Pentagon's Pundits: A Look at the Defense Department's Propaganda Program

Media critics have long pointed out the discrepancy between the overwhelming number of pro-war military voices versus the almost complete absence of anti-war voices.

It turns out that the pro-war slant of military analysts was in fact part of a carefully orchestrated propaganda effort from the Pentagon. The New York Times has revealed the Pentagon recruited more than seventy-five retired military officers to appear on TV outlets as so-called military analysts ahead of the Iraq war. Newly-disclosed 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.

The so-called analysts were given classified Pentagon briefings, provided with Pentagon-approved talking points and given free trips to Iraq and other sites paid for by the Pentagon. Their involvement was ultimately approved by then-Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. Retired Green Beret Robert Bevelacqua, a former Fox News analyst, said: “It was [the Pentagon] saying, ‘We need to stick our hands up your back and move your mouth for you.”

The Pentagon even hired a private contractor to monitor the analysts’ broadcast interviews. Brent Krueger, a senior official who helped oversee the propaganda effort, said: “We were able to click on every single station and every one of our folks were up there delivering our message. You’d look at them and say, ‘This is working.’”

The propaganda campaign also extended into the nation’s newspapers. Nine of the Pentagon-connected analysts wrote op-ed articles for the New York Times, and the Pentagon helped two retired military officers write a piece for the Wall Street Journal. Many of the same retired military officers also have ties to military contractors vested in the very war policies they were asked to assess on air. In interviews, at least two so-called analysts admitted to deliberately tempering their on-air comments out of fear of losing military contracts for their firms. Officials from NBC, CBS, ABC and CNN all admitted to being unaware of their analysts business interests in the war. Fox News declined to comment.

The Times reports the Pentagon continues to use the analysts in a propaganda campaign to generate favorable news coverage of the administration’s wartime performance.

For more on this story I am joined by two guests. Peter Hart is Activism director at Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR). He writes for FAIR’s magazine Extra, and is also a co-host and producer of FAIR’s syndicated radio show CounterSpin. And joining me by phone from Virginia is Col. Sam Gardiner. A retired Air Force Colonel, he has taught strategy and military operations at the National War College, AirWar College and Naval War College.

Peter Hart, activism director at Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR). He writes for FAIR’s magazine Extra, and is also a co-host and producer of FAIR’s syndicated radio show CounterSpin.

Col. Sam Gardiner, retired Air Force Colonel, he has taught strategy and military operations at the National War College, AirWar College and Naval War College.