After two and a half years of invasion and occupation,
"cash for comments" is unlikely to "polish the image"
of the "American mission in Iraq", or anywhere else.

------------------------------------------------------

US 'planting' Iraq media stories
From: Agence France-Presse
From correspondents in Washington

December 01, 2005

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 today.

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 defence 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 paper 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
criticised the operation, saying it could ruin the US military's
credibility in other countries and with the US public.

[...]

Source: "NEWS.com.au"
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,17423601-23109,00.html


Cheers, Steve..

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