The Story Behind “Pentagon’s Hidden Hand”

The Big Story you missed while staying dry this weekend?

From the New York Times: “Behind Analysts, the Pentagon’s Hidden Hand“

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.

So impressive was the piece that Howie Kurtz decided to lead with it this morning:

It’s hardly shocking that career military men would largely reflect the Pentagon’s point of view, just as Democratic and Republican “strategists” stay in touch with aides to the candidates they defend on the air. But the degree of behind-the-scenes manipulation — including regular briefings by then-defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld and other officials — is striking, as is the lack of disclosure by the networks of some of these government and business connections.

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