Nicholas Jones, 20 August, 2008 

In evidence to a House of Lords’ inquiry into the government’s spin machine, Nicholas Jones says televised lobby briefings would introduce a new sense of discipline and accountability. If Downing Street had a publicly-identified spokesperson who appeared on camera, it would set a new standard for attribution within the rest of the government.

The House of Lords Communications Committee is conducting an inquiry into whether the government communications system is “open, impartial, efficient and relevant to the public”. In written evidence to the committee Jones said:

There could hardly be a more opportune moment to consider an overhaul of the government communications system and to chart a new sense of direction for civil servants working in the information service. The forthcoming general election and the installation of a new administration will provide an ideal opportunity for a fresh start. What is needed is a change of culture and a new presumption that the flow of information from the state to the media should be de-politicised and that all news providers outlets should have equal access.

Sam Gardiner 18 August 2008

We got major insight from the New York Times last week.  Sources are saying the U.S. Secretary of State gave the Georgian President “advice” not to push the Russians into a fight.  She told him Georgia could not win.  An Assistant Secretary of State who was communicating with Saakashvili in the period immediately before the fighting “warned” the Georgians not to allow the situation to escalate.

This is very strange.  A corrupt leader in the Caucasus has dictated U.S. foreign policy.  Now that we are going to punish Russia, Saakashvilli will have affected U.S. policy toward the Russians for many years to come.

Sam Gardiner 16 August 2008

It's been less than two days.  I still find it hard to believe events have moved so rapidly.

Nicholas Jones,  1 July 2008 

Hand to hand combat between the government and political correspondents would continue if the Conservatives were elected because an administration led by David Cameron would be just as determined to try to control the news agenda.

This was the conclusion of journalists and press officers at a seminar held by the Westminster Media Forum (1.7.2008). The two sides felt that the politicisation of civil service information officers, and the likelihood that any future government would find itself on the defensive, meant that further trench warfare was inevitable.

Sam Gardiner, 1 July, 2008

Generate a casus belli.  Fabricate a situation that causes war.  Make it look as if it were the Iranians.  It’s the ultimate spin. 

In an article released on Sunday by Seymour Hersh in the New Yorker Magazine, we learned the White House has met, considered and is probably working to fabricate a situation that could be used by the United States as a pretext for attacking Iran.  

Hersh tells us of a brainstorming session in the Vice President’s office.  The topic of the session was casus belli.  How can we get the Iranians to do something that will make it appear as if they started it, as if they were the bad guys?  

Based upon the article and what we have seen from other sources, it seems to me it’s possible to unravel the strategy probably discussed at that meeting.  What’s the US do?  How could a war with Iran be fabricated?

On the surface, the expanded US covert operations against Iran seem like pin pricks.  The US is training and supporting at least four Iranian minority groups to conduct attacks against targets inside Iran.  Soldiers of the Revolutionary Guard have been killed.  Soldiers and police have been kidnapped.  A cultural center was bombed.  An air base in Tehran was struck.  All are relatively minor incidents.  

I see a pattern, however, that goes back over 20 years.  It’s a pattern the United States seems to favor for starting wars.

Sam Gardiner, 24 June 2008

The past few days have been overwhelming.  I had a notion that during the marketing of the US strike on Iran I would write something when I came across the kinds of exaggerations and creations that were used to prepare us for the invasion of Iraq.  I have gotten way behind. 

• The Israeli Exercise.  We got a big one on Friday.  The New York Times’ Michael Gordon gave us another one of his special stories.  This time it was a leak from unspecified sources, “several American officials.”   He described an Israeli air force exercise that had been conducted in early June, according to him, to show Iran that Israel has the capability to attack without the United States.  The description of Israeli capabilities was an exaggeration, and the story was probably a coordinated release between the US and Israeli governments.  I did have a chance to write about this one: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-naiman/is-israel-really-preparin_b_108314.htm
  

Eveline Lubbers, 20 June 2008

Last week, 12 June 2008, the Swiss investigative reporters program Temps Present revealed that Nestle had infiltrated Attac Switzerland, for more than a year. The food multinational paid Securitas, one of Switzerland's largest security firms, to plant a woman in the protest group from the summer of 2003 until 2004.

Using a false name the infiltrator participated in meetings and preparation sessions around the time of the July 2003 G8 summit in Evian. After the summer members of the group started editing a book about the “Nestlé Empire.” As a co-author she had complete access to the group's documentation and to all Attac’s email contacts around the world, including information on union members in Colombia fighting for workers-rights in Nestle plants. Such information is potentially dangerous in the wrong hands; in the past people have been killed just for being active organizers.

The Securitas agent never gave an address or phone number and refused to appear in any Attac photos, but the group considered this her personal right. After the work on the Nestle book had finished, she disappeared and could not be reached. However, through an anonymous call to the Suisse anti-corruption hot line of Transparency International, her story reached the desks of the television reporters of Temps Present.

Sam Gardiner 16 June 2008

We know from Scott McClellan, the former White House Spokesman, in his recent book, What Happened, that President Bush insists on discipline in messaging.  Although the publics on both sides of the Atlantic have gotten to the point of heavily discounting what he says, the President’s desire for control can give us a sense of the thrust of policy.  This is certainly true with respect to Iran.

Iran Themes.  The White House has changed direction on the main sin of Iran in the past few weeks.  For almost three months, Iran’s most evilness was represented in its involvement in “killing US soldiers” in Iraq.  The entire top leadership of the Administration was on this message.

At one point, Admiral Mullen the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, announced that there would be a major presentation and showing-of-evidence by General Patraeus in Baghdad.  We were to see this evidence “next week.”  That was six weeks ago.

Sam Gardiner, 4 June 2008 

At 9:10AM EST this morning, UPI reported the following:

Report: U.S. to order limited raid on Iran

(Published: June 3, 2008 at 9:10 AM)

WASHINGTON, June 3 (UPI) -- The United States is moving closer to ordering a limited attack on Iranian Revolutionary Guard installations, a military intelligence group reports.

The operation would target training camps and munitions factories that assist Iraqi insurgents, Hezbollah and terrorist groups in Gaza, DEBKAfile.com, a military intelligence Web site, reported Tuesday, quoting sources in Washington.

The rest of the piece continued the story.  There was no mention of the credibility of similar heavy breathing.  Shame on the UPI for being so sloppy.  The article should have mentioned:

Sam Gardiner 23 May 2008

IISS report

• Does Iraq have weapons of mass destruction: “Yes.”

Chemical and biological weapons:

• “On chemical weapons, our net assessment is that Iraq has probably retained a few hundred tons of mustard gas and precursors…"