Donald Rumsfeld should be fired for simply publicly proposing that the United States might plant false stories in foreign media in order to shape public opinion.
The United States already has a credibility problem in much of the Arab world — witness the editorials in that part of the world blaming Israel for the 9/11 attacks and argued that the United States was covering up Israel’s involvement.
And the best idea Rumsfeld can come up with to improve America’s image and credibility is by floating this idea that the Pentagon might plant fake stories to serve U.S. foreign policy interests?
Then again this does make some sense in light of a story that was barely reported in the United States but was picked up by the European press. Guess who was hired to head up this Information Awareness Office?
John Poindexter. That’s the same John Poindexter who was convicted in 1990 of conspiracy for his role in masterminding the diversion of money from weapons sales to Iran to illegally provide aid to the Nicaraguan Contras. Poindexter’s conviction was overturned in 1991 and George H. Bush pardoned Poindexter in 1992, preventing a retrial.
It’s unbelievable that a major player in the Iran-Contra scandal is back in government heading up an agency within the Pentagon.