Dangerous pattern emerges as activists are framed, calls for violence are declared for Denver DNC

From http://www.infowars.com/?p=1731

 

Dangerous pattern emerges as activists are framed, calls for violence are declared for Denver DNC

Daniel Taylor
Old-Thinker News
April 25, 2008

David Barstow of the New York Times has written the first installment in what is already a stunning exposé of the Bush Administration’s most powerful propaganda weapon used to sell and manage the war on Iraq: the embedding of military propagandists directly into the TV networks as on-air commentators. We and others have long criticized the widespread TV network practice of hiring former military officials to serve as analysts, but even in our most cynical moments we did not anticipate how bad it was. Barstow has painstakingly documented how these analysts, most of them military industry consultants and lobbyists, were directly chosen, managed, coordinated and given their talking points by the Pentagon’s ministers of propaganda.

Thanks to the two-year investigation by the New York Times, we today know that Victoria Clarke, then the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs, launched the Pentagon military analyst program in early 2002. These supposedly independent military analysts were in fact a coordinated team of pro-war propagandists, personally recruited by Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, and acting under Clarke’s tutelage and development.

One former participant, NBC military analyst Kenneth Allard, has called the effort "psyops on steroids." As Barstow reports, "Internal Pentagon documents repeatedly refer to the military analysts as ‘message force multipliers’ or ’surrogates’ who could be counted on to deliver administration ‘themes and messages’ to millions of Americans ‘in the form of their own opinions.’ … Don Meyer, an aide to Ms. Clarke, said a strategic decision was made in 2002 to make the analysts the main focus of the public relations push to construct a case for war."

Clarke and her senior aide, Brent T. Krueger, eventually signed up more than 75 retired military officers who penned newspaper op/ed columns and appeared on television and radio news shows as military analysts. The Pentagon held weekly meetings with the military analysts, which continued as of April 20, 2008, when the New York Times ran Barstow’s story. The program proved so successful that it was expanded to issues besides the Iraq War. "Other branches of the

administration also began to make use of the analysts. Mr. Gonzales, then the attorney general, met with them soon after news leaked that the government was wiretapping terrorism suspects in the United States without warrants, Pentagon records show. When David H. Petraeus was appointed the commanding general in Iraq in January 2007, one of his early acts was to meet with the analysts."

Barstow spent two years digging, using the Freedom of Information Act and attorneys to force the Bush Administration to release some 8,000 pages of documents now under lock and key at the New York Times. This treasure trove should result in additional stories, giving them a sort of "Pentagon Papers" of Iraq war propaganda.

In 1971, when the Times printed excerpts of the Pentagon Papers on its front page, it precipitated a constitutional showdown with the Nixon Administration over the deception and lies that sold the war in Vietnam. The Pentagon Papers issue dominated the news media back then. Today, however, Barstow’s stunning report is being ignored by the most important news media in America — TV news — the source where most Americans, unfortunately, get most of their information.

Joseph Goebbels, eat your heart out. Goebbels is history’s most notorious war propagandist, but even he could not have invented a smoother PR vehicle for selling and maintaining media and public support for a war: embed trusted "independent" military experts into the TV newsroom. As with most propaganda, the key to the success of this effort was the element of concealment, as these analysts and the Bush administration hid the fact that their talking points and marching orders were coming directly from the Pentagon.

The use of these analysts was a glaring violation of journalistic standards. As the code of ethics of the Society of Professional Journalists explains, journalists are supposed to:

* Avoid conflicts of interest, real or perceived.

* Remain free of associations and activities that may compromise integrity or damage credibility.

* Refuse gifts, favors, fees, free travel and special treatment, and shun secondary employment, political involvement,

public office and service in community organizations if they compromise journalistic integrity.

* Disclose unavoidable conflicts.

* Be vigilant and courageous about holding those with power accountable.

* Deny favored treatment to advertisers and special interests and resist their pressure to influence news coverage.

* Be wary of sources offering information for favors or money.

The networks using these analysts as journalists shamelessly failed to vet their experts and ignored the obvious conflicts of hiring a person with financial relationships to companies profiting from war to be an on-air analyst of war. They acted as if war was a football game and their military commentators were former coaches and players familiar with the rules and strategies. The TV networks even paid these "analysts" for their propaganda, enabling them to present themselves as "third party experts" while parroting White House talking points to sell the war.

A dangerous pattern has emerged as We are Change activists are framed for assault, and open calls for violence at the upcoming Democratic National Convention are proclaimed.

Rush Limbaugh has openly called for mass riots in "operation chaos" at the upcoming Democratic National Convention in Denver Colorado. "I am not inspiring or inciting riots, I am dreaming of riots in Denver," said Limbaugh. Limbaugh stated that he hopes for a replay of the Chicago riots.

This follows the revelation that the anarchist group recreate 68 is preparing to stage violent acts at the DNC. Truthalliance.net reports,

"ReCreate 68 has a massive anti war protest planned for the DNC on the 24th, to which they were never issued a permit for. Sparking the press to cover the story, Glenn Spagnuolo, the organizer of the group, threatened the City of Denver and all who visit the Democratic National Convention with potential violence, making a direct threat regarding his un-permited plan to occupy the Civic Center, "If the cops try to stop us, we’ll see what happens." The threat estimates there will be 50,000 anti-war demonstrators who will overwhelm law enforcement. Re-create 68 is now on a collision course with law enforcement to re-create the violence of the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago."

In addition to the danger of violence at the DNC, the peaceful activist group We are Change has been the target of multiple frame up attempts.

Luke Rudkowski, founder of We are Change, was called a "terrorist" by police for standing in front of the new World Trade Center #7 building and threatened with being put "…in the hole for 30 days".

"A terrorist act– I guess they go away for about 30 days," said the officer. Rudkowski responds, saying that he is an American citizen, when the officer states, "You’re right. But by the time the government figures it out, you’ll be in the hole for 30 days."

In August of last year, peaceful protesters who gathered in Montebello Canada to protest the SPP encountered police posing as protesters with threatening rocks, but the peaceful activists were wise enough to spot them and denounce their tactics.

Members of We are Change Ireland were smeared recently in a supposed attack on a European MEP. Paul Watson writes,

"During an attempt to assault activists who asked him a question in Dublin, a European MEP tripped and fell on his face and the entire incident was caught on camera, but that didn’t stop the media from reporting that an "anti-EU gang" of thugs had screamed abuse and assaulted Proinsias de Rossa - in a crass attempt to smear opposition to the European Union."

Now, We are Change activist Gary Talis has been smeared for supposedly attacking a wheelchair bound girl. Cowardly calls for violence against Mr. Talis are prevalent in the wake of this most recent frame up.

As this current pattern unfolds, peaceful groups need to be wary of provocateurs attempting to incite violence or frame peaceful activists for committing criminal acts. Keep your cameras rolling and stand strong. Attempts to frame and provocateur peaceful groups only serve to demonstrate the frustration and fear the establishment is feeling.

If violence does ensue at the DNC or elsewhere, the expanding police state will be empowered even further. The provocateurs’ goal is to fulfill the image that the mainstream media is attempting to create surrounding peaceful activists as being violent anarchists who damage America’s image. Violence will only tighten the grip of the already tightening system.