U.S. Is Said to Pay to Plant Articles in Iraq Papers

[im10ashus]

No surprise here. The propaganda machine is at work in Iraq as well.

By JEFF GERTH and SCOTT SHANE
Published: December 1, 2005
WASHINGTON, Nov. 30 - Titled "The Sands Are Blowing Toward a Democratic Iraq," an article written this week for publication in the Iraqi press was scornful of outsiders' pessimism about the country's future.

"Western press and frequently those self-styled 'objective' observers of Iraq are often critics of how we, the people of Iraq, are proceeding down the path in determining what is best for our nation," the article began. Quoting the Prophet Muhammad, it pleaded for unity and nonviolence.

But far from being the heartfelt opinion of an Iraqi writer, as its language implied, the article was prepared by the United States military as part of a multimillion-dollar covert campaign to plant paid propaganda in the Iraqi news media and pay friendly Iraqi journalists monthly stipends, military contractors and officials said.

The article was one of several in a storyboard, the military's term for a list of articles, that was delivered Tuesday to the Lincoln Group, a Washington-based public relations firm paid by the Pentagon, documents from the Pentagon show. The contractor's job is to translate the articles into Arabic and submit them to Iraqi newspapers or advertising agencies without revealing the Pentagon's role. Documents show that the intended target of the article on a democratic Iraq was Azzaman, a leading independent newspaper, but it is not known whether it was published there or anywhere else.

more...

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/01/politics/01propaganda.html?ei=5094&en=3af8aaf9fa1cb0bc&hp=&ex=1133499600&adxnnl=1&partner=homepage&adxnnlx=1133454932-Z+eh63G/lwo0W9UT/uEkog

[cliss]

1. There was a movie called "Good Morning

VietNam with Robin Williams. This article is a dead-ringer for that movie. Don't they ever learn? And the U.S. military.....unbelievable.

Can you just visualize one of these "articles"?

"Now, dear Iraqis, remember: it's not an occupation, it's a Project. The Americans are only here to help us. Don't forget: we're a splintered country, what with the Sunnis in one part of the country, and the Kurds in the north. Then you have us, the Shi'a, who dominate the population. They're just trying to help us all get together and be one big, happy family.

And ignore those protesters in the U.S.A."

[im10ashus]

2. This is all going to come back and bite them in the ass.

With the mounting cost of this war in lives and dollars, it sickens me that they are pretending this is okay and they don't have to held accountable.

This line sums it up:

"You show the world you're not living by the principles you profess to believe in, and you lose all credibility."

[im10ashus]

3. Shameless self-kick.