He sounds outright CLINTONISTIC.
The Clinton administration begins work today on a new International Public Information group designed to `influence foreign audiences´ in support of U.S. foreign policy and to counteract propaganda by enemies of the United States.
U.S. military, diplomatic and intelligence officials will participate in today's meeting of a core group to set up the IPI system of coordinating all overseas information among the various branches of the U.S. government.
The aim is `to enhance U.S. security, bolster America's economic prosperity and to promote democracy abroad,´ according to the IPI Core Group Charter, a copy of which was obtained by The Washington Times.
However, the charter also says that IPI control over `international military information´ is intended to `influence the emotions, motives, objective reasoning and ultimately the behavior of foreign governments, organizations, groups and individuals.´
The charter makes clear that IPI activities `are overt and address foreign audiences only.´ But it also says domestic information should be `deconflicted´ and `synchronized´ so as not to send a contradictory message.
The Clinton administration also hopes to encourage the United Nations and other international organizations to make `effective use of IPI [...] in support of multilateral peacekeeping,´ the charter says. Shocked by confusion during military missions in Kosovo and Haiti, when no U.S. agency was empowered to coordinate U.S. efforts to sell its policies and counteract bad press abroad, President Clinton on April 30 issued a secret Presidential Decision Direction --PDD 68 -- ordering the creation of IPI.
`In the old days, the U.S. Information Agency and State were the main agencies for communicating internationally,´ said an administration official.
`With the information revolution, all agencies now have the ability to communicate internationally and interact with foreign populations,´ said the official, speaking on the condition of anonymity.´
IPI is a mechanism that has been established to make sure that these various actors are working in a coordinated manner.
The charter insists that information distributed through IPI should be designed not `to mislead foreign audiences´ and that information programs `must be truthful.´ But numerous clauses in the document have an Orwellian ring that gives the impression of a vast, coordinated propaganda operation.
`The objective of IPI is to synchronize the informational objectives, themes and messages that will be projected overseas [...] to prevent and mitigate crises and to influence foreign audiences in ways favorable to the achievement of U.S. foreign policy objectives,´ the charter says.
U.S. officials, and the text of the charter, explicitly state that the new information policy will not be used as a propaganda weapon against the American public --which is prohibited by U.S. law.
However, since foreign media reports often get played back in U.S. media, it will likely be impossible to prevent a backwash of the pro-U.S. information into America.
The charter recognizes this by calling for the government's domestic public affairs activities to be coordinated with its foreign IPI efforts.
Information aimed at domestic audiences should `be coordinated, integrated, deconflicted and synchronized with the [IPI Core Group] to achieve a synergistic effect for [government] strategic information activities,´ the charter says.
The administration official said that the IPI system is `geared towards prevention and mitigation of crises´ and will remain active in peacetime `so we won't need to reconstitute the entire thing all the time.´
Mr. Clinton's PDD 68, issued with no fanfare during the Kosovo bombing campaign, orders top officials from the Defense, State, Justice, Commerce and Treasury departments and the Central Intelligence Agency and FBI to meet and set up the core group.
Junior level officials from those agencies were to hold the first IPI planning session today at the State Department. By Friday, the IPI core group is required to issue a statement of its policies, programs and scope of its work.
Next Wednesday, senior-level officials meet under the chairmanship of Morton Halperin, policy planning director of the State Department, to firm up the IPI system.
While a large number of government agencies are involved, knowledge of the IPI effort has been closely held.
Aides to top officials in the State Department, USIA and Voice of America all said yesterday they knew little about the concept apart from a vague outline of its mission.
The IPI core group is also instructed by the charter to arrange `training exercises at the National Defense University, National Foreign Affairs Training Center, the Service War Colleges´ and other institutions.
And its activities could go beyond broadcasts and press releases. The IPI core group is ordered by the presidential directive to `assist [U.S. government] efforts in defeating adversaries.´
`The intelligence community will play a crucial role [...] for identifying hostile foreign propaganda and deception that targets the U.S.,´ the charter says."
The Washington Times, "Group will battle propaganda abroad", July 28, 1999 (<- click)
Perhaps MujaSvet can explain us why "U.S. military, diplomatic and intelligence officials" have to "influence the emotions, motives, objective reasoning and ultimately the behavior of foreign governments, organizations, groups and individuals" when Mr Clinton was "shocked by confusion during military missions in Kosovo"? I thought MujaSvet tells us the truth?
Why then this is necessary?
Karadjordje