rapid growth of what is known as the "security-intelligence complex" in Washington, covert perception managers are likely to play an increasingly influential role in the wars of the future."
It tells the story of "perception manager" John Rendon and his role in selling wars for imperial America. James Bamford discovers connections throughout the media and political elite in London, Washington and Australia. The New York Times' Judith Miller, Ahmad Chalabi, WMD, bogus intelligence and media manipulation all play key roles.
The Iraq war was never about democracy or freedom. And an all-too-willing media and cynical cheerleaders contributed to the deception.
I dare anybody to read this long piece and not realise that unaccounted individuals are greasing the wheels in Washington. Lies become the "truth." And war becomes a seeming necessity. Corporate media cannot be trusted:
"As the acknowledged general of such propaganda warfare, Rendon insists that the work he does is for the good of all Americans. "For us, it's a question of patriotism," he says. "It's not a question of politics, and that's an important distinction. I feel very strongly about that personally. If brave men and women are going to be put in harm's way, they deserve support." But in Iraq, American troops and Iraqi civilians were put in harm's way, in large part, by the false information spread by Rendon and the men he trained in information warfare. And given the rapid growth of what is known as the "security-intelligence complex" in Washington, covert perception managers are likely to play an increasingly influential role in the wars of the future."
4 Comments:
This is really weird; with access to the US's bottomless pockets the Rendon group can sell the invasion of Iraq but can't sell the occupation?
The Rolling Stone article contains lots of vague hype and snippets from supposedly secret US government documents but offers precious little substantiation.
Oh yeah, would you please tell us what the war in Iraq is all about?
And one more thing, Rolling Stone's music reviews aren't trustworthy either.
Antony - The second time I heard about the Rendon group was just last night, when I watched this interview with Gen. Odom -
http://dailydissent.org/video/mclaughlin112005.wmv
If the above does not work go to -
http://dailydissent.org/ and scroll down to General William Odom: Nine Reasons for Withdrawal. He mentions the Rendon group and states his desire to look into them more. After watching it I did a search on Rendon and read just a few surface articles. Then I awoke to this article you posted. Thanks!
Addam_o Hitting the nail on the head rapidly and true - "The occupation is a hard sell becasue it's failing do miserably."
"The fact that things are not going swimmingly has as more to do with the deluded sociopaths signing the cheques."
Now to check out your links - thanks
Peace.
Which is it, boyo?
We see no contradiction: who believed the German official story that its invasion of Poland was a counterattack for a Polish invasion of Germany? Who in a suit and tie and a societally respectable position looked at the Gulf of Tonkin story when it was hours old and blurted in a public forum, oh come on, why the hell would Vietnamese forces ever do that?
Since when does propaganda have to be as absolutely convincing as a legal case, as opposed to close enough for an audience eager to believe in Arab supervillains and heroic American last stands?
Let's not give such credit to the people in the governmewnt, the media and industry who presumably would've called Rendon on his less credible work.
It is undeniable that such supposed critics as the Democrats who still suport the occupation (and in the odious case of one, her husband when he was president) were as willing to believe as a UFO convention.
The Stone has been rolling downhill for years.. perhaps it's on it's way back up.
'I dare anybody to read this long piece and not realise that unaccounted individuals are greasing the wheels in Washington'
People like Jack Abramoff and the AIPAC spies too. The disaster of Iraq may have a silver lining in the glimpse we are afforded of the netherworld of American decisionmaking, the normally hidden dirty laundry that is exposed as shit hits fan and blame begins to be apportioned. The place is a sink of corruption and if this mini-window into it can help clean it up, it's all good.
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