Tactics of Deception Target Americans

Re “PR Meets Psy-Ops in War on Terror,” Dec. 1: A better-late-than-never welcome, Times, to the controversy of our military being used as a disinformation weapon regarding the Iraq invasion.

More damning is that military “psy-ops” were deployed against us, the American public, to generate and maintain domestic support for the war.

George W. Bush and the Pentagon’s civilian leadership gleefully squandered generations of America’s moral capital to buy quick political advantage and just as gleefully they swap our military’s honor for cheap PR. But the target is not the foreign press; it is us.

Mike Kindle

North Hollywood

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Is the U.S. news media totally insane? Of course, the military provided disinformation to the enemy, and to the U.S. press -- which is followed closely by the enemy. This practice saves American lives and helps to defeat the enemy. This is war, folks. During World War II, there was an entire campaign, led by Gen. George Patton, to deceive the Germans (and, incidentally, the Allied press) about the time and location of the Allied invasion. Because of this, the invasion was successful. In Iraq, the disinformation saved U.S. lives and helped us succeed. End of story.

Paul Blase

Alexandria, Va.