Propaganda Techniques

Propaganda is a form of communication that is aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position.

As opposed to impartially providing information, propaganda, in its most basic sense, presents information primarily to influence an audience. Propaganda often presents facts selectively (thus possibly lying by omission) to encourage a particular synthesis, or uses loaded messages to produce an emotional response rather than rational response to the information presented. The desired result is a change of the attitude toward the subject in the target audience to further a political agenda. Propaganda can be used as a form of political warfare.

Techniques

Common media for transmitting propaganda messages include news reports, government reports, books, leaflets, movies, radio, television, and posters. In the case of radio and television, propaganda can exist on news, current-affairs or talk-show segments, asadvertising or public-service announce "spots" or as long-running advertorials. Propaganda campaigns often follow a strategic transmission pattern to indoctrinate the target group. This may begin with a simple transmission such as a leaflet dropped from a plane or an advertisement. Generally these messages will contain directions on how to obtain more information, via a web site, hot line, radio program, etc. (as it is seen also for selling purposes among other goals). The strategy intends to initiate the individual from information recipient to information seeker through reinforcement, and then from information seeker to opinion leader through indoctrination.

A number of techniques based in social psychological research are used to generate propaganda. Many of these same techniques can be found under logical fallacies, since propagandists use arguments that, while sometimes convincing, are not necessarily valid.

Some time has been spent analyzing the means by which propaganda messages are transmitted. That work is important but it is clear that information dissemination strategies only become propaganda strategies when coupled with propagandistic messages. Identifying these messages is a necessary prerequisite to study the methods by which those messages are spread. Below are a number of techniques for generating propaganda:

• Ad hominem

A Latin phrase which has come to mean attacking your opponent, as opposed to attacking their arguments.

• Ad nauseam

This argument approach uses tireless repetition of an idea. An idea, especially a simple slogan, that is repeated enough times, may begin to be taken as the truth. This approach works best when media sources are limited and controlled by the propagator.

• Appeal to authority

Appeals to authority cite prominent figures to support a position, idea, argument, or course of action.

• Appeal to fear

Appeals to fear seek to build support by instilling anxieties and panic in the general population, for example, Joseph Goebbels exploited Theodore Kaufman's Germany Must Perish! to claim that the Allies sought the extermination of the German people.

• Appeal to prejudice

Using loaded or emotive terms to attach value or moral goodness to believing the proposition. For example, the phrase: "Any hard-working taxpayer would have to agree that those who do not work, and who do not support the community do not deserve the community's support through social assistance."

• Bandwagon

Bandwagon and "inevitable-victory" appeals attempt to persuade the target audience to join in and take the course of action that "everyone else is taking."

• Inevitable victory: invites those not already on the bandwagon to join those already on the road to certain victory. Those already or at least partially on the bandwagon are reassured that staying aboard is their best course of action.
• Join the crowd: This technique reinforces people's natural desire to be on the winning side. This technique is used to convince the audience that a program is an expression of an irresistible mass movement and that it is in their best interest to join.

• Black-and-White fallacy

Presenting only two choices, with the product or idea being propagated as the better choice. (e.g., "You are either with us, or you are with the enemy")

• Beautiful people

The type of propaganda that deals with famous people or depicts attractive, happy people. This makes other people think that if they buy a product or follow a certain ideology, they too will be happy or successful. (This is more used in advertising for products, instead of political reasons)

• Big Lie

The repeated articulation of a complex of events that justify subsequent action. The descriptions of these events have elements of truth, and the "big lie" generalizations merge and eventually supplant the public's accurate perception of the underlying events. After World War I the German Stab in the back explanation of the cause of their defeat became a justification for Nazi re-militarization and revanchist aggression.

• Common man

The "'plain folks'" or "common man" approach attempts to convince the audience that the propagandist's positions reflect the common sense of the people. It is designed to win the confidence of the audience by communicating in the common manner and style of the target audience. Propagandists use ordinary language and mannerisms (and clothe their message in face-to-face and audiovisual communications) in attempting to identify their point of view with that of the average person. For example, a propaganda leaflet may make an argument on a macroeconomic issue, such as unemployment insurance benefits, using everyday terms: "given that the country has little money during this recession, we should stop paying unemployment benefits to those who do not work, because that is like maxing out all your credit cards during a tight period, when you should be tightening your belt."

• Demonizing the enemy

Making individuals from the opposing nation, from a different ethnic group, or those who support the opposing viewpoint appear to be subhuman (e.g., the Vietnam War-era term "gooks" for National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam aka Vietcong, (or 'VC') soldiers), worthless, or immoral, through suggestion or false accusations.

• Appeal to Authority
  This technique hopes to simplify the decision making process by using images and words to tell the audience exactly what actions to take, eliminating any other possible choices. Authority figures can be used to give the order, overlapping it with the Appeal to authority technique, but not necessarily. The Uncle Sam "I want you" image is an example of this technique.Direct order

• Euphoria

The use of an event that generates euphoria or happiness, or using an appealing event to boost morale. Euphoria can be created by declaring a holiday, making luxury items available, or mounting a military parade with marching bands and patriotic messages.

• Disinformation

The creation or deletion of information from public records, in the purpose of making a false record of an event or the actions of a person or organization, including outrightforgery of photographs, motion pictures, broadcasts, and sound recordings as well as printed documents.

• Flag-waving

An attempt to justify an action on the grounds that doing so will make one more patriotic, or in some way benefit a group, country, or idea. The feeling of patriotism which this technique attempts to inspire may not necessarily diminish or entirely omit one's capability for rational examination of the matter in question.

• littering generalities

Glittering generalities are emotionally appealing words applied to a product or idea, but which present no concrete argument or analysis. A famous example is the campaign slogan "Ford has a better idea!"

• Half-truth

A half-truth is a deceptive statement which may come in several forms and includes some element of truth. The statement might be partly true, the statement may be totally true but only part of the whole truth, or it may utilize some deceptive element, such as improper punctuation, or double meaning, especially if the intent is to deceive, evade blame or misrepresent the truth.

• Intentional vagueness

Generalities are deliberately vague so that the audience may supply its own interpretations. The intention is to move the audience by use of undefined phrases, without analyzing their validity or attempting to determine their reasonableness or application. The intent is to cause people to draw their own interpretations rather than simply being presented with an explicit idea. In trying to "figure out" the propaganda, the audience forgoes judgment of the ideas presented. Their validity, reasonableness and application may still be considered.

• Obtain disapproval or Reductio ad Hitlerum

This technique is used to persuade a target audience to disapprove of an action or idea by suggesting that the idea is popular with groups hated, feared, or held in contempt by the target audience. Thus if a group which supports a certain policy is led to believe that undesirable, subversive, or contemptible people support the same policy, then the members of the group may decide to change their original position. This is a form of bad logic, where a is said to equal X, and b is said to equal X, therefore, a = b.

• Oversimplification

Favorable generalities are used to provide simple answers to complex social, political, economic, or military problems.

• Quotes out of Context

Selective editing of quotes which can change meanings. Political documentaries designed to discredit an opponent or an opposing political viewpoint often make use of this technique.

• Name-calling

Propagandists use the name-calling technique to incite fears and arouse prejudices in their hearers in the intent that the bad names will cause hearers to construct a negative opinion about a group or set of beliefs or ideas that the propagandist would wish hearers to denounce. The method is intended to provoke conclusions about a matter apart from impartial examinations of facts. Name-calling is thus a substitute for rational, fact-based arguments against the an idea or belief on its own merits.^[1]

• Rationalization

Individuals or groups may use favorable generalities to rationalize questionable acts or beliefs. Vague and pleasant phrases are often used to justify such actions or beliefs.

• Red herring

Presenting data or issues that, while compelling, are irrelevant to the argument at hand, and then claiming that it validates the argument.^[2]

• Labeling

A Euphemism is used when the propagandist attempts to increase the perceived quality, credibility, or credence of a particular ideal. A Dysphemism is used when the intent of the propagandist is to discredit, diminish the perceived quality, or hurt the perceived righteousness of the Mark. By creating a 'label' or 'category' or 'faction' of a population, it is much easier to make an example of these larger bodies, because they can uplift or defame the Mark without actually incurring legal-defamation. Example: "Liberal" is a dysphamsim intended to diminish the perceived credibility of a particular Mark. By taking a displeasing argument presented by a Mark, the propagandist can quote that person, and then attack 'liberals' in an attempt to both (1) create a political battle-ax of unaccountable aggression and (2) diminish the quality of the Mark. If the propagandist uses the label on too-many perceivably credible individuals, muddying up the word can be done by broadcasting bad-examples of 'liberals' into the media.Labeling can be thought of as a sub-set of Guilt by association, another Logical Fallacy. ^[3]

• Repetition

This type of propaganda deals with a jingle or word that is repeated over and over again, thus getting it stuck in someones head, so they can buy the product. The "Repetition" method has been described previously.^[4]

• Slogans

A slogan is a brief, striking phrase that may include labeling and stereotyping. Although slogans may be enlisted to support reasoned ideas, in practice they tend to act only as emotional appeals. Opponents of the US's invasion and occupation of Iraq use the slogan "blood for oil" to suggest that the invasion and its human losses was done to access Iraq's oil riches. On the other hand, "hawks" who argue that the US should continue to fight in Iraq use the slogan "cut and run" to suggest that it would be cowardly or weak to withdraw from Iraq. Similarly, the names of the military campaigns, such as "enduring freedom" or "just cause", may also be regarded to be slogans, devised to influence people.

• Stereotyping or Name Calling or Labeling

This technique attempts to arouse prejudices in an audience by labeling the object of the propaganda campaign as something the target audience fears, hates, loathes, or finds undesirable. For instance, reporting on a foreign country or social group may focus on the stereotypical traits that the reader expects, even though they are far from being representative of the whole country or group; such reporting often focuses on the anecdotal.

• Testimonial

Testimonials are quotations, in or out of context, especially cited to support or reject a given policy, action, program, or personality. The reputation or the role (expert, respected public figure, etc.) of the individual giving the statement is exploited. The testimonial places the official sanction of a respected person or authority on a propaganda message. This is done in an effort to cause the target audience to identify itself with the authority or to accept the authority's opinions and beliefs as its own. See also,damaging quotation

• Transfer

Also known as Association, this is a technique of projecting positive or negative qualities (praise or blame) of a person, entity, object, or value (an individual, group, organization, nation, patriotism, etc.) to another to make the second more acceptable or to discredit it. It evokes an emotional response, which stimulates the target to identify with recognized authorities. Often highly visual, this technique often utilizes symbols (for example, the Swastika used in Nazi Germany, originally a symbol for health and prosperity) superimposed over other visual images. An example of common use of this technique in America is for the President's image to be overlaid with a swastika by his opponents.

• Unstated assumption

This technique is used when the propaganda concept that the propagandist intends to transmit would seem less credible if explicitly stated. The concept is instead repeatedly assumed or implied.

• Virtue words

These are words in the value system of the target audience which tend to produce a positive image when attached to a person or issue. Peace, happiness, security, wise leadership, freedom, "The Truth", etc. are virtue words. In countries such as the U.S. religiosity is seen as a virtue, making associations to this quality affectively beneficial. See ""Transfer"".

         References

1. ^ Propaganda Techniques
2. ^ A Citizens Guide to Understanding Corporate Media Propaganda Techniques
3. ^ A Citizens Guide to Understanding Corporate Media Propaganda Techniques

Propaganda is a form of communication that is aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position.

As opposed to impartially providing information, propaganda, in its most basic sense, presents information primarily to influence an audience. Propaganda often presents facts selectively (thus possibly lying by omission) to encourage a particular synthesis, or uses loaded messages to produce an emotional response rather than rational response to the information presented. The desired result is a change of the attitude toward the subject in the target audience to further a political agenda. Propaganda can be used as a form of political warfare.

George Washington: or, Life in America one hundred years ago By John Stevens Cabot Abbott

This is a very good book written by a renowned historian. In this book, John Stevens Cabot Abbott catches and shares a rare glimpse of George Washington that inspired me. 

A little bit about the Author: John Stevens Cabot Abbott (September 19, 1805 – June 17, 1877), Was an American historian, pastor, and pedagogical writer, born in Brunswick, Maine. Education: Bowdoin College, Andover Theological Seminary (Baptist).

Some excerpts from the book:

George Washington's UPBRINGING: "It is the uncontradicted testimony that the mother of George Washington was, by instinct and culture, a lady; she had a superior mind, well disciplined by study, and was a cheerful, devout Christian." Page 12

George Washington's HONESTY: One morning, as the colts were feeding upon the lawn, George, who had some companions visiting him, approached the high-blooded steed, and after soothing him for some time with caresses, watched his opportunity and leaped upon his back. The colt, for a moment, seemed stupefied with surprise and indignation. Then, after a few desperate, but unavailing attempts, by rearing and plunging, to throw his rider, he dashed over the fields with the speed of the wind. George, glorying in his achievement, and inconsiderate of the peril to which he was exposing the animal, gave the frantic steed the rein. When the horse began to show signs of exhaustion, he urged him on, hoping thus to subdue him to perfect docility. The result was that a blood-vessel was burst, and the horse dropped dead beneath his rider. George, greatly agitated by the calamity, hastened to his mother with the tidings. Her characteristic reply was: "My son, I forgive you, because you have had the courage to tell me the truth at once. Had you skulked away, I should have despised you." Page 16

George Washington's INTEGRITY: "....he took deliberate aim, it is said, at Washington and fired, at a distance of not more than fifteen paces. The ball barely missed its target. The Indian sprang into the woods. Indignation gave speed to the feet of his pursuers. He was soon caught. The companion of Washington urged that the savage should immediately be put to death. But Washington recoiled from the idea of shooting a man in cold blood. Having disarmed the assassin, he turned him adrift in the wilderness." Page 48

This is all I have read so far of this book. And from what I have read George Washington was a true Christian example that I would like to see more often in this world. I have enjoyed the Author's writing style and truly appreciate this seemingly rare glimpse of America's First President, George Washington. I look forward to reading the rest of it. And here is the link if you would like to do the same.

Or read it right here:

Pakistan says American's CIA link has no bearing on

(Reuters) - Pakistan insisted on Tuesday that the courts would decide the fate of an American detained on murder charges, even after it was revealed he was a CIA contractor whom Washington says enjoys diplomatic immunity.

The case of 36-year-old Raymond Davis, a former U.S. special forces officer, has strained the already-uneasy alliance between the United States and Pakistan, who are supposed to be united in the face of Islamist militants waging a war in Afghanistan.

Davis' killing of two Pakistani men in the eastern city of Lahore last month has inflamed anti-U.S. sentiment in Pakistan, effectively giving the government little choice but to prosecute him in court. His trial for murder beings on Friday, February 25.

The United States, however, says Davis has diplomatic immunity and should be released immediately. Davis says he acted in self defense against what he said were armed robbers, and is currently being held in a Lahore jail where, despite tight security, some U.S. officials fear for his life.

"The President has already stated that the matter is in the court and we will wait for the court decision in this case," Farhatullah Babar, a spokesman for President Asif Ali Zardari told Reuters during an official visit to Japan.

"Regardless of whether he now turns out to be a CIA employee, the matter will be decided by the court."

U.S. sources in Washington closely following the case said on Monday Davis was a "protective officer" employed as a CIA contractor.

Davis' duties were essentially as a bodyguard, to provide physical security to U.S. Embassy and consular officers and visiting American dignitaries, U.S. officials who declined to be identified told Reuters.

Officials strongly denied news reports alleging Davis was part of a covert CIA-led team of operatives conducting surveillance on militant groups.

U.S. officials have complained for days that security conditions under which Davis has been held have put his life in grave danger. Pakistan said on Monday it was taking steps to keep Davis safe.

Two U.S. sources familiar with the matter confirmed to Reuters that Davis, worked previously on contract as a security officer for Xe Services, a controversial private contractor formerly known as Blackwater.

Asked during a conference call with reporters about a link between Davis and the CIA, State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said: "We will not comment on his particular activity in Pakistan other than to say he is a member of the administrative and technical staff of the embassy and has diplomatic immunity."

"From that point ... he enjoyed privileges and immunities against local criminal law, including inviolability of person, inviolability from arrest and detention, and immunity from criminal jurisdiction," another senior U.S. official said.

The official said the United States was trying to work out a diplomatic solution to the disagreement but noted it could take the matter to the International Court of Justice.

Crowley said the United States was not considering curtailing economic or military assistance to Pakistan to show its displeasure over Davis' treatment.

CONCERNS OVER SECURITY

While some Pakistani officials have signaled they would like to back Davis's immunity, the government so far has said local courts must decide. Last week, the Lahore court delayed a hearing on whether Davis had immunity until March 14, prolonging the diplomatic standoff and stoking concerns for his safety.

Prison sources in Lahore said surveillance cameras were monitoring the area where Davis has been locked in a cell isolated from other prisoners.

Thirty-six unarmed guards, who Pakistani officials say have been specially screened, are standing watch in shifts of eight.

Outside the Kot Lakhpat jail in Lahore, where protesters have demanded Davis be publicly hanged, some 75 police officers, a team of provincial rangers and vehicles packed with elite forces were deployed.

Abdul Samad, a deputy prosecutor-general in Lahore, told Reuters the first hearing in Davis' murder trial would be held inside the jail for "security reasons."

The United States holds Pakistan's government fully responsible for Davis' safety, spokesman Crowley said.

There is some reason for worry in Pakistan, where rogue security forces have at times turned on government officials.

Last month, Punjab Governor Salman Taseer was shot to death by one of his own guards. His killer became a hero for Islamist groups that opposed the governor's moderate political views.

SHOOTING INCIDENT

A U.S. source familiar with other official reporting from Pakistan said that according to Davis' account of the shooting incident, two men on a motorbike cornered him and pulled a gun on him as he was driving on a street in Lahore.

The source said Davis, believing his life was in danger, drew his weapon and shot the men through the window of his car. At some point, the source said, Davis got out of his car and used his mobile phone to take pictures of the assailants.

He took the pictures to corroborate his story about what had happened, the source said.

U.S. sources denied reports and rumors in Pakistan suggesting Davis' assailants had some connection with Pakistan's principal intelligence agency, the Inter Service Intelligence directorate, known as ISI.

With cooperation from ISI elements, the U.S. government, including the CIA, has for the past several years been attacking militants in Pakistani tribal areas using missiles fired from remotely piloted drone aircraft.

Relations between ISI and its U.S. counterparts have deteriorated since an incident last year in which the name of the CIA's undercover station chief in Pakistan was leaked to local media, resulting in the official having to make a hasty exit from the country.

(Additional reporting by Augustine Anthony and Zeeshan Haider in Islamabad and Arshad Mohammed in Washington; Writing by Missy Ryan and Frances Kerry; Editing by Chris Allbritton and Miral Fahmy)

Shimon Peres to Spain to celebrate 25th year of ties

It is anticipated that the president’s visit will contribute greatly to the strengthening of strategic, political and economic ties between the 2 countries.  

President Shimon Peres leaves for Spain Monday on a four-day state visit as the guest of King Juan Carlos.

The visit is timed to celebrate the 25th anniversary of diplomatic ties with Spain following an almost 500-year disconnect between Spain and the Jewish people in the aftermath of the Spanish Inquisition.

Diplomatic relations were established on January 17, 1986.

When Trinidad Jimenez, Spain’s current foreign minister, visited Israel at the beginning of this month, she told Peres that Spain was eagerly awaiting his arrival.

Peres will be accompanied by a 40-member delegation of top executives from Israel’s major hi-tech and defense companies, among them Israel Military Industries, Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, Israel Aerospace Industries and RAD Data Communications.

It is anticipated that the president’s visit will contribute greatly to the strengthening and expansion of strategic, political and economic ties between the two countries.

Soon after his arrival, Peres will conduct a briefing with editors of Spain’s leading electronic and print media outlets.

He has reserved the evening for Madrid’s Jewish community at the Central Synagogue.

During the course of his visit Peres, in addition to his meetings with the king, whose titles include king of Jerusalem, will meet with Prime Minister Jose Luis Zapatero and opposition leader Mariano Rajoy. He will also address a plenary session of the Spanish Congress of Deputies, and will open a bilateral business forum that will be attended by Minister for Industry and Trade Miguel Sebastian.

The forum will include 300 representatives of prominent companies from both Spain and Israel.

At the invitation of and under the auspices of the prestigious Europa Press news agency, Peres will present a political overview of the Middle East in general and Israel in particular to some 300 senior Spanish politicians and opinion- makers who are curious to hear the president’s views on scenarios that could ensue in the wake of the wave of protest rolling through the region.

Other meetings will be with Spanish intellectuals and with journalists.

Peres hopes to persuade some of Spain’s top soccer stars to come to Israel as guests of the Peres Peace Center, which inter alia promotes peace through sport, and has Israelis and Palestinians playing on the same team.

In addition to the usual gifts that are given to heads of state on such visits, Peres will come away with the key to the city of Madrid.

Before leaving for Spain, Peres attended the opening on Sunday evening of the 25th Jerusalem International Book Fair at the the capital’s International Convention Center

Proverbs Chapter 1 (King James Version)

1The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel;

2To know wisdom and instruction; to perceive the words of understanding;

3To receive the instruction of wisdom, justice, and judgment, and equity;

4To give subtilty to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion.

5A wise man will hear, and will increase learning; and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels:

6To understand a proverb, and the interpretation; the words of the wise, and their dark sayings.

7The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.

8My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother:

9For they shall be an ornament of grace unto thy head, and chains about thy neck.

10My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not.

11If they say, Come with us, let us lay wait for blood, let us lurk privily for the innocent without cause:

12Let us swallow them up alive as the grave; and whole, as those that go down into the pit:

13We shall find all precious substance, we shall fill our houses with spoil:

14Cast in thy lot among us; let us all have one purse:

15My son, walk not thou in the way with them; refrain thy foot from their path:

16For their feet run to evil, and make haste to shed blood.

17Surely in vain the net is spread in the sight of any bird.

18And they lay wait for their own blood; they lurk privily for their own lives.

19So are the ways of every one that is greedy of gain; which taketh away the life of the owners thereof.

20Wisdom crieth without; she uttereth her voice in the streets:

21She crieth in the chief place of concourse, in the openings of the gates: in the city she uttereth her words, saying,

22How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? and the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge?

23Turn you at my reproof: behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto you.

24Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded;

25But ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof:

26I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh;

27When your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you.

28Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me:

29For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the LORD:

30They would none of my counsel: they despised all my reproof.

31Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices.

32For the turning away of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them.

33But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil.

NRC: Data insufficient for firm conclusion in anthrax case

Robert Roos - News Editor




Report Casts Doubts on Findings in Anthrax Attacks
It disputes a key scientific finding in the FBI's case



 

 

Feb 15, 2011 (CIDRAP News) – After a review of scientific methods that the FBI used in probing the 2001 anthrax mailings, a committee of the National Research Council (NRC) announced today that the available scientific evidence by itself is not adequate to reach a definitive conclusion about the source of the anthrax spores used in the attacks.

The anthrax mailings to three media offices and two US senators in the fall of 2001 led to 22 anthrax cases, including 5 deaths. After 7 years of investigation, the FBI concluded in 2008 that government microbiologist Bruce Ivins had perpetrated the attacks. Ivins committed suicide in July 2008 as the FBI was preparing to file charges.

After the FBI announced its conclusions in August 2008, a number of experts expressed doubt about the findings and called for an independent review. In September 2008 FBI Director Robert Mueller announced that the bureau would ask the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) to conduct such a review.

The NRC, part of the NAS, released the 190-page report on its findings at a news conference today. The NRC committee focused on the biological, physical, and chemical methods, especially the "microbial forensics," used in studying and identifying the anthrax in the letters; it did not cover more traditional forensic areas such as analyses of hair, fibers, and fingerprints.

The FBI hung its case primarily on genetic evidence that it said linked the mailed anthrax to anthrax that was in Ivins' custody at the US Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID) in Frederick, Md. The anthrax spores were stored in a flask called RMR-1029.

The NRC committee's key finding was that the link between the attack anthrax and the anthrax in Ivins' custody was not definitive.

"Spores in the mailed letters and in RMR-1029 . . . share a number of genetic similarities consistent with the FBI finding that the spores in the letters were derived from RMR-1029," the NAS said in a press release. "However, the committee found that other possible explanations for the similarities—such as independent, parallel evolution—were not definitively explored during the investigation."

Further, the panel determined that the FBI's data provided "leads as to the origin of the anthrax spores in the letters," but the data did not rule out other possible sources, the NAS said. Committee members said today they could not quantify the probability that the letter samples actually trace back to the USAMRIID flask.

The NRC also emphasized the FBI's own finding that the anthrax in RMR-1029 was not the immediate source of the mailed anthrax, because one or more "intermediate growth steps would have been required to produce the anthrax in the attack letters." The FBI described the RMR-1029 anthrax as the "parent material" to what was mailed.

The panel also determined that silicon was present in the mailed anthrax, but it agreed with the FBI's conclusion that there was no evidence that the substance had been added to "weaponize" the anthrax by aiding its airborne dispersal.

In releasing their report today, committee members said completion of the work was delayed when in November 2010 the FBI notified the panel about additional relevant materials, even though the panel had repeatedly asked for all materials. "The additional material provided new insights and new information about overseas samples and resulted in a new section of the report," said Alice P. Gast, chair of the panel and president of Lehigh University in Pennsylvania.

The committee also learned last fall about the existence of classified information about the investigation. But because of the lateness of the revelation, the need for timely release of the report, and an understanding with the FBI that all materials the NRC reviewed would be made public, the committee decided not to review the classified material, the report says.

One of the committee's two recommendations is that the classified materials should be reviewed. A second recommendation is that investigative bodies should take great pains to educate the public and policymakers about the goals of forensic science and its limitations when used to investigate a biological attack.

Beyond its overall finding that the scientific evidence permits no definitive conclusion about the origins of the mailed anthrax, the committee makes nine main points in its report. The first is that the FBI correctly identified the letter anthrax as the Ames strain of Bacillus anthracis and also had good reason to conclude it had not been genetically engineered.

A second point is that the letter anthrax, when cultured, produced several different types of colonies, or morphotypes, and specific genetic sequences associated with these types provided a way to assess relationships among different anthrax samples studied. However, the development and testing of the assays for these different strains took a long time and slowed the investigation.

The FBI created a repository of Ames strain anthrax samples gathered from labs around the world and then compared them with the attack anthrax in an attempt to find the source, the report explains. The genetic analyses of the repository samples were consistent with the finding that the letter spores were derived from RMR-1029, but, as noted above, did not prove such a relationship, the committee found.

When pressed by a reporter to describe in simple terms the extent to which the panel agreed or disagreed with the FBI conclusion in the case, Gast said, "We do say the results are consistent with a link between the letter samples and RMR-1029, but they're not definitive because there are other possible explanations. We can't quantify that for you, unfortunately."

Gast said further, "What we're saying in a practical sense is that you can't rely solely on the science, and any statements that rely on the science as a foundation for a definitive conclusion can't be made because there are uncertainties, particularly in this field of microbial forensics."

David A. Relman, vice chair of the NRC panel, said the FBI found four specific mutations in the mailed anthrax and designated them as the genetic signature of the material. Among 947 repository samples that were tested, 8 were positive for all four mutations, he said. Seven of these were said to have come from RMR-1029, and the other one came from another lab but was said to have originated from RMR-1029, he explained. Relman is a professor at Stanford University School of Medicine.

In a statement today, the FBI said that the NRC committee "concluded that it is not possible to reach a definitive conclusion about the origins of the B. anthracis in the mailings based on the available scientific evidence alone. The FBI has long maintained that while science played a significant role, it was the totality of the investigative process that determined the outcome of the anthrax case."

The agency added, "The FBI believes that today's report will increase the public's understanding of the exhaustive effort that resolved one of the most extensive investigations in the history of the FBI."

In other findings, the NRC committee said:

• It is difficult to draw conclusions about the amount of time needed to prepare the anthrax used in the attacks or the "skill set" the perpetrator required.
• "There was inconsistent evidence of B. anthracis Ames DNA in environmental samples that were collected from an overseas site." The data on these samples deserve a more thorough scientific review.
• There are other tools, methods, and approaches available today for a scientific investigation like this one, including the use of high-throughput DNA sequencing. The use of these tools might clarify the inferred association between the RMR-1029 and the attack anthrax.
• The FBI built an appropriate organization structure to accommodate the complexity of the anthrax investigation and received the advice of prominent experts.

See also:

Feb 15 NAS news release

NAS press conference Webcast link

Full NAS report

Feb 15 FBI statement

Sep 16, 2008, CIDRAP News story on FBI's request for the IOM review

Washington in the lap of Rome (1888) E-Book

Author: Fulton, Justin Dewey, 1828-1901

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From the archive, 12 February 1929: Fascism and the Vatican

Originally published in the Manchester Guardian on 12 February 1929

Benito Mussolini reads his credentials prior to signing the Lateran Treaty on behalf of King Victor Emmanuel III.
 Cardinal Gasparri (seated), signed on behalf of Pope Pius XI.

The concordat between the Quirinal and the Vatican signed in Rome yesterday is an event of such profound significance that no one can tell what its ultimate consequences will be.

One thing seems to be sure – Mussolini has achieved a great diplomatic success, perhaps the greatest of his career. On this there is general agreement. His gain is absolute. Whether the Vatican's gain is so absolute, seems a little uncertain. There is evidently much Italian nationalist sentiment in the Vatican itself. In other words, the Vatican has considerable Fascist sympathies. Pope Pius XI is credited with much admiration for Mussolini. That the Italian clergy as a whole are pro-Fascist is easy to understand, seeing that Fascism is a nationalist, authoritarian, anti-liberal, and anti-Socialist force.

Will the concordat mean closer cooperation between clerical reaction and the various forms of political reaction (such as Fascism) all over Europe? It is impossible to tell as yet, but the question is one that gives Continental Liberals some uneasiness, and there must be some misgivings even amongst progressive Roman Catholics. To many the Pope's spiritual sovereignty is a mystical conception that is violated by any temporal sovereignty, however small the realm over which it is exercised. That this temporal sovereignty should include membership of the League of Nations is a dangerous thought.

Happily there is a clause in the concordat by which the Vatican State expresses its wish to "remain extraneous to the temporal competitions between other States, as well as international congresses convened for this purpose." Presumably the League is such an "international congress." It does indeed seem improbable that either the Roman Catholic hierarchy or the Roman Catholic world would wish to see the Vicar of Christ dragged into the very temporal battles that are fought in the public arena at Geneva. It is reported from Rome that the care of the Roman Catholic missions in the Near East shall be conferred upon Italians. If that is so, Italian influence in the Near East will be reinforced at France's expense, for until now the missions have been in French hands. And yet another question may have to be answered, not yet, but some time. The Fascist dictatorship is strong. But the day will surely come when it will go the way of all tyrannies. What will be the attitude of a free Italy towards a Vatican State so intimately bound up with the Fascist dictatorship?

Priest Guilty of Child Rape, Faces Life in Prison

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Conor Berry, Berkshire Eagle

Posted: 02/13/2011 10:53:34 AM EST

PITTSFIELD, Mass. -- Thursday was judgment day for Gary Mercure, the former New York Catholic priest who could spend the rest of his life in prison for raping two altar boys in the Berkshires.

It took less than two hours for a Berkshire Superior Court jury to convict the 62-year-old priest on three counts of forcible child rape and one count of indecent assault and battery on a child younger than 14.

The charges stem from separate crimes committed by Mercure in 1986 and 1989, when he raped altar boys from his former Catholic church in Queensbury, N.Y., during day trips to the Berkshires.

Mercure didn't flinch as Superior Court Clerk Deborah S. Capeless read aloud each of the four guilty verdicts, one after the next. Court Officer Paul Duma placed handcuffs on the fallen priest and took him into custody.

Judge John A. Agostini ordered the Troy, N.Y., clergyman to be held without bail at the Berkshire County Jail & House of Correction until he is sentenced Wednesday at 2 p.m.

Mercure, a small, dapper man with graying hair, smiled at his crying sister as he was led away in handcuffs.

Defense Attorney Michael O. Jennings, of Springfield, had little to say about his client or the case while exiting the courtroom with co-counsel Robert DeLong, of Monson.

Mercure, who was permanently removed from ministry in New York in 2008 but technically remains a priest, plans to challenge the conviction. "There will be an appeal," Jennings said.

The trial began smoothly on Jan. 31, but was delayed by winter weather and the dismissal of a juror for posting a comment on Twitter that the judge said violated juror silence in the case.

Several of the priest's victims were present when Thursday's guilty verdicts were handed down. Afterward, one victim wiped tears from his eyes while making a call on his cell phone, while others embraced Berkshire First Assistant District Attorney Paul J. Caccaviello and Assistant District Attorney Marianne Shelvey, the prosecutors who tried the case.

The victims were escorted from the Pittsfield courthouse by plainclothes Massachusetts State Police troopers and court officers, who prevented members of the media from approaching them. Caccaviello said the victims didn't wish to speak with the reporters who crowded the courthouse hallway with television cameras and microphones. "They're still processing this," he said.

Caccaviello said Mercure's conviction should bring some closure to the victims, who remained mum about the abuse for more than 20 years. "We're very gratified for that verdict," he said, calling the victims "heroes" for coming forward.

Asked how the victims were faring, Caccaviello replied, "Right now, there's a whole range of emotions."

The Berkshire District Attorney's Office hasn't yet formulated its sentencing recommendation, but Mercure could spend the rest of his life behind bars. "He's been convicted of life felonies," Caccaviello said.

So much of the trial's testimony focused on individuals and events from New York, with only a fraction of the testimony pertaining to the Berkshire County assaults. "It presented difficult challenges," Caccaviello admitted.

"Father Satan"

However, the jury ultimately believed the testimony of the five altar boys who accused Mercure of long-term sexual abuse in New York during the 1980s.

Two of those men also testified that Mercure raped them during car trips to the Berkshires, including a 1986 outing to a hiking area bordering Great Barrington and Monterey and a 1989 trip to the former Brodie Mountain Ski Area in New Ashford. "I think that the jury could tell that our two victims were credible," Caccaviello said.

All of the former altar boys hail from New York and are now in their 30s, including one who's the father of an infant child. State police investigators who handled the probe said one altar boy, now 35, was forcibly raped twice by Mercure during that single 1986 trip to South County. The other victim, now 34, was raped once by Mercure during the 1989 trip to New Ashford, police said.

The 1986 incident occurred between Sept. 1 and Dec. 31 of that year, while the 1989 incident happened between Feb. 1 and Feb. 28 of that year, according to police and prosecutors. Meanwhile, a statement issued by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany referred to Mercure's crimes as "sinful, criminal and reprehensible." "Our hearts today are with the children who were abused, all now adults. We admire the strength and courage they demonstrated by coming forward. As devastating as their experiences must have been, they have shown by example that they are survivors -- strong, resilient and powerful," the diocese said in a statement issued after the verdicts came down.

After receiving an abuse allegation against Mercure in early 2008, the diocese contacted the Warren County (N.Y.) District Attorney's Office, which was unable to prosecute Mercure due to the vintage of the claims. Massachusetts has a statute of limitations that's more favorable to these sorts of prosecutions, however, and was able to hold Mercure criminally responsible for his decades-old crimes.

In Massachusetts, the countdown for the statute of limitations didn't begin running until 2008, when Berkshire County authorities first learned of the abuse.

The Albany Diocese permanently banned Mercure from ministry in August 2008, which meant that Mercure could no longer function as or present himself as a priest, according to diocesan spokesman Ken Goldfarb.

Church officials in Albany said they're hopeful the Mercure case might encourage other clergy abuse victims "to report the abuse immediately and seek assistance."

After the verdict, a member of the jury that convicted Mercure spoke briefly to reporters outside the courthouse. "I'm glad I served," said the woman, who declined to give her name or address, but plans to attend next week's sentencing. "Whatever the sentencing is, 100 times that wouldn't even scratch the surface for what he deserves," she said.

Video: Grand Jury Shows Audacity of Philadelphia Archdiocese

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEPvvyio1Rk


http://spirituallysmart.blogspot.com/2011/02/grand-jury-shows-audacity-of.html

The Truth About Valentine's day (Video)