“The White House and Downing Street have signalled they intend to open up a new propaganda war by encouraging frontline soldiers to post positive video news stories about the Iraq occupation on internet websites,”this Sundayherald. com article says. “LiveLeak, which specialises in hosting uncensored video footage filmed by military combatants, was cited by the prime minister, Tony Blair, on Friday in his keynote defence speech as an example of how terrorists had learned how to use the media to undermine public opinion. LiveLeak, which gained notoriety at New Year for broadcasting footage of Saddam Hussein’s execution, is one of several websites that host raw, uncensored footage of military engagements. LiveLeak emerged from ogrish. com, a website that showed uncensored news coverage of wars. The content often includes macabre and violent footage from war zones. Blair said that gruesome images showing the “reality of war” were being used as a propaganda weapon by insurgents to influence public opinion that ultimately impacts on the morale of the armed forces. His comments are being taken as a signal that British and US military are preparing to fight back via the internet. Blair’s mention was the second time that LiveLeak had been namechecked in less than 24 hours by the leadership of the coalition forces in Iraq. The previous day, White House press spokesman Tony Snow predicted that we are “likely to see in the weeks and months ahead” soldiers in the theatre using their cameras and sites such as LiveLeak or YouTube to share what they see. Blair’s mention of the site along with Snow’s comments, made in a briefing to news bloggers ahead of President Bush’s announcement of extra troop deployments in Iraq, are being widely interpreted as a sign that the Pentagon is preparing to exploit popular uncensored websites as part of its propaganda war”.

Blair and Bush’s latest weapon of war:YouTube