Military Analysis and the development of Public Opinion

In tomorrow's New York Times, there is a very long article discussing the way in which the Pentagon employs "analysis" in an attempt to sell specific policies.

Hidden behind that appearance of objectivity, though, is a Pentagon information apparatus that has used those analysts in a campaign to generate favorable news coverage of the administration’s wartime performance, an examination by The New York Times has found.

The effort, which began with the buildup to the Iraq war and continues to this day, has sought to exploit ideological and military allegiances, and also a powerful financial dynamic: Most of the analysts have ties to military contractors vested in the very war policies they are asked to assess on air.

Those business relationships are hardly ever disclosed to the viewers, and sometimes not even to the networks themselves. But collectively, the men on the plane and several dozen other military analysts represent more than 150 military contractors either as lobbyists, senior executives, board members or consultants. The companies include defense heavyweights, but also scores of smaller companies, all part of a vast assemblage of contractors scrambling for hundreds of billions in military business generated by the administration’s war on terror. It is a furious competition, one in which inside information and easy access to senior officials are highly prized.

The dangerous aspects of this is the way in which certain ideological perspectives establish certain cultures and policies. And all of this depends on the manipulation of information.

In theory, the Times study is not anything new. Noam Chomsky is most likely laughing at this article. Or cringing.