Pentagon shuts down controversial information office

The Defense Department is shutting down its controversial Office of Strategic Influence after a public outcry over what many feared would become a Pentagon propaganda machine. Last November, the Pentagon quietly created the office as a central point for coordinating the overseas release of information about military operations. But, in recent weeks, members of the news media and privacy advocates raised concerns that the office would spew false information that might ultimately mislead the American public about military operations. Rumsfeld said those fears were "off the mark" and said the Defense Department would never undertake or condone a disinformation campaign. Still, Rumsfeld conceded at a press briefing on Tuesday that "the office has clearly been so damaged that it's pretty clear to me that it could not function effectively. So, it's being closed down." Rumsfeld said the information warfare operations that the office was intended to perform would now fall to other Defense organizations. For example, he said, Defense must still find ways to tell the world that it is not fighting a war against the Afghan people, but against terrorism. "So, there's lots of things that we have to do, and we will do those things. We'll just do them in a different office," Rumsfeld said.