Congress to Legalize Propaganda

An amendment to legalize the use of propaganda against American citizens is being added to the latest defense authorization bill according to BuzzFeed.com.

The amendment would “strike the current ban on domestic dissemination” of propaganda material produced by the State Department and the independent Broadcasting Board of Governors, neutralizing the Smith-Mundt Act of 1948 and Foreign Relations Authorization Act of 1987—both of which are supposed to protect the U.S. from our own government’s misinformation campaigns.

The bi-partisan amendment is sponsored by Rep. Mac Thornberry (R) Texas and Rep. Adam Smith (D) Washington State.

Thornberry warned that in the Internet age, the current law “ties the hands of America’s diplomatic officials, military, and others by inhibiting our ability to effectively communicate in a credible way.”

The bill’s supporters claim that the propaganda used overseas is too good to not use at home, and is needed to battle Al-Qaeda’s influence online.

“Clearly there are ways to modernize for the information age without wiping out the distinction between domestic and foreign audiences,” says Michael Shank, Vice President at the Institute for Economics and Peace in Washington D.C. “That Reps Adam Smith and Mac Thornberry want to roll back protections put in place by previously-serving Senators – who, in their wisdom, ensured limits to taxpayer–funded propaganda promulgated by the US government – is disconcerting and dangerous.”

The new law would give sweeping powers to the government to push television, radio, newspaper, and social media onto the U.S. public. “It removes the protection for Americans,” says a Pentagon official who is concerned about the law. “It removes oversight from the people who want to put out this information. There are no checks and balances. No one knows if the information is accurate, partially accurate, or entirely false.”

Critics of the bill point out that there was rigorous debate when Smith Mundt passed, and the fact that this is so “under the radar,” as the Pentagon official puts it, is troubling.

The Pentagon spends some $4 billion a year to sway public opinion already, and it was recently revealed by USA Today that the DoD spent $202 million on information operations in Iraq and Afghanistan last year.

In an apparent retaliation to the USA Today investigation, the two reporters working on the story appear to have been targeted by Pentagon contractors, who created fake Facebook pages and Twitter accounts in an attempt to discredit them.

Obama Administration to Sell $1 Million Dollars Worth of Arms to Human Rights Abuser Bahrain

In a bold move of outright hypocrisy the Obama administration has decided to move forward on an arms deal with the country of Bahrain, despite their track record of human rights abuse while simultaneously publicly berating Syria for committing abuses against it’s citizens.

“Bahrain has made many promises to cease abuses and hold officials accountable, but it hasn’t delivered,” said Maria McFarland, deputy Washington director at Human Rights Watch. “Protesters remain jailed on criminal charges for peacefully speaking out and there has been little accountability for torture and killings – crimes in which the Bahrain Defense Force is implicated.”

In a January 27, 2012 statement, the State Department announced plans to move forward with the sale of approximately $1 million dollars worth of equipment to Bahrain while maintaining “a pause on most security assistance for Bahrain pending further progress on reform.” The Department has not made the contents of the sale public but insists that none of the equipment contained items that could be used against protesters. A guarantee that will most certainty help  those who have been tortured and killed sleep better at night.

In September 2011, the Obama administration delayed a $53 million arms sale to Bahrain after human rights groups and members of Congress criticized the sale because of the ongoing abuses against protesters as well as anyone labeled as government opponents in Bahrain. The Bahrain Defense Force, the intended recipient of the arms sale, was in charge of the crackdown on largely peaceful protests during 2011.

In December, Mark Toner, a State Department representative, stated that the U.S. would weigh human rights concerns as it decided whether or not to go on with the arms sales. A November 23rd report by the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI), found systematic abuses in Bahrain’s crackdown on protesters, including torture and widespread detention of activists and peaceful protesters.

Since the release of the BICI report Bahrain has done little to address accountability for the documented abuses. Low-level Pakistani prison guards are on trial for beating prisoners to death, and several policemen are facing trial in the shooting deaths of three protesters. Only one Bahraini security official faces prosecution, for a horrific killing that Human Rights Watch documented at the time.

So far there has been no investigations into the roles the Interior Ministry, the National Security Agency, or the Bahrain Defense Force played in the deaths of dozens of people, widespread torture, and the detention of hundreds with no due process.

At least a half dozen people have died since the BICI report was released in protest-related confrontations with authorities. Protesters allege that the number of fatalities is 16 while the government claims that the deaths were from natural causes.

Bahrain continues to hold hundreds of people convicted for charges such as “illegal gatherings” and “inciting hatred against the regime.” Bahraini authorities are refusing to allow international human rights organizations to visit the country.

“Bahrain’s failure to take immediate steps to reform – for example, by releasing political prisoners and investigating ranking security officials – raises real doubts about its commitment to addressing the serious abuses documented in the BICI report,” McFarland said. “Washington should hold off on arms sales until Bahrain shows it is serious about addressing the country’s human rights crisis.”

U.S. Troops Leave Iraq and Get Replaced by 1,000s of Contractors

When President Barack Obama announced that all U.S. military forces will be withdrawn from Iraq before the end of 2011, it appeared to be the end of an era. However, in reality, thousands of Americans will be staying behind in the volatile country.

Once the U.S. military pulls out the remaining 41,000 troops in Iraq, the State Department will ramp up its own force of private security contractors, which is about 3,000 in size right now. By the end of January it’s expected to be 5,500. These guards will be supported by another 4,500 “general life support” contractors who will take care of food, medical services and other needs.

Among the financial winners in the new arrangement are Triple Canopy, which has a $1.5 billion contract to protect State Department official in Iraq; SOC Incorporated, which will protect the U.S. embassy in Baghdad for up to $974 million; and Global Strategies Group, which has a $410 million contract to guard the U.S. consulate in Basra. Contracts to protect other consulates in Iraq are still out for bidding.

American diplomats predict the number of foreign contractors employed by the State Department will decrease over the next three to five years. This change will be due to the U.S. hiring more local Iraqis and an improved security situation in Iraq.

It almost goes without saying the CIA will also maintain a significant presence after the troops are gone.