Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said Monday he is deeply troubled by the success of terrorist groups in "manipulating the media" to influence Westerners.
"That's the thing that keeps me up at night," he said during a question-and-answer session with about 200 naval aviators and other Navy personnel at this flight training base for Navy and Marine pilots.
"What bothers me the most is how clever the enemy is," he continued, launching an extensive broadside at Islamic extremist groups which he said are trying to undermine Western support for the war on terror.
"They are actively manipulating the media in this country" by, for example, falsely blaming U.S. troops for civilian deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan, he said.
"They can lie with impunity," he said, while U.S. troops are held to a high standard of conduct.
[snip]
Later, at a Reno, Nev., convention of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Rumsfeld made similar points.
"The enemy lies constantly — almost totally without penalty," he told the veterans group, which presented him with the Dwight D. Eisenhower Distinguished Service Award. "They portray our cause as a war on Islam when in fact the overwhelming majority of victims of their terrorism have been the thousands and thousands of innocent Muslims — men, women and children — that they have killed."
He added, "While some at home argue for tossing in the towel, the enemy is waiting and hoping that we will do just that."
Rumsfeld often complains about what he calls the terrorists' success in persuading Westerners that the U.S.-led wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are part of a crusade against Islam. In his remarks at Fallon he did not offer any new examples of media manipulation; he put unusual emphasis, however, on the negative impact it is having on Americans in an era of 24-hour news.
"The enemy is so much better at communicating," he added. "I wish we were better at countering that because the constant drumbeat of things they say — all of which are not true — is harmful. It's cumulative. And it does weaken people's will and lessen their determination, and raise questions in their minds as to whether the cost is worth it," he said alluding to Americans and other Westerners.
Fascinating. The Secretary of Defense spent the day yesterday making his own military and the President of the United States look hapless and helpless in the face of Evil Geniuses is caves manipulating the U.S. media -- and that's why only a third of Americans still support the war.
Also fascinating is Rumsfeld'd reference to a "constant drumbeat of the things they say." Projection much, Rummy? If anyone has beat a drum, it's the Administration. It's the Administration that has beaten the drum of Iraq-9/11-Iraq-9/11-Iraq-9/11, then claims that it has not said that Iraq was involved in the 9/11 attacks.
"The enemy is so much better at communicating", he says. Again, a bunch of guys living in caves, seemingly opposed to all things modern, are better at communicating than the supposedly intelligent men who lead this country and their lapdogs who broadcast the news over the airwaves on stations owned by defense contractors and Republican campaign contributors. Is Rummy finally acknowledging that his boss can't string together a coherent English sentence? And that the "Death to America" crowd in the Middle East is better at winning over the hearts and minds of their people than this supposedly sophisticated, always-on-message Administration?
This is what they're reduced to, folks -- sending Rummy out to blame Dr. Evil and his manipulation of the media for their own failings.
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