Says U.S. government still functions as 'five and dime' store
Friday, February 17, 2006; Posted: 4:05 p.m. EST (21:05 GMT)
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said Friday al Qaeda is winning media war over the United States.
NEW YORK (Reuters) -- The United States lags dangerously behind al Qaeda and other enemies in getting out information in the digital media age and must update its old-fashioned methods, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said Friday.
Modernization is crucial to winning the hearts and minds of Muslims worldwide who are bombarded with negative images of the West, Rumsfeld told the Council on Foreign Relations.
The Pentagon chief said today's weapons of war included e-mail, Blackberries, instant messaging, digital cameras and Web logs, or blogs.
"Our enemies have skillfully adapted to fighting wars in today's media age, but ... our country has not adapted," Rumsfeld said.
"For the most part, the U.S. government still functions as a 'five and dime' store in an eBay world," Rumsfeld said, referring to old-fashioned U.S. retail stores and the online auction house respectively.
U.S. military public affairs officers must learn to anticipate news and respond faster, and good public affairs officers should be rewarded with promotions, he said.
The Pentagon's propaganda machine still operates mostly eight hours a day, five or six days a week while the challenges it faces occur 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Rumsfeld called that a "dangerous deficiency."
He lamented that vast media attention about U.S. abuses at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq outweighed that given to the discovery of "Saddam Hussein's mass graves."
On satellite television and other media not under Arab state control, he said, "While al Qaeda and extremist movements have utilized this forum for many years ... we in the government have barely even begun to compete in reaching their audiences."
Rumsfeld also cited the methodical U.S. response to a Newsweek magazine report that interrogators at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, had placed the Koran, Islam's holy book, on toilets and flushed one down.
After riots around the world killed 16 people, Newsweek retracted the story.
"It was posted on Web sites, sent in e-mails, repeated on satellite television, radio stations for days, before the facts could be discovered," Rumsfeld said.
I think this is pretty obvious after Cheney's PR nightmare this past week. They can't even deal well with the little things at home. Do we expect them to be able to deal any better with the whole world.
I think this is pretty obvious after Cheney's PR nightmare this past week. They can't even deal well with the little things at home. Do we expect them to be able to deal any better with the whole world.
What are you talking about? Cheney's PR nightmare? It's much ado about nothing. The press is still yapping six days after the fact because that's how ticked they are that no one fed them the story. It's no one's business except for Cheney,Whittington, and Anderson. Just becausea reporterwants to know something doesn't mean they need to know (or furthermore, a right to know).
Cheney could fart and that's all the reason the Left needs to complain about the man. Every crappy excuse for a story starts out as a scandal. After a week of the same garbage and the same loud-mouthed pundits, Americans see the crap for what it is.When you consider how evil people makeBush and Cheney out to be, it's amazing that they stillaren't in prison. Until you realize that some people outside of power are simply hatemongers.
On the other hand, the Department of Defense is admitting that al Qaeda is increasingly using the Internet and other digital media to spread its mission statement, philosophy, and talking points. They know the Muslim peoples far better than we do. That's our weakness.
How you put the two together is anyone's guess. Well, then again your contempt for the administration ispretty obvious with all of your smearing and belittling over the past week and beyond.
What are you talking about? Cheney's PR nightmare? It's much ado about nothing. The press is still yapping six days after the fact because that's how ticked they are that no one fed them the story.
That's why it was a PR nightmare. Had it been handled well it wouldn't have been in the news for 6 days and counting. Nothing to do with the shooting, just the way the news about it was handled. It was handled badly. If it had been handled well, it would have been a non-news item a day after it occurred. Oh wait! It hadn't yet been reported a day after it occurred. Well almost a day anyway.
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Americans see the crap for what it is
Recent poll indicated, despite Scott McClellans protest to the contrary, a majority of Americans still wanted to hear more about this story - 72 too 28%.
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with all of your smearing and belittling over the past week and beyond.
Belittling yes, smearing no. Smearing implies inaccuracy and that would not be correct.
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They know the Muslim peoples far better than we do. That's our weakness.
What??
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How you put the two together is anyone's guess.
Quite simple. If you can't handle properly a small, local PR situation like Daffy Dick shooting someone, why should we expect them to be able to handle PR on an international scale. It's nice to see Rummy making the admission.
That's why it was a PR nightmare. Had it been handled well it wouldn't have been in the news for 6 days and counting. Nothing to do with the shooting, just the way the news about it was handled. It was handled badly. If it had been handled well, it would have been a non-news item a day after it occurred. Oh wait! It hadn't yet been reported a day after it occurred. Well almost a day anyway.
That's a load of crap if I ever heard. Nothing Bush or Cheney could ever say would shut up their detractors, including those in the media crowd.
This latest episode is just another reminder that some feel the White House owes them a story.
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Recent poll indicated, despite Scott McClellans protest to the contrary, a majority of Americans still wanted to hear more about this story - 72 too 28%.
Yeah, they wanted to know more--days ago. The story is out now.
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Belittling yes, smearing no. Smearing implies inaccuracy and that would not be correct.
Enough said.
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What??
Al Qaeda is better at marketing themselves to Muslims in many countries. The American media doesn't have the influence in the Middle East thatmany radical imams do.
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Quite simple. If you can't handle properly a small, local PR situation like Daffy Dick shooting someone, why should we expect them to be able to handle PR on an international scale. It's nice to see Rummy making the admission.
Apples to oranges. If you think the Cheney shooting incident is the most important story of the week, I really don't have do anything further to illustrate how far into the sand your head is.
Doing a quick search ran on your profile, it appears you really only have one thing to talk about. You seem to be stuck in one gear and its about the VP. Bud, I am not sure what to tell you. It happened. There wasn't anyway to handle the story to be comign out like a rose. None of my bus, but there are other things to be informed about.
I understand you don't like the administration and all but what are you looking for on this VP shooting?
What he is looking for is everything that is not really there. He wants to say that Cheney was Drunk and having an affair with one of the women who was there and he wants to believe that there was a giant coverup involving all members of the republican party.. None of it was there but he is not taking that for an answer. There is noway this could have been handled to make him get off his anti BUSH administration pony.
What he is looking for is everything that is not really there. He wants to say that Cheney was Drunk and having an affair with one of the women who was there and he wants to believe that there was a giant coverup involving all members of the republican party.. None of it was there but he is not taking that for an answer. There is noway this could have been handled to make him get off his anti BUSH administration pony.
Kinda like WMD in Iraq wouldn't you say jimmy boy?They are just not there
now or never was in the 2000 and up.But that story is over now about the WMD and time to move onto Iran. One more thing jimmy crackin corn,you didn't read each thread and you posted under the wrong topic.Who are you obsessed with that you just comment without reading the threads?Yep,just like the bush adminastration allways jumping to conclusions with out reading or getting the facts first.
"Our enemies have skillfully adapted to fighting wars in today's media age, but ... our country has not adapted," Rumsfeld said.
Well if your going to rely on the good will& good intentions of OUR countrys media- in reporting all the news & both sides - You will lose every time.
(set up your own networks etc , let them call it propaganda- who cares - leastthey will see more then the mostlyone sided/slanted news controlled/manipulated by Americans media& what it& "others"out therenow produce)
Sometimes your enemys sit very close.
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Says U.S. government still functions as 'five and dime' store
I wish they ran it like a five and dime , maybe the taxpayer could show a profit for a change ...
There's no way for us to win a PR war with Al Qaeda , the target audience is a bunch of ignorant peasants too brainwashed by their religious leaders to even consider that we're not their enemy(yet) , why would they listen to us at all ? No matter how much we send aid or try to help feed or educate the muslim countries we will always be infidel scum to them fit only for destruction . Here's the mentality we're up against: If it's so much better then why did they leave it ?
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Rumsfeld: Al Qaeda has better PR
One more thing jimmy crackin corn,you didn't read each thread and you posted under the wrong topic.Who are you obsessed with that you just comment without reading the threads?Yep,just like the bush adminastration allways jumping to conclusions with out reading or getting the facts first.
