United States

UNITED STATES The United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) admitted in a declassified report it posted on its Web site on September 20 that it attempted to influence news media in Chile against Chile’s President Salvador Allende, who was overthrown in a military coup in 1973 that brought Gen. Augusto Pinochet to power. The report, quoted by The Associated Press, referred to CIA activities “including support for news media committed to creating a positive image for the military junta.” David Offer, the civilian executive editor of Stars & Stripes, a government publication for U.S. troops serving abroad, resigned in protest at what he called Pentagon pressure to kill a news story. The story, which had been prepared for the Stars & Stripes September 1 edition, was essentially the same as an article published that day on page one of The Washington Post, Offer said. The Post reported that the U.S. Army had alerted a Patriot anti-missile unit in Germany to be prepared for possible deployment to Israel, reflecting U.S. government concern that Iraq might attack Israel. Offer said Army public affairs officers in Germany told him they did not dispute the accuracy of the story. The Pentagon, however, said the story should not run because it contained classified information, according to Thomas E. Kelsch, the civilian publisher of Stars & Stripes. Kelsch gave the order to kill the story. What troubled both Kelsch and Offer was that Stars & Stripes ended up publishing the Post story in subsequent editions, even though it contained the same information. Offer said he had argued at that point that the Stars & Stripes’ own version should be run. Offer said he felt compelled to resign when the paper was not allowed to run it even after the Post published the same information. The U.S. Supreme Court buttressed free speech with two decisions in May. On May 1, the court left intact a ruling that says Internet service providers are not legally and financially liable when someone is defamed in e-mail communications or bulletin board messages. On May 22, the Court ruled that Congress violated free speech rights when it sought to protect children from sex-oriented cable TV channels such as Playboy Television.