Sam Gardiner

Sam Gardiner is a retired Air Force Colonel and described as "an expert in military strategy and an expert on strategic games." At one time Gardiner taught at the National War College. 

Gardiner estimated that that some 50 media stories backing the push for war in Iraq media orignated from what was to be called the Office of Strategic Influence. FAIR noted that Rumsfeld stated that while the Office of Strategic Influence was killed in name, it's activities were going to be carried out. 

Some of the stories he identified included that of the 'rescue' of Private Jessica Lynch and one in which defense officials claimed that the "first Iraqi unit marines encountered, the 51st Mechanized Infantry Division, had surrendered four days before it actually did." Gardiner said that Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Richard Myers gave bad or deliberately incomplete info on several topics. "Never before have so many stories been created to sell a war. And they probably didn't need it," he told US News. 

Publications by Gardiner

 * "An Objectives-Based Approach to MiitaryCampaign Analysis," Bruce Pirnie, Sam B. Gardiner, MR-656-JS, 1996.
 * Sam Gardiner, "Truth from These Podia. Summary of a Study of Strategic Influence, Perception Management, Strategic Information Warfare and Strategic Psychological Operations in Gulf II", posted by USNews.com, 8 October 2003.
 * pdf (first 10 pages).
 * pdf (second 10 pages).
 * pdf (third 10 pages).
 * pdf (fourth 10 pages).
 * pdf (fifth 10 pages).
 * pdf (final 6 pages). (Pdf files of all 56 pages are also available from Veterans for Peace here or as html

Other Related SourceWatch Resources

 * Joseph C. Wilson IV
 * Valerie Plame
 * Valerie Plame/External Links