"In wartime, truth must be protected by a bodyguard of lies." - Winston Churchill.
WASHINGTON, 3 November - The Bush administration is hitting back hard against mounting national and international criticism of its bombing campaign against the Taleban and Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan. It's choice of weapon? A massive media blitz at home and abroad as it attempts to maintain ongoing support for its military campaign in Afghanistan and convince Americans that all is well at home.
The new public relations effort will be headquartered in the Old Executive Office, next door to the White House, and will be directed by presidential counselor Karen Hughes. She will be responsible for disseminating and distributing the administration's message.
The White House is also bringing in people to deal with the Middle East. Rumor has it that the job has been offered to David Aikman, veteran Time magazine reporter who worked as bureau chief in Jerusalem - to spin the administration's message to Muslim and Arab nations. Why they have chosen a Jew to deal with the Arab and Muslim world is a question many are asking. Aikman currently works at the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington.
The new public relations effort also includes opening offices in London and Pakistan. This will allow them to distribute a quick counter-offensive to statements made by the Taleban or Osama Bin Laden.
The administration currently has not been able to respond to such claims until nearly 12 hours after they are made.
"So, for example, if the Taleban alleged that they have shot down an American airplane, the person on the ground in Pakistan will be able to get information out quickly, and that way they can distribute it to the Pakistani press - so that people in Pakistan don't have to wait for the news to be made in the United States, which can often be many, many hours later," White House spokesman Ari Fleischer told reporters Thursday.
Fleischer quickly added that the new public relations effort was not the result of dissatisfaction over the way the verbal part of the war against terrorism was being handled.
The decision will be useful at home, too. The US media has criticized the administration for providing different versions of events. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge and Attorney General John Ashcroft provide briefings to journalists nearly every day. Fleischer and State Department spokesman Richard Boucher also brief reporters daily. The result has often been disparate reports as events unfold - a frustrating challenge for the administration.
The international public relations move is indeed timely. European publications have noted lately that the worldwide coalition is beginning to splinter.
When questioned about this Thursday, Fleischer dismissed the reports as inconsequential.
"The president does not think that anybody should take a military action because the polls say people are for or against it," he said. "The United States will take a military action to defend our country, because our country has been attacked. And the president is resolute and determined to continue in that campaign."