The Defense Department has withdrawn from its web site a report that had exonerated it from using retired generals for propaganda.
- Inspector at Pentagon Says Report Was Flawed, By David Barstow, New York Times, May 5, 2009.
In a highly unusual reversal, the Defense Department’s inspector general’s office has withdrawn a report it issued in January exonerating a Pentagon public relations program that made extensive use of retired officers who worked as military analysts for television and radio networks.
…In addition to repudiating its own report, the inspector general’s office took the additional step of removing the report from its Web site.
The DOD memo withdrawing the report:
- Withdrawal Memo for IE-2009-004 “Examination of Allegations Involving DoD Public Affairs Outreach Program” (.pdf 262 kb), Memo from Donald M. Horstman, Deputy Inspector General for Policy and Oversight, Inspector General Department Of Defense, “Subject: Inspector General of the Department of Defense Report No. IE-2009-004, “Examination of Allegations Involving DoD Office of Public Affairs Outreach Program,” January 14,2009″ (05/05/09).
The web page (dodig.mil/inspections/IE/Reports.htm) where the report originally was listed now only links to the withdrawal memo and DOD blocks that page from being archived by the Internet Archive and others. Cryptome, however, grabbed a copy and that copy is still available: ie-2009-004.zip (“Examination of Allegations Involving DoD Public Affairs Outreach Program, Department of Defense, Office of Inspector General, January 14, 2009, Report Number IE-2009-004”.)
(Libraries interested in preserving fugitive documents might well consider purchasing Cryptome DVDs for $25. Two DVDs of the Cryptome collection contain 47,000 files from June 1996 to January 2009, ~6.9 GB).
Amy Goodman interviewed David Barstow recently:
- New York Times Reporter David Barstow Wins Pulitzer Prize for Exposing Military’s Pro-War Propaganda Media Campaign, Democracy Now!, May 08, 2009.
For earlier coverage of this issue on FGI, see: Military analysts.
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