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The Layalina Review

VOL. V NO. 9, April 10-April 27, 2009

Pentagon Closes Down Propaganda Machine

Senior officials report that a Pentagon office responsible for coordinating Defense Department information campaigns overseas has been shut down in an effort by the Obama administration to distance itself from past practices that some military officers called propaganda, reports Thom Shanker for The New York Times.

According to military and civilian critics, the DoD office to support public diplomacy efforts overstepped its boundaries during the final years of the Bush administration "by trying to organize information operations that violated Pentagon guidelines for accuracy and transparency."

Senior officials have said Michele A. Flournoy, the new Under Secretary of defense for policy, decided to eliminate the position of deputy secretary of defense for public diplomacy to ensure a better alignment of global communications efforts between the Defense Department and the military and with the rest of the government.

The New York Times points out that the office was created in 2007 to coordinate the Defense Department’s overseas information efforts with the rest of the government, in particular the White House, the State Department and American embassies. The Pentagon now pledges to support the White House and the State Department's efforts in communicating with foreign audiences.

Even in a supporting role, the Defense Department has far greater resources in money, trained communications personnel and broadcast and print technology than any other government agency or department.

Another senior Defense Department official briefed on the decision said the military, by its size and global reach, remained one of the government’s most visible tools for projecting American influence and defining its values, especially in operations short of combat, like humanitarian aid and disaster relief missions.

"The goal should be to produce words and actions that are matched," the official said. "There still is a great need for a concerted effort in the planning stages of policy, execution and communications."

Dan Weil reports for Newsmax that the Pentagon had been under criticism for straying beyond its guidelines late in the Bush administration, violating Pentagon rules for accuracy and openness. Congress expressed concerns over the role of the Pentagon in public diplomacy efforts as well, reports the New York Times.

"Because of the history of the office, we needed a fresh start in how we integrate the critical function of strategic communications across the board," a senior Pentagon official told the newspaper.

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