Rumsfeld: Terrorists 'manipulating the media'

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said Monday he is deeply troubled by the success of terrorist groups in "manipulating the media" to influence Western publics. "What bothers me the most is how clever the enemy is," Rumsfeld said during a question-and-answer session with about 200 naval aviators. "They are actively manipulating the media in this country" by, for example, falsely blaming US troops for civilian deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan, he said. "They can lie with impunity," he said, while US troops are held to a high standard of conduct.