October 5, 2006
by Steve Hammons

Americans, global community are targets of deception on Iraq, threats to peace

The people of Iraq, the Middle East, Europe and around the world may have something very important in common with Americans.

According to some published reports, we have all been the targets of deceptive information operations and psychological operations by elements in the current U.S. administration and certain groups associated with it.

The latest indication of attempts to improve the "public relations" about the current administration, and the invasion and occupation of Iraq, is that yet another multimillion dollar PR effort has been funded and launched.

This program includes the use of The Lincoln Group, according to news reports published Sept. 26. The Lincoln Group has been one of many contractors that have come under scrutiny for earning huge profits while providing questionable services.

In late August, news accounts described a new $20 million program to monitor media reports in not only the Middle East, but also within the U.S. This program is probably only a fraction of taxpayer money spent on these kinds of activities at home and overseas.

Whether implemented by private contractors or military and intelligence professionals, the usefulness of information operations and effective communications is not the issue.

Appropriate efforts of these kinds can be very helpful in accomplishing legitimate goals as well as creating goodwill and effective public diplomacy for the U.S. and Americans.

These kinds of activities can also benefit the entire international community and the human race, if used in an honest and ethical way and for worthwhile goals.

Like military force, information operations and effective communications can be used for positive purposes, or for goals that are not necessarily worthwhile or morally good.

PUBLIC RELATIONS AND DECEPTION

What appears to have severely damaged the credibility of the current U.S. administration at home and globally is that many or most of their information operations seem to have been deceptive and have presented inaccurate and untrue information.

Inaccurate intelligence and psychological manipulation have reportedly been components of planned efforts to justify the invasion and occupation of Iraq as well as other domestic and foreign policy activities.

This is part of what concerns and angers Americans and people around the world.

And this is part of what has so damaged the reputation and honor of the U.S. and the American people in the eyes of the world, and in our own eyes.

Propaganda and false information from the current administration seem to have begun during the time frame of the 9/11 attacks. Then, the well-documented "cherry-picking" of often inaccurate intelligence and outright lies were put forth to justify the invasion and occupation of Iraq.

The untruths and half-truths from the administration seem to have continued to the present day.

This apparently has become obvious to most Americans and most people around the world, according to many national and international polling indicators.

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MANIPULATING AMERICANS

In a previous information operation program implemented by The Lincoln Group in Iraq, news and opinion articles were planted in Iraqi newspapers. The articles, which were represented as being written by Iraqi journalists, were actually created by U.S. military information operations personnel.

The new contract for The Lincoln Group will reportedly monitor media outlets, both English and Arabic-speaking. They will also create speeches, talking points and similar communications products for U.S. military operations in Iraq.

What is of interest to many Americans is that the same kind of information and psychological operations used in Iraq and in target populations around the globe have also been implemented within the U.S., targeting American citizens.

Reports surfaced over the last couple of years about American media personalities and others being covertly paid significant sums of money by the current administration while writing articles and creating media presentations which favored administration goals.

Every day we see certain TV networks and publications attempting to convince Americans and others around the world that administration actions have been and are appropriate, intelligent and morally correct.

These efforts include trying to convince us that the invasion and occupation of Iraq was a good idea, and that staying on the same path is an equally good plan.

They tell us that suspending the Geneva Conventions is appropriate and that actions which were previously universally considered war crimes should now be practiced by U.S. military and intelligence professionals.

We are told that the precious Constitutional rights, legal rights and human rights Americans have fought and died for are now to be modified or suspended indefinitely.

As polls seem to indicate, many Americans don't believe them.

FINDING TRUTH

But with hundreds of millions of U.S. taxpayer dollars to spend on spin and propaganda, these persuasion and manipulation efforts have a measure of success with some people.

However, despite what some elitists, media talking heads and Washington think tank propagandists think, most of the American people are not that stupid.

Deceptions by the administration and their associates have repeatedly been uncovered by brave patriots in the military, the intelligence community, defense-related businesses, the media, from within the administration itself and elsewhere.

At this point in time, it is probably reasonable to conclude that no amount of public relations gimmicks, information operations or psychological operations can persuade the majority of Americans and people around the world to fully support the administration or their "stay the course" plan for Iraq.

An attack on Iran by the current administration would likewise probably not be supported by the majority of Americans.

The perceptions of millions of intelligent people at home and abroad seem to be that people in the current U.S. administration do not tell the truth, cannot be trusted, are dangerous to world peace and have seriously damaged the honor of the American people and our nation.

This is why we should all remember that the American people and the current U.S. administration are not the same things.

Americans know this. Most of our friends and even our current adversaries around the world also know it.

And as the eyes of the international community are upon us in coming days, Americans may prove that we still retain our honor, human decency, liberty and moral integrity as well as our strength.

We may show the global community, and ourselves, that Americans can regain an intelligent and beneficial direction as a society and nation, admit and correct our mistakes, ensure that justice prevails and work with the rest of the human race to create a better world for our children and grandchildren.

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Steve Hammons [send him email] is the author of Mission into Light and Light's Hand, which are two novels about a U.S. Government and military joint-service research team investigating unusual phenomena. Click here to see Steve's homepage.