Reactions to story from Politics - washingtonpost.com

• 

  Military + Marketing = Malarky?

  http://blingcycle.blogspot.com/2008/10/military-marketing-ma...
  44 days ago in The Bling Cycle · Authority: 2

  More from WaPo's Walter Pincus on U.S. media efforts in Iraq: The U.S. military is planning a large polling and focus-group operation in Iraq over the next three years to help "build robust and positive relations with the people of Iraq and to assist the Iraqi people in forming a new government," according to a proposal seeking private contractors for the program. The $15 million-a-year initiative will supplement the military's $100 million-a-year strategic communications operation, which aims to produce content for Iraqi media that will "engage and inspire" the population. The proposed polling contract, which has yet to be awarded, would centralize activities currently conducted by four different commands within Multi-National Force-Iraq and the Psychological Operations and Information Operations task forces. As with the media activity, the fact that the polls and focus groups are financed by the U.S. military may not be revealed to participants. Last year RAND published a manuscript, pictured above, titled "Enlisting Madison Avenue: The Marketing Approach to Earning Popular Support in Theaters of Operation". In it they suggest the "segmentation of the population" as part of larger efforts to applying marketing and advertising principles to America's counterinsurgency wars. Looks like someone's been listening! They also suggest applying branding concepts to the US Forces. PR Week reports: The US Navy Seals recently awarded Washington-based Gallup Consulting a six-month, $500,000 contract to help it develop a new branding and marketing strategy. Damn these people are good! Finally, DoD dropping some free market science. Nevermind that, [A] former official noted that $15 million is far more than the State Department allocates annually for its polling activities worldwide. The expansion of military involvement in such activities, which were once the province of the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), is raising concerns not only on Capitol Hill but also inside the Defense Department. Last week, House and Senate conferees said in their report on the fiscal 2009 defense appropriations bill that the Pentagon's enormous resources are upsetting the "appropriate balance of the civilian and military instruments of national security," adding that neither Pentagon interests nor national interests "are well served by this institutional shift of responsibility . . . from U.S. civilian agencies to the military." Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates has repeatedly called for Congress to provide additional funds to the State Department and USAID. Last month, during an appearance at the National Defense University, Gates said that until civilian agencies are able, the military "will probably end up carrying most of the burden" of reconstruction.
• 

  Pentagon Challenge: Ask Iraqis How Many Have Died

  http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/node/36844
  52 days ago in AfterDowningStreet.org | Convict Bush and Cheney! · Authority: 2

  Pentagon Challenge: Ask Iraqis How Many Have Died Submitted by Robert_Naiman on Tue, 2008-10-14 00:58. Iraq The U.S. military is planning a large polling operation in Iraq over the next three years to help "build robust and positive relations with the people of Iraq and to assist the Iraqi people in forming a new government," Walter Pincus reports in the Washington Post. This provides an excellent opportunity to revisit an important question: How many Iraqis have died since the U.S. invasion? The $15 million-a-year initiative will supplement the military's $100 million-a-year strategic communications operation, which aims to produce content for Iraqi media that will "engage and inspire" the population, Pincus notes. The size and scope of the program "will provide an extraordinary amount of data," said a former government official. Another former official noted that $15 million is far more than the State Department allocates annually for its polling activities worldwide. »
• 

  Pentagon Challenge: Ask Iraqis How Many Have Died

  http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/node/36844
  52 days ago in AfterDowningStreet.org | Convict Bush and Cheney! · Authority: 3

  Pentagon Challenge: Ask Iraqis How Many Have Died Submitted by Robert_Naiman on Tue, 2008-10-14 00:58. Iraq The U.S. military is planning a large polling operation in Iraq over the next three years to help "build robust and positive relations with the people of Iraq and to assist the Iraqi people in forming a new government," Walter Pincus reports in the Washington Post. This provides an excellent opportunity to revisit an important question: How many Iraqis have died since the U.S. invasion? The $15 million-a-year initiative will supplement the military's $100 million-a-year strategic communications operation, which aims to produce content for Iraqi media that will "engage and inspire" the population, Pincus notes. The size and scope of the program "will provide an extraordinary amount of data," said a former government official. Another former official noted that $15 million is far more than the State Department allocates annually for its polling activities worldwide. »
• 

  Pentagon Challenge: Ask Iraqis How Many Have Died

  http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/node/36844
  52 days ago in AfterDowningStreet.org | Convict Bush and Cheney! · Authority: 777

  Pentagon Challenge: Ask Iraqis How Many Have Died Submitted by Robert_Naiman on Tue, 2008-10-14 00:58. Iraq The U.S. military is planning a large polling operation in Iraq over the next three years to help "build robust and positive relations with the people of Iraq and to assist the Iraqi people in forming a new government," Walter Pincus reports in the Washington Post. This provides an excellent opportunity to revisit an important question: How many Iraqis have died since the U.S. invasion? The $15 million-a-year initiative will supplement the military's $100 million-a-year strategic communications operation, which aims to produce content for Iraqi media that will "engage and inspire" the population, Pincus notes. The size and scope of the program "will provide an extraordinary amount of data," said a former government official. Another former official noted that $15 million is far more than the State Department allocates annually for its polling activities worldwide. »
• 

  Meanwhile Back in Iraq

  http://blueherald.com/2008/10/meanwhile-back-in-iraq-45/
  53 days ago in Blue Herald · Authority: 83

  ANTHRAX OUTBREAK IN IRAQ US MILITARY PLANS POLLING AND FOCUS GROUPS IN IRAQ (run by contractors, of course) HOUSES BLOWN UP AS CHRISTIANS FLEE MOSUL NEWS MEDIA PULLS BACK COVERAGE OF IRAQ MORE MISSOURI SOLDIERS DEPLOY TO IRAQ NINE KILLED IN BAGHDAD MARKET BOMBING USE OF STICKY IED RISING IN IRAQ U.S. HAS OUTSTAYED IT’S WELCOME IN IRAQ TURKEY BOMBS PKK TARGETS IN NORTHERN IRAQ FAILING ECONOMY GOOD FOR MILITARY RECRUITERS Tags: ANTHRAX OUTBREAK, IRAQ, STICKY IED

Advertise on Technorati

Advertise on Technorati