As we now know, thanks to the New York Times, the military-industrial complex is well represented in the daily television news coverage of the Iraq and Afghan occupations. Those former generals who seemed generously to have come out of retirement to provide disinterested analysis of the Bush administration’s military adventures are neither generous nor disinterested.

Instead, they are self-conscious, self-seeking conduits for the Pentagon’s talking points, and well connected to military contractors trying to make money off war. We viewers were not told this by the news organizations that proclaim their objectivity and independence. In fact, the organizations themselves apparently did not know about the connections -- or preferred not to know. “Don’t ask, don’t tell,” has more than one military application.

The Times says that “several dozen ... [television] military analysts represent more than 150 military contractors either as lobbyists, senior executives, board members or consultants. The companies include defense heavyweights, but also scores of smaller companies, all part of a vast assemblage of contractors scrambling for hundreds of billions in military business generated by the administration’s war on terror. It is a furious competition, one in which inside information and easy access to senior officials are highly prized."

Where did they get their inside information? From briefings with some of the most senior officials of the Bush administration. And why did those officials provide the briefings? Because they wanted the retired generals to pass along the official administration spin to the television audience.

And what would guarantee that the talking points would be faithfully delivered? The threat of loss of access to the officials. That’s a pretty darn good guarantee. A retired general representing or wishing to represent a military contractor has no better credential than access to insider briefings about current operations. To lose that access is to lose one’s livelihood.

The analyst scandal shouldn’t surprise anyone. The American people were deceived into supporting the Iraq invasion, from claims about WMD to hints that Saddam Hussein had something to do with 9/11. So why wouldn’t the administration continue the deception by disguising its propagandists as objective analysts?

Sheldon Richman,

The Future of Freedom Foundation

Fairfax, Va.