RUMSFELD TO SPEND $20 MILLION ON MEDIA MANIPULATION SO HE CAN SLEEP

WALTER PINCUS, WASHINGTON POST - U.S. military leaders in Baghdad have
put out for bid a two-year, $20 million public relations contract that
calls for extensive monitoring of U.S. and Middle Eastern media in an
effort to promote more positive coverage of news from Iraq. The contract
calls for assembling a database of selected news stories and assessing
their tone as part of a program to provide "public relations products"
that would improve coverage of the military command's performance,
according to a statement of work attached to the proposal. . .

The proposal, which calls in part for extensive monitoring and analysis
of Iraqi, Middle Eastern and American media, is designed to help the
coalition forces understand "the communications environment." . . .

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/
2006/08/30/AR2006083003011.html


ARIANNA HUFFINGTON - For Don Rumsfeld the problem isn't that we are not
winning the war in Iraq, the problem is that we are not properly
spinning the war in Iraq. Along with comparing his critics to Hitler
appeasers, the beleaguered Defense Secretary has spent the early part of
this week making the case that the horrific state of affairs in Iraq is
really just a case of bad PR.


"The enemy is so much better at communicating," he whined to a gathering
of Veterans of Foreign Wars. "I wish we were better at countering that
because the constant drumbeat of things they say -- all of which are not
true -- is harmful."

And during a question-and-answer session with Navy personnel, he
bemoaned the ability of terrorist groups -- who, according to Rummy,
have "media committees" -- to "manipulate the media," saying, "That's
the thing that keeps me up at night."

That's all you need to know about Don Rumsfeld. He's not losing sleep
over the bloody reality in Iraq (and his role in creating it); he's
tossing and turning over the fact that he hasn't been able to package
that bloody reality more effectively. It's all about appearances. . .

"What bothers me the most is how clever the enemy is," he said. "They
are actively manipulating the media in this country... They can lie with
impunity.". . .

It's a long, hard media manipulation slog.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/arianna-huffington/
what-keeps-don-rumsfeld-u_b_28379.html