 |
|
The Pentagon in its infinite wisdom, decided to put 'beltway bandit' SAIC in charge of creating an independent Iraqi media. The problem is, SAIC, which does everything from create the technologies for US intelligence agencies to track down Al Qaeda terrorists, to employ biodefense experts like anthrax investigation 'person of interest' Steve Hatfill, who worked for SAIC until March 2002, to conduct studies of how anthrax through the mail might work, doesn't have any experience creating content for media. Independent media development is just not what a big defense contractor does. (For a great piece on SAIC's government work, see this report by Scott Shane of the Baltimore Sun).
The DoD's choice of SAIC to set up Iraq's independent media reflects a total lack of DoD consultation with any number of experts at USAID or the State Department or G-d forbid some NGOs or think tanks which would have known of a dozen other organizations that could have been brought in -- not to reinvent the wheel, mind you -- but to competently do media development.
And there are lots of incredibly respected organizations that do exactly what the Pentagon implausibly turned to SAIC to do: create and foster independent media in formerly oppressed and developing societies, like the Balkans, the former Soviet Union, and the MidEast. Organizations like Internews, and the Institute of War and Peace Reporting (for whom I've written). If you're looking for Iraqi written, internationally coached and edited reports from Iraq, I recommend IWPR's Iraqi Crisis Reports, available here.