Talking Points for Soldiers: Domestic Propaganda Program
Pentagon propaganda program orders soldiers to promote Iraq war while home on leave
It’s part of what they call “Operation Homefront.”
Good soldiers follow orders and hundreds of American military men and women returned to the United States on holiday leave this month with orders to sell the Iraq war to a skeptical public.
The program, coordinated through a Pentagon operation dubbed “Operation Homefront,” ordered military personnel to give interviews to their hometown newspapers, television stations and other media outlets and praise the American war effort in Iraq.
They even have “talking points”:
–Admit initial doubts about the war but claim conversion to a belief in the American mission;
–Praise military leadership in Iraq and throw in a few words of support for the Bush administration;
–Claim the mission to turn security of the country over to the Iraqis is working;
–Reiterate that America must not abandon its mission and must stay until the “job is finished.”
–Talk about how “things are better” now in Iraq.
Another “use” of our military people.
Sgt. Johnathan Wilson, a reservist, got his honorable discharge after he returned home earlier this month and he’s not afraid to talk on the record.
“Iraq is a classic FUBAR,” he says. “The country is out of control and we can’t stop it. Anybody who tries to sell a good news story about the war is blowing it out his ass. We don’t win and eventually we will leave the country in a worse shape than it was when we invaded.”
One of the things that really struck me about Murtha’s statements was the idea that he felt he had to speak for our soldiers who weren’t allowed to speak for themselves.
There are all sorts of ways to support the troops. I think listening to their narratives is a good place to start. Some of them need your support while they keep their mouths shut for as long as they have to do so. That’s a double burden – so I send this message out to you brave men and women:
It won’t last forever. Someday you will be able to tell the truth if you choose to do so. Observe, think about what’s important, be our eyes on reality. Make what decisions you have to make as best you can. And come home to us.
Having spent 9 years in the Navy this practice is nothing new to the military. What exactly wrong with directing the soldiers to talk up what is going on in Iraq since most of what we are hearing from the MSM is only the negative of what is going on over in Iraq.
I would do the exact same thing that the military leadership is doing to counteract all of the negativity that is being spread by the Democrats (who actually know the truth and chose to only tell the negative) and the MSM.
What is wrong with it is that they are not ordering soldiers to talk about what is really happening – they are ordering them to spread propaganda and to keep their mouths shut otherwise.
I understand the part about being quiet while a soldier – it’s part of the discipline. I don’t understand about being told to spread information you don’t believe – and to be rewarded for doing so. I hope that the cognitive dissonance involved for some of our military will stay in their memory so that one day they will tell us the truth about their experiences – experiences which are to some extent part of every war (and why we should use it as a last resort) and for the rest, specific to this one.
I have talked to people in-between stints in Iraq. They tell a different story altogether than these talking points. Some of them will have told loved ones their real experiences and observations. Some of them have been disturbed at what they saw, and even what they participated in. Again, nothing new there.
My message here stays the same. My message here is for them – that some people do realize that they are being used, that their experiences do matter, that their observations are important. When time passes, the truth will come out. It usually does. Be patient, pay attention, document what you can – stay sane, hold your center, be strong.
It is less and less shocking to hear people saying that they would do the same, but it reveals a lack of knowledge or understanding about history, and about the highest values of our country. And an Operation from the Pentagon isn’t from the military leaders anyway – I’ll bet some of them chafe under this kind of thing too. Many of them are skilled, aware, and patriotic. It is inapproprate for the Pentagon to mandate this.