Editorial: Of swords, pens … and stormy nights

Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2002 | 8:50 a.m.

British author Edward Bulwer-Lytton, who 172 years ago inspired endless comical derision when he wrote "It was a dark and stormy night ..." also wrote something no one has ever laughed at -- "... the pen is mightier than the sword." While not as literary as Bulwer-Lytton, officials at the Pentagon are well aware of the power of information. Early this year Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld ordered a shutdown of the Office of Strategic Influence when its purpose became known. This office had sought to buttress America's image around the world by secretly feeding foreign journalists a diet of true and false news items. Ironically, it could not stand the criticism that arose after the ink began flowing from that mighty pen known as the American media.

We thought we had heard the last of this ill-conceived idea that foreign public opinion should be shaped through covert means. But on Monday The New York Times reported that the Pentagon is again considering engaging the military in secret operations to influence public opinion, even in countries that are our allies. The methods would include under-the-table payoffs to reporters and the clandestine financing of books and even religious schools.

Above-board outlets for information, such as Radio Free Europe and Voice of America, receive very little criticism around the world. Information that everyone knows comes from the United States is also not objectionable. But it would be counterproductive to U.S. interests for people to learn -- and they would learn, eventually -- that information they had been receiving in fact was secretly financed by the Pentagon. It would be time for people to stop laughing at Bulwer-Lytton's other famous line, because for America's foreign relations, it would indeed be a dark and stormy night.