Pentagon Stages Illegal Media Tours of Afghanistan [View All]

[Panaconda]

Pentagon’s Stages Illegal Media Tours of Afghanistan

American law bars military propaganda

Sunday 19 September 2010, by Matthew Nasuti


Section 720 of U.S. Public Law 111-117 bar the Pentagon from using taxpayer funds to generate propaganda for use within the United States. In blatant disregard for the rule of law, U.S. military officials conduct media tours in Afghanistan almost every week to American press representatives. The goal is to spin the news, showcasing only positive accomplishments and happy events, which propaganda is then fed to the American people.

During this media circus, there is no little or no mention of the growing desertion rates among Afghan police and Army units; NATO’s decision to ignore opium production in some areas; the dismal lack of electricity, pure drinking water and sewage treatment facilities in Afghanistan; Taliban successes and expansion; the growing number of Afghan districts with security problems; and the fact that one third of Afghans still do not get enough good food to eat (according to the latest data from the U.N.’s Food Programme).

Section 720 reads as follows:

“No part of any appropriation contained in this or any other Act shall be used directly or indirectly, including by private contractors, for publicity or propaganda purposes within the United States, not heretofore authorized by the Congress.”

The Congressional intent behind Section 720 is clear: The American people insist that they be told not just the truth by their government, but the whole truth - the good and the bad.

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http://kabulpress.org/my/spip.php?article30274