By Scott W. Winchell, Editor-in-Chief – How many times does one have to endure being investigated, cleared of all charges each time, and then investigated again? Apparently Senator Carl Levin thinks at least four.
Yet, despite failing to prove his accusations and all his demagoguery, he is still adamant that there was some sort of propaganda machine pushing the US to war in Iraq. Those of us who are intimately aware of the facts leading up to that war, the existence of WMD, and the end of Saddam Hussein’s murderous rule, know that the only propaganda that took place was the anti-war machine, led by people like Senator Levin and the NY Times.
They just didn’t like facts because they hate the military and they had already made up their minds. Despite proving Albert Einstein’s definition of stupid, they keep accusing and demanding further investigations, expecting a different outcome each time.
David Barstow - NY Times Pulitzer Prize Winner De-Bunked
The left was looking for Donald Rumsfeld’s head on a platter and they beat the propaganda drums with their loyal aids in the Main Stream Media, trying to ruin the reputation of many retired flag and command officers who spoke the truth on the air. When do these folks get their reputations back? Who is going to compensate them for lost income?
When will the Pulitzer Prize Committee demand the return of the award they gave NY Times’ David Bartsow for printing the story that accused so many great people of wrongdoing.
From Democracy Now:
David Barstow, investigative reporter at the New York Times, won the 2009 Pulitzer Prize for investigative reporting for his articles Message Machine: Behind TV Analysts, Pentagon’s Hidden Hand and One Man’s Military-Industrial-Media Complex.
In his first national broadcast interview, New York Times reporter David Barstow speaks about his 2009 Pulitzer Prize-winning expose of the Pentagon propaganda campaign to recruit more than seventy-five retired military officers to appear on TV outlets as military analysts ahead of and during the Iraq war.
Apparently with the Pentagon releasing information to the public that you don’t agree with or like is propaganda. That is what Barstow and Levin apparently thought when they saw Pentagon documents and heard of briefings where Military EXPERTS attended and were given permission to speak about the content on air. Unfortunately, its not propaganda when one speaks truth, a concept that the left cannot comprehend. Its all fine when they (the left) twist the truth, demagogue, manipulate data and stats, and promote conspiracy theories. What is pricelss is that since they do it all the time, they think everyone does.
The left just flat out hates the military, so they try everything they can to de-fund it, cast aspersions upon it, and attempt to ruin the reputations of its American citizen soldiers. Apparently defending America is a bad thing, even after eons of proof that appeasement of mad men does not work. Let’s go and talk with Iranian mad men until they die of boredom?
Pentagon’s inspector general finds no misconduct in briefing program
Concludes three-year investigation
By Rowan Scarborough
Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl M. Levin pressed for a probe of a government briefing program, but no misconduct was found. (Associated Press)Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl M. Levin pressed for a probe of a government briefing program, but no misconduct was found. (Associated Press)
Senator Levin - Wrong AGAIN!
The Pentagon’s inspector general has released his final report on a Donald H. Rumsfeld-era program for briefing TV and radio military analysts, concluding for a second time that there was no wrongdoing.
The three-year investigation by the inspector general marks the fourth time a federal agency has found no improper conduct in the program.
The probes involved some of Washington’s most influential voices.
Some of the accused Military Analysts - Exonerated - AGAIN!
There was a powerful journalism institution. The investigations were spurred by a 2008 Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times story that strongly implied the practice of giving briefings to retired military analysts (RMAs) violated Pentagon rules against propaganda.
The story also suggested the ex-officers, some of whom worked as defense contractors, received financial favors from the Pentagon because of their roles.
There was Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl M. Levin, who pressed the inspector general to find that the program was improper.
And there were the analysts themselves, some war heroes, boasting three and four stars during long military careers, who went on the air to comment on the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.
They repeatedly denied they had done anything wrong.
- In the end, no agency found wrongdoing.
- The first inspector general’s report, in 2009, said the briefing program was legitimate.
- The Government Accountability Office (GAO), Congress’ auditing arm, later said the program followed regulations.
- Democrats pressed the Federal Communications Commission to find that the analysts had violated federal law, but the FCC has issued no report.
- Mr. Levin, Michigan Democrat, pressed Pentagon Inspector General Gordon S. Heddell for another probe, and his findings were just released.
On the main issue, the new report says: “We found that the [Pentagon public affairs office] conducted the RMA outreach activities in compliance with policy and regulation.”
On the second issue of whether the retired officers gained financially, the report concludes: “Based on interviews, we did not identify that the RMA outreach activities provided a financial benefit to those RMAs affiliated with a defense contractor. Our review of relevant procurement ethics rules and regulations identified nothing that would preclude the RMAs with such an affiliation from participating in the events.”
On possible wrongdoing cited in the 2008 New York Times story, the report says: “We also reviewed the specific examples mentioned in the New York Times article. Based on our interviews, we did not find that the RMA outreach participants used the RMA outreach activities to further their own or the affiliated Defense contractor’s interests.”
Mr. Levin’s spokeswoman had no comment Thursday.
The Washington Times reported Sept. 24 that a draft report had cleared the briefings’ participants of wrongdoing.
The Times also reported Nov. 3 that Mr. Levin had intervened in the probe via a senior aide who, according to a source close to the investigation, was communicating with the inspector general’s office in an effort to get some findings changed.
Mr. Levin did not comment to The Times but later acknowledged the contacts to Fox News.
Rep. Darrell Issa, California Republican and chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, is conducting a review to determine whether there was an attempt to influence the inspector general.
Said retired Army Col. Ken Allard, one of the investigated military analysts: “Where do we go to have our reputations restored after four federal investigations and who knows how many millions spent? I meant every word of that letter I sent to Issa: This was a media-political cabal of congressional Democrats and the New York Times. And, oh, by the way, it turned out that, just as in war, the first reports were wrong.”
Said Keith Urbahn, spokesman for former Defense Secretary Rumsfeld: “Two things ought to happen, though they never will. One, the New York Times should give back its Pulitzer for a story that is now proven to be a fabrication. And two, Sen. Carl Levin should reimburse U.S. taxpayers for what must be the millions of dollars squandered in pursuit of repeated investigations that he ordered to fit his partisan agenda. And while they’re at it, the New York Times and the senator from Michigan ought to apologize to the uniformed military officers whose reputations were maligned by their attacks.”
