The Office of Global Lies

by Mary Shepard, WAMM

To offset the inevitable protests to the planned war against Iraq, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld is proposing drastic measures. On its face, the war is indefensible legally, morally, or practically. But this must be concealed from the U.S. citizens who will be expected to support the war with the lives of soldiers and enormous amounts of money. Rumsfeld is proposing the resurrection of a device used during the Vietnam War: an office of public diplomacy.

During Vietnam, this office fed misinformation to the enemy in order to confuse their military strategems. As anyone could have foreseen, the planted lies quickly blew back into our own media. Even during the Vietnam War, when there was no monolithic news source, no CNN that the whole world was watching together, and at least some chance for independent journalism, all U.S. newspapers and publications became infected with defense department propaganda. In the end, no publication escaped the virus, not even the National Geographic. This was one reason the war was prolonged long beyond when our leaders had concluded it was unwinnable.

Rumsfeld’s idea of an “Office of Strategic Influence,” as he labeled it, drew such howls of outrage he had to scrap it. But the dilemma remained: How to market the war, as well as a number of other dubious policies? Within months he resurrected the idea with a proposed “Office of Perception Management.” Stewart Ewe, Hunter College professor and author of P.R.: A Social History of Spin describes this perception management as having to do with “massaging our subconscious needs.” It is very hard to detect.

Wiser heads in Washington have come forth with a new proposal with a more respectable title and some added functions. It is now a permanent fixture. It will not only meet the concerns of perplexed citizens, but also cover over the fractious factions within the Administration itself. Contradictions in policy pronouncements as well as leaks from the Pentagon tell us there are tremendous divisions within Washington and there is a need to “get everyone on the same page.” This new agency has the grand name of “the Office of Global Communication.”

Whatever has happened to Rumsfeld’s ideas or whatever agency delivers the news, we can be sure that there will be attempts to manipulate us; and we must be vigilant.