Really Bad Gitmo Propaganda

/in , /by

The increasingly valuable WikiLeaks reveals that a Mass Communications Specialist at Gitmo has been altering Wikipedia and other web resources to hide detainee numbers and otherwise counter reports of poor conditions at the prison.

The US detention facility at Guantanamo Bay has been caught conducting covert propaganda attacks on the internet. The attacks, exposed this week in a report by the government transparency group Wikileaks, include deleting detainee ID numbers from Wikipedia last month, the systematic posting of unattributed "self praise" comments on news organization web sites in response to negative press, boosting pro-Guantanamo stories on the internet news site Digg and even modifying Fidel Castro’s encyclopedia article to describe the Cuban president as "an admitted transexual" [sic].

Shayana Kadidal, Managing Attorney of the Center for Constitutional Rights Guantanamo Global Justice Initiative, said in response to the report:

"The military’s efforts to alter the record by vandalizing Wikipedia are of a piece with the amateurism of their other public relations efforts: [such as] their ridiculous claims that released detainees who criticize the United States in the media have ‘returned to the battlefield’."

We finally got rid of Karen Hughes as Chief Propaganda Specialist. But we’ve apparently got some schmo in Cuba trying to pitch Castro as a transsexual. 

Stuff like this always reminds me of my discovery, as a college professor, that most Americans have the crudest understanding of how language works. I can’t decide how to judge the trade-off. It means our government rarely gets away with propaganda. But it also reflects a widespread inability to think critically.

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    • emptywheel says:

      brendan

      Watching it closely, trying to figure it out. I don’t doubt Chavez was investing money. But I wonder why that is suddenly illegal when it has been standard practice for the CIA for a half century, in high profile elections as the most recent Mexican election.

      So my take is–it’s an attempt to use the US justice system to make Chavez’ support as poisonous to a candidate as Trial Lawyer support.

      • brendanx says:

        “In a criminal complaint, U.S. prosecutors accused four men arrested Wednesday in Miami — three Venezuelans and a Uruguayan — of involvement in a conspiracy to cover up an illegal campaign contribution on behalf of the Venezuelan government.”

        That’s illegal in the U.S.? I understand the political intent in prosecuting it but that’s surprising to this non-lawyer.

  2. Neil says:

    Was it was an assignment or just some guys with too much time on their hands? (Both)

    You can’t visit Wikipedia to furnish and re-arrange the furnishings without leaving footprints. Wikileaks is a good briefing on how to track the source of IP address.

  3. Rayne says:

    And now you have yet more data, EW, that confirms the current administration has the crudest understanding of how open source and the internet work.

    Jeebus, don’t they realize we can see all their sloppy bootprints in open community wikis?

    I don’t know which is worse, knowing this is all the smarter our government is today, or that they may use this kind of obvious behavior to hide more nefarious content elsewhere. Ugh.

  4. brendanx says:

    This Guantanamo thing is a reminder that to the people “fighting the war on terror”, and just the people who actually conceived it, it always comes back to fighting political enemies here at home.

  6. Neil says:

    from the same wikileaks article…

    The Digg account “usnavymc1″ has posted over 40 Guantanamo Bay “official” propaganda stories posted to Digg. A full record of these and nearly 100 other stories “voted up”, can be seen using the link below. The user is almost certainly Guantanamo “mass communications specialist” Richard M. Wolff although he may share the account with other Guantanamo staff. Wolff fits the holders description, and uses the username “usnavymc1″ — not used by anyone else on the internet (see the section of this document on Wolff) — as part of one of his official email addresses.
    http://digg.com/users/usnavymc1/history

  7. Neil says:

    Here’s an wiki entry about Dinkelsbuhl, Germany the army “Mass Communication Specialist/Webmaster” just HAD to change last month on November 24, 2007 from:

    There are also buildings in the far late [[Roman architecture|Roman]] architectural style.

    to

    There are also buildings in the far late [[Roman architecture|Roman]] architectural style.

    Dinkelsbuehl is also known for there great of Homosexual activities which oocur during the daytime on open streets.

    Note the use of the word “there” which you think he might have caught in the next edit…

    Dinkelsbuehl is also known for there great amount of Homosexual activities which oocur during the daytime on open streets.

    Nope! Ok enough about there, their and they’re.

    In the unit my friend Sharon S. commanded, Army JAG Corps IT worldwide, this guy would have been shipped off to Juno, Alaska for two years to cool his heals and think about his dishonorable behavior.

  9. emptywheel says:

    Sign of a really poor choice to put in charge of your propaganda: 1) only marginally literate in the target propaganda literate, 2) severe problems with sexuality that mark all his writings as disturbed.

    Your government tax dollars at work.

    • Rayne says:

      Pickings for recruiters must have been very slim for some time now, eh?

      LooHoo (8) — exactly. BTW, nice work in Portrero; people in my state are watching closely as they need good examples of how to kick ass and take names.

  10. Rayne says:

    EW — I know you’ve likely seen a lengthy email/post about Reid’s actions on FISA bill; am I alone in thinking Harry was blackmailed with the farm bill to pass the SIC version?

  11. bobschacht says:

    “Stuff like this always reminds me of my discovery, as a college professor, that most Americans have the crudest understanding of how language works. I can’t decide how to judge the trade-off. It means our government rarely gets away with propaganda. But it also reflects a widespread inability to think critically.”

    You were a college professor, too?! Amazing (NOT).

    Anyway, do they teach critical thinking in high school any more? After all, what with “No Child Left Behind,” teaching to the test, and the super-emphasis on Math and rudimentary English skills, is there any time left?

    There doesn’t seem to be much time for teaching critical thinking skills at the Freshman and Sophomore levels in college anymore, either. It strikes me that this is another Fascist tactic to turn us all into sheep, so that we can be more easily manipulated.

    Critical thinking skills should be taught in Middle School AND High School. Along with Civics. But aren’t budgets for those things getting cut?

    Bob in HI