Political Quotes

“a report released today by the nonprofit research organization Media Matters has found that military analysts secretly cultivated by the Pentagon's communications apparatus appeared over 4,500 times on major TV and radio networks since 2002 in segments covering the Iraq War, Guantanamo Bay, Abu Ghraib and other foreign policy and national security issues. The New York Times exposed this extensive, coordinated campaign by the Pentagon and the Bush administration to influence the commentary of what viewers rightfully believed were independent television military analysts. It is an unethical, possibly illegal propaganda machine, a media Trojan horse designed to shape war coverage from inside the major TV and radio networks. It was also apparent that the motivation on the part of many was the extraordinary access they were granted to the Pentagon for their defense contractor employers. One particularly disturbing example is when troops in Iraq were dying because of inadequate body armor, a senior Pentagon official wrote to his colleagues, "I think our analysts . . . can push back in that arena." The analysts, of course, were 75 retired military officers. This is conduct unbefitting of our military officers and our Nation, Mr. Speaker.”