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Here today... Very Strategic, Don't You Think?By Rick Horowitz
Here's what we know: * There's a war on. * The other guys don't always tell the truth. * Our guys wanted to fight fire with fire. * Somebody leaked it. * Nobody liked it. * Our guys pulled the plug on it. * End of story. Or is it? It was called the Office of Strategic Influence, hidden away somewhere deep inside the Pentagon, and in its all-important Controversy-per-Minute-of-Existence Ratio, it ranks right up there with the biggies. It was created -- very hush-hush, of course -- after September 11, and it had millions of dollars in its budget to help win the battle for world opinion by getting the word out to foreign media organizations. Including the occasional false word. Disinformation campaigns. "Black" operations. Planting fake stories in newspapers. Sending (and disguising the origin of) e-mail messages that slam unfriendly governments. Coercing foreign journalists, and punishing those who don't toe the line. You know -- the fun stuff. Those were just some of the plans being tossed around. But before they could get final approval, somebody leaked them. Somebody spilled the beans. (Note to self: Can beans be leaked?) Suddenly it was a front-page story in The New York Times, and all heck broke loose. In a matter of days, the Pentagon and the White House were in full retreat: We hadn't even heard of... It was only a draft of... We would never, ever dream of... And so on. Until the decision came down from the defense secretary himself: Time to cut our losses. "The office has clearly been so damaged," Don Rumsfeld announced, "that it is pretty clear to me that it could not function effectively. So it is being closed down." O.S.I., R.I.P. Or so they'd like us to believe. Meanwhile, at the Office of Really Strategic Influence, hidden even deeper inside the Pentagon, they're laughing their heads off. I mean, why not? You don't think it's possible that this whole thing is one great big disinformation campaign? The "black op" to beat all "black ops"? See, first they draw up a plan that's guaranteed to be controversial, then they make sure somebody lets the cat out of the bag. (Note to self: Do cats out of bags leak beans?) Followed by lots of knitting of brows and wringing of hands. Followed by publicly dismantling the thing that's got everybody so riled up, and pledging for all the world to hear that we'd never stoop to such a level. They take one big -- but temporary -- shot to their credibility. They set things right. After which they can do pretty much anything they want. Is it plausible? Let me put it this way: Is it any less plausible than that they'd be stupid enough to concoct this kind of program in the first place? At least this way, you've got to give them credit for some creativity. Some imagination. Of course, now that I've exposed their little secret, there's bound to be a whole new firestorm, and they'll be retreating and apologizing and shutting down yet another operation. Meanwhile, at the Office of Totally Strategic Influence... Posted 2/28/02. Don't
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Rick Horowitz
