[Peace-discuss] exporting our press freedoms

[Ricky Baldwin]

US military planting stories in Iraqi newspapers

AFP - 11-30-05

The US military is secretly paying Iraqi newspapers to
print stories written by US soldiers in an effort to
polish the image of the American mission in Iraq, a US
newspaper reported.

US military "information operations" troops have
written the articles, which are translated into Arabic
and placed in Baghdad newspapers with the help of the
Lincoln Group, a Washington-based defense contractor,
according to The Los Angeles Times.

Many articles are presented to Iraqi newspapers as
unbiased news accounts written and reported by
independent journalists, the daily said, citing
documents it obtained and unnamed US military
officials.

The stories denounce insurgents and tout the work of
US and Iraqi troops and the US-led effort to rebuild
Iraq.

The United States has paid Iraqi newspapers to publish
dozens of articles, the LA Times said.

"The operation is designed to mask any connection with
the US military," it said.

The Lincoln Group helps translate and place the
stories. The contractor's Iraqi staff, or its
subcontractors, sometimes pose as freelance
journalists or advertising executives to hand the
stories to Iraqi papers.

Some senior US military officers in Iraq and at the
Pentagon have criticized the operation, saying it
could ruin the US military's credibility in other
countries and with the US public.

"Here we are trying to create the principles of
democracy in Iraq. Every speech we give in that
country is about democracy. And we're breaking all the
first principles of democracy when we're doing it," a
senior Pentagon official who opposes the planting of
stories was quoted as saying.

Much of the effort was being directed by the
"Information Operations Task Force" in Baghdad, part
of the multinational corps headquarters commanded by
Army Lieutenant General John Vines, the newspaper
said.

The task force has even bought an Iraqi newspaper and
taken control of a radio station, a military official
said, refusing to name the outlets to protect their
staff from insurgent attacks.


	
		
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