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Rumsfeld: Pentagon Closing Recently-Created Office of Strategic Influence VOA News 26 Feb 2002 19:49 UTC 
U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld says the Pentagon is closing a recently-created office that reports said was designed to spread false information abroad.
In making the announcement Tuesday, Mr. Rumsfeld said the Office of Strategic Influence would not have spread misinformation. But he said critical news reports and commentary have made it impossible for the office to operate effectively.
The Defense Department set up the office after the September 11 terrorist attacks. It was aimed at helping to spread the U.S. side of the story to counter views of opponents such as the Taleban and the al-Qaida terrorist network.
Last week, The New York Times reported that the Pentagon office had proposed giving false information to foreign journalists as a means of furthering the U.S.-led war against terrorism.
Mr. Rumsfeld said the Pentagon has not spread lies and would never do so in the future.
Some information for this report provided by AP and Reuters.
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