Comments on: Perception Management http://www.roryoconnor.org/blog/2004/12/14/perception-management/ Rory O'Connor's blog Wed, 19 Nov 2008 16:09:21 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.0.5 by: cs http://www.roryoconnor.org/blog/2004/12/14/perception-management/#comment-291 Fri, 17 Dec 2004 04:39:53 +0000 http://www.roryoconnor.org/blog/2004/12/14/perception-management/#comment-291 Rory, I certainly hope your colleagues answer your call to arms. You are correct that both your profession and your lives are at stake. Long before the Iraq invasion I attended a presentation by former CIA undercover agent and counterintelligence chief James Olson. After softening up a vulnerable audience by arguing that American "squeamishness" about intelligence tools like false identities, torture and assassination had tied operatives hands and contributed to their inability to stop the tragedies of 9/11, Olson polled the audience about what sorts of intelligence practices were acceptible in the "war on terror". By overwhelming majority the audience endorsed undercover agents posing as journalists. The audience also approved of agents disguised as aid workers though not as members of the clergy, and accepted assassination and torture as long as they did not occur on American soil). There was no discussion of the risk all journalists would be placed in if some journalists might actually be intelligence agents. There was no discussion of whether journalists' reports could be trusted if some journalists are serving the interests of propaganda rather than truth. Olson's entire program was an exercise in counterintelligence as public relations and propaganda. Gaby Rado goes off a hotel rooftop in Iraq; Paul Moran works for Rendon Group; what is the truth about the death of Daniel Pearl? It's already nearly impossible to know whether "journalists" are serving more than one master and if so, which ones. Will you and your colleagues be able to demonstrate your allegiance to accuracy in service of democracy? Or will we Americans, like citizens of the Soviet Union before us, come to view all reporters as either spies or ministry of information shills? Rory, I certainly hope your colleagues answer your call to arms. You are correct that both your profession and your lives are at stake. Long before the Iraq invasion I attended a presentation by former CIA undercover agent and counterintelligence chief James Olson. After softening up a vulnerable audience by arguing that American “squeamishness” about intelligence tools like false identities, torture and assassination had tied operatives hands and contributed to their inability to stop the tragedies of 9/11, Olson polled the audience about what sorts of intelligence practices were acceptible in the “war on terror”. By overwhelming majority the audience endorsed undercover agents posing as journalists. The audience also approved of agents disguised as aid workers though not as members of the clergy, and accepted assassination and torture as long as they did not occur on American soil).

There was no discussion of the risk all journalists would be placed in if some journalists might actually be intelligence agents. There was no discussion of whether journalists’ reports could be trusted if some journalists are serving the interests of propaganda rather than truth. Olson’s entire program was an exercise in counterintelligence as public relations and propaganda.

Gaby Rado goes off a hotel rooftop in Iraq; Paul Moran works for Rendon Group; what is the truth about the death of Daniel Pearl? It’s already nearly impossible to know whether “journalists” are serving more than one master and if so, which ones. Will you and your colleagues be able to demonstrate your allegiance to accuracy in service of democracy? Or will we Americans, like citizens of the Soviet Union before us, come to view all reporters as either spies or ministry of information shills?

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