Something is happening at the Pentagon and we don’t know what it is, Mr. Jones. Writing on TomDispatch.com, Nick Turse asks “Rummy Dropped from the Loop?

“I first noticed the pattern last year with the Abu Ghraib torture scandal exploding. By now it’s beyond a trend. Closer to an established fact. Plain for all to see — and it suggests a significant breakdown of some unknown sort at the Department of Defense.”

http://www.tomdispatch.com/index.mhtml?pid=2210

If Rumsfeld is on the way out maybe he is just going to be allowed to run the Pentagon’s new TV channel. Arianna Huntington calls it:

“RUMMY TV”

The Bush administration has shown a willingness to do just about anything to manipulate public opinion. It paid pundits to say nice things about it. It spent lavishly to create bogus–and, according to the comptroller general, illegal–video news reports on the president’s Medicare, education and drug policies. And it has given us Gannon/Guckert-gate.

Now the Bushies are taking things to the next level. Not content to buy their press coverage retail, they are producing and distributing their own news network. And, no, I’m not talking about Fox. It’s the Pentagon Channel, a 24/7 niche network brought to you by the Department of Defense.

Started last year as an internal public relations unit within the Pentagon designed to keep U.S. soldiers and their families informed about all things military, the network is now expanding its reach to the general public. A number of cable systems, including Time Warner, already carry the Pentagon Channel–and the Dish Network will soon begin beaming the station to its more than 11 million viewers right alongside the half-dozen porn channels the satellite giant offers.

DoD television execs (there’s a new phrase) say Pentagon Channel viewers can expect programming that is “a mix between CNN and C-SPAN” — combining military news and lifestyle shows with live coverage of military briefings, speeches by the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Congressional appearances by The Man himself, Secretary of Defense Don Rumsfeld.

So fire up those TiVos, disinformation fans; Rummy TV is coming soon to a flat screen near you. “If you hate the truth, you’ll love DoD TV!”

http://www.ariannaonline.com/columns/column.php?id=760

REALITY SHOWS

Here’s a story you won’t see on Rummy TV: The US soldier seen executing a man in a mosque was let off with no charges.

Army Pictures of Mock Afghan Executions Were Destroyed After Iraq Prison Scandal

“New York Feb 18, 2005 — Pictures of U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan posing with hooded and bound detainees during mock executions were destroyed after the Abu Ghraib prison scandal in Iraq to avoid another public outrage, Army documents released Friday by the American Civil Liberties Union show.BBC reports: Two British soldiers have been found guilty at a court martial of charges relating to abusing Iraqi prisoners. ”

http://www.kwwl.com/Global/story.asp?S=2966869

It’s not easy getting documents of these incidents into public view. WSWS reports:

The documents were made public after a federal court ordered the Defense Department and other government agencies to comply with a year-old request filed by the ACLU and other civil liberties organizations under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).

“ACLU staff attorney Jameel Jaffer stated: “The Defense Department continues to stonewall and to withhold thousands of documents inappropriately. Astoundingly, it seems to be the Defense Department’s view that the public simply does not have a right to know what the department’s policies were or who put them in place.” Those documents the government has handed over provide graphic evidence of abuse committed in violation of international law.

http://www.uruknet.info/?p=m9913&l=i&size=1&hd=0

Inside Iraq, the political games are playing. John Burns reports in the NY Times today:

Allawi Forms Secular Coalition in Move to Stay in Office

“By establishing the secular coalition, Interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi signaled his readiness to mount a potentially polarizing battle with religious parties.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/24/international/middleeast/24iraq.html

In the same paper, Maureen Dowd takes on a new campaign by the group that gave us the Swift Boat veterans who are mounting a campaign to discredit the AARP’s campaign to save social security.

Swifties Slime Again

“Once again, just as President Bush runs into political trouble, he floats above the fray while the help takes out his opponents.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/24/opinion/24dowd.html