Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Disinformation, Data Dumps, & Haystacks

Go read Cracking the Pentagon Pundit Code.

Do you wonder how the Pentagon used its military analyst program to spin military operations in Afghanistan, the Guantanamo Bay detention center or another issue? Are you curious whether a certain group or person -- say, Vets for Freedom or John McCain -- is mentioned in the Pentagon documents? Now you can easily search through the more than eight thousand pages of Pentagon pundit records.

Exposing the workings of the Pentagon's military analyst program isn't merely an academic pursuit. Citizen-driven investigations can help achieve real accountability. Without outside scrutiny, the ongoing investigations of the program -- by the Defense Department's Inspector General, Government Accountability Office and Federal Communications Commission -- may remain in limbo, where the only effect they have is to deflect further calls for action. Or, if the investigations are closed when no one's paying attention, their findings may easily be watered down or never acted upon.

Democracy needs its own "force multipliers." Can you help?

The Pentagon is counting on the fact that most people won't, but it only takes a few. Links at site.

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