Military Whores "Analyze" War News for Us

On Sunday, April 20, David Barstow of The New York Times unleashed his lengthy investigative piece showing that most of the “military analysts” on national TV and radio–retired generals and admirals, with a sprinkling of colonels and captains-- are whores for the Pentagon and the Bush administration.

Instead of giving viewers and listeners and their sometime employers on the networks unvarnished opinions about what is going on in Iraq and Afghanistan, they dish out propaganda prepped for them or prodded for them by Pentagon and White House flacks and political ops.
Many of these gents–no women among them yet–earn $1,000 a pop for appearing on “Meet the Press” and like thumbsucking and news programs.

Beyond that, many turn out to be top officials, often recently hired, of such companies as Blackwater which supply goods and services –often shoddy--to the military at high prices. Some even earn a few hundred thousand now and then as consultants to other companies also pushing and shoving to peddle their skills and manufactures to the Pentagon at inflated prices.

Few of these “analysts” wish to offend former colleagues in the high-ranking officers’ corps or to offend the Secretary of Defense and his lackeys, for fear they will find themselves cut off from the sweet, inside talk that gilds their expertise or, worse, find their companies cut off from sucking on one of Uncle Sam’s sweet money tits.

None of this should surprise, especially not surprise anyone with experience with the military. Used to giving orders, these hookers are also used to taking them. To get to where they had been with eagles and stars on their shoulders, they also had to be political. It is, after all, the current president who makes one a general or admiral in the first place (with the OK of Congress of course, something rarely withheld). And it is a secretary of defense who convinces a president to make your nomination in the first place. You don’t get to be a general or admiral by making waves against the establishment.

The saddest thing Barstow reports is the lack of interest and investigation on the part of the national news machines about whether their hired experts in fact are delivering the straight skinny instead of warmed-over pap from the military propaganda kitchens. Indeed, one fierce news outfit, CNN, refused to even talk to Barstow about their military toy boys. That tells me more about CNN that I wished to know. So much for that channel’s pretense to cover news. It does better trying to cover up its own stained pants.

President Dwight Eisenhower, in his valedictory speech to the nation, warned about the growing power of the military-industrial complex.

Now we should worry about the parasitical power of the military-TVNews complex, complete with house doxies pretending to be men of virtue.