Pete,

PAO's almost present facts, and when they don' t is it is due to a bad PAO taking shortcuts (not confirming the facts), or worse intentionally lying whichis not an acceptable practice in public affairs for obvious reasons. The PAO that misrepresened Jessica Lynch's story was an incompetent clown who doesn't represent the majority of the PAOs. My reference to B.S. was not that they normally lie, but rather their articles are happy pieces devoid of critical thought and opposing views on a specific topic, which in my mind a good journalist would attempt to do.

I'll let the IO bubbas comment on IO, but if we're trying to shape the enemy's perception I don't see anything wrong with being deceptive. You may not call it AO, but setting up inflatable trucks and tanks in locations where enemy sensors will see them and shape their perception on our location and strength in a way that is to our advantage, then I'm a fan. This example doesn't necessarily fit into IO as defned, but it does fit into the intent of IO.