Congressional scrutiny puts propaganda plan on hold
Congressional scrutiny puts propaganda plan on hold
Military Intelligence
Ray Locker, USA TODAY 5:13 p.m. EDT April 30, 2014
Increased scrutiny by Congress has led the Pentagon's Special Operations Command to shelve a plan to pick potential targets for propaganda, according to a command spokesman.
SOCOM announced this week it was halting its plans to seek bidders for its planned Global Research Assessment Program, which involved hiring contractors not conducting military propaganda programs to have them select and monitor the effectiveness of those programs around the world.
"We are currently working to answer congressional questions concerning the program and have voluntarily delayed the release of the (plan) until the committees involved are satisfied with the response," said Navy Lt. Cmdr. Matthew Allen, a SOCOM spokesman.
Allen would not specify the committees involved.
In January, SOCOM released a proposal asking for companies to pitch the command on how they would help determine if the propaganda programs, which the Pentagon calls information operations or military information support operations, are effective in convincing target audiences of U.S. policy aims.
More:
http://www.usatoday.com/story/nation/2014/04/30/socom-propaganda-plan-on-hold/8527805/
