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Military plants stories in Iraq media: report

Posted on: Wednesday, 30 November 2005, 18:49 CST

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. military has secretly paid Iraqi newspapers to run dozens of pro-American articles written by a special military task force, The Los Angeles Times reported on Wednesday.

The newspaper also reported that the "Information Operations Task Force" in Baghdad has bought an Iraqi newspaper and taken control of a radio station, and was using them to disseminate pro-American views as well.

Rep. Henry Waxman of California, the top Democrat on the House of Representatives Government Reform Committee, condemned any covert military influence on the Iraqi media, saying it "should not be tolerated."

Spokesmen at the Pentagon and with the U.S. military command in Iraq did not deny the report.

"This is a military program within the Multi-National Force (the U.S. military command in Iraq) to help get factual information about ongoing operations into Iraqi news," Lt. Col. Barry Johnson, a senior U.S. military spokesman in Iraq, said.

"Because this is part of our ongoing operations and an important part of countering misinformation in the news by insurgents, I can't provide details of what this entails. I want to emphasize that all information used for marketing these stories is completely factual," Johnson said in an e-mail.

Asked whether he was confirming the military secretly paid Iraqi newspapers to publish such stories, Johnson replied, "I'm just letting my statement ... stand on its own at this point."

Bryan Whitman, a Pentagon spokesman, said: "This article raises some questions as to whether or not some of the practices that are described in there are consistent with the principles of this department."

RUMSFELD AND THE "FREE MEDIA"

As recently as Tuesday Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld touted what he called the "free media" in Iraq and called it "a relief valve." He said, "They're debating things and talking and arguing and discussing."

The Times reported the program began this year and the articles were written in English, translated into Arabic and then given to Baghdad newspapers to print in return for money.

It said it based its story on interviews with U.S. military officials who spoke on condition of anonymity and with Iraqi newspaper employees, as well as documents it obtained.

A defense contractor, a Washington-based public relations firm called Lincoln Group, helped translate the stories and used staff or subcontractors posing as freelance journalists or advertising executives to bring them to Iraqi media outlets, the Times reported.

The Times depicted the stories as "basically factual," but said they omitted information that might not reflect well upon the United States or the U.S.-backed Iraqi government.

The stories "trumpet the work of U.S. and Iraqi troops, denounce insurgents and tout U.S.-led efforts to rebuild the country," the Times said.

Lincoln Group spokeswoman Laurie Adler declined to speak about specifics of its contract, but said, "In general, Lincoln Group's reports are truthful and accurate."

None of the newspapers that published stories revealed their connection to the military, although some identified the articles as "advertising" or took other steps to distinguish them from normal news, the Times reported.

The Pentagon in 2002 closed its Office of Strategic Influence after reports that it planned to plant false news stories with foreign media outlets.

The Bush administration has also been found to have tried to influence domestic media, including having federal agencies distribute video packages to U.S. TV stations that could be broadcast as news stories and paying media commentator Armstrong Williams to tout Bush education policies in television appearances and in his column.

Source: REUTERS

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