Recipients-- We've received MANY requests for further information on Clinton's Presidential Decision Directive #68. You know: the one that pretty much completes the burial ceremonies for the tattered remnants of our so-called free press. The one which decrees that henceforth ALL "news" made available to the public be passed through the screening processes of the newly-created International Public Information (IPI) system, so that all news being reported is "synchronized", "DE-CONFLICTED", sanitized, and otherwise completely gutted of any semblance of inconsistency with the officially approved version of reality which WE ARE SUPPOSED TO BE TOLD. In other words, ALL news reported in this country is due to be BLATANTLY and thoroughly spin-doctored by Administration clones in pursuit of completely seamless management and "handling" of the news; so that we ONLY hear and see WHAT THEY SAY we can hear and see. Why does this reminds me so much of the tactics of totalitarian regimes like Communist China, Russia, Hitler's Third Reich and that satirized in George Orwell's 1984? It seems the actual text of this directive has NOT been made public. Any guesses why that's the case? John Quinn/NewsHawk Inc. For the most comprehensive report available on the subject http://www.washtimes-weekly.com/stories/exclusive.html THE WASHINGTON TIMES Weekly Edition Published in Washington, D.C. August 2 - 8, 1999 -- Edition "America's Newspaper" Administration spin to go global By Ben Barber A former senior Clinton administration official charged on July 28 that a new multiagency plan to closely control the dissemination of public information abroad is really aimed at "spinning the American public." The plan, disclosed on July 28 by The Washington Times, emerged out of concern that the U.S. public has refused to back President Clinton's foreign policy, said the former official, who spoke on the condition he not be identified. Administration officials "say news coverage is distorted at home and they need to fight it at all costs by using resources that are aimed at spinning the news," said the former official, who had close knowledge of the plan's development. Mr. Clinton in April issued Presidential Decision Directive 68, ordering the creation of the International Public Information (IPI) system, designed to make sure that all government agencies disseminating information abroad share a single message. A draft charter obtained by The Washington Times says the purpose of IPI is "to prevent and mitigate crises and to influence foreign audiences in ways favorable to the achievement of U.S. foreign policy objectives." Officials of U.S. defense, intelligence, diplomatic and other agencies met for the first time on July 28 at the State Department to go over the draft charter, said a source who spoke on the condition of anonymity. Only "minor changes" were made to the charter at that meeting, the source said, but it was possible that "major" changes would be made in the near future. Future meetings of an IPI "core group" developing the new information system are to be chaired by Morton Halperin, head of policy planning at the State Department. The draft charter says information aimed at U.S. audiences should "be coordinated, integrated, deconflicted and synchronized with the [IPI] to achieve a synergistic effect." The former senior official complained that the charter "did not distinguish what would be done overseas and what would be done at home. . . . It talks about a news war." In a telephone interview after the meeting, an administration official rejected accusations that IPI could be used in a partisan manner or be used to influence American public opinion. "This is absolutely not the case," said the official, who also declined to be identified. "We are very cognizant of the history of the '80s. There are congressional controls now." The official was referring to the 1980s Iran-Contra affair, in which some Reagan administration officials covertly sold arms to Iran to raise money to fund the Contra war in Nicaragua. After October, IPI will be run by the newly created undersecretary of state for public diplomacy, who will take over most of the duties of the U.S. Information Agency (USIA), which is being disbanded. Former White House aide Evelyn Lieberman has been nominated for that post. However, the IPI system was said to be the brainchild of White House intelligence chief Dick Clarke. His aide, former White House fellow Jamie Metzl, largely wrote the plan and is now serving as IPI senior coordinator, according to the former senior administration official. Media and political analysts expressed concern about the plan. "This . . . indicates a measure of desperation in President Clinton's foreign policy," said Seth Ackerman of Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting, a liberal media-watch- dog group. "When it is not received well abroad, he resorts to propaganda." On the other end of the political spectrum, Ariel Cohen of the conservative Heritage Foundation said he worried that the IPI system could be used by the party in power to push its own agenda, rather than the national interest. "It would be a mistake to turn the U.S. public information system into a tool of a partisan agenda," said Mr. Cohen. "It cannot be driven by any political-correctness agenda that will not be representative of what the American people think or that will reflect only a social-change agenda of extremist activist groups," he said. The IPI plan calls for establishing a system of control over all government information going abroad, with a stated goal of countering anti-American propaganda and aiding U.S. overseas military missions. It also offers to help the United Nations use the system during its peacekeeping and humanitarian operations. Published August 2 - 8, 1999 -- Edition, in Copyright 1998 News World Communications, Inc. = = = = = = = = = = = = = = Other information on PDD#68 A list of Executive Orders and Presidential Decision Directives can be found here: http://www.fas.org/irp/offdocs/pdd/index.html What is known of Presidential Decision Directive 68 is at this URL: http://www.fas.org/irp/offdocs/pdd/pdd-68.htm Some more on PDD #68: http://www.fas.org/irp/offdocs/pdd/pdd-68.htm
