The Propaganda War
The Pentagon's brand-new plan for winning the battle of ideas against terrorists
Another conflict arises in the effort to integrate or coordinate all the information activities under strategic communications directors in the field. This makes public-affairs officials uneasy. Their preferred solution is to do all the integrating at senior levels in the Pentagon, where tricky policy decisions can be made.
One of the officials working on the new doctrine, which will define who calls the shots and what are acceptable practices, explains why it will take several more months to finish that key part of the project. "Every time you lift a rock," this official says, "there is another strange critter under there."
All the jockeying and headache is worth it, DiRita concludes, because integrating communications is key to an effective military. "The old-fashioned idea that you develop the policy and then pitch it over the transom to the communicator is over. You're continually thinking about communications through the course of the policy development process," all the way down to the battlefield.
And, he says, "The policy gets better when it's subjected to the rigors of knowing how you're going to communicate that policy." Translation: Refusing to clear up the confusion is just not an option.
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