US army defends planting of news

[Judi Lynn]

December 2, 2005

US army defends planting of news

BAGHDAD, Dec 1: The US military on Thursday defended its policy of feeding articles to the Iraqi press as part of a campaign to counter what it said were lies spread by Al Qaeda militants. On Wednesday, the Los Angeles Times revealed that the US military has been paying the fledgling Iraqi press to run articles which US troops have written that focus on the positive aspects of the occupation and reconstruction.

“We don’t lie, we don’t need to lie, we do empower our operational commanders with the ability to inform the Iraqi public,” said US military spokesman Maj Gen Rick Lynch.

“What Zarqawi is doing continuously is lying to the Iraqi people, lying to the international community,” he said at a press briefing, referring to Al Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Musab al Zarqawi.

What the general and his assistants would not comment on, however, was whether they paid these newspapers to run the material, saying they would not comment on the specific mechanics of the process.
(snip)

Several Iraqi journalists said that a number of the country’s dozens of newspapers were known to publish articles given to them by US institutions. —AFP
(snip/...)

http://www.dawn.com/2005/12/02/int16.htm

[niyad]

1. there is NO positive spin to occupation, ever, so anything the military

says is a lie, plain and simple. if there were a positive side, they wouldn't have to pay to plant articles.

[waiting for hope]

2. It's what was paid

that really pisses me off -
Los Angeles Times revealed that the US military has been paying the fledgling Iraqi press to run articles which US troops have written that focus on the positive aspects of the occupation and reconstruction. -

From what I heard it was to the tune of 100 million dollars - that money could have been better served by helping the victims of Katrina...

Nearly three months after Hurricane Katrina swept through south Louisiana, 321 bodies lie nameless and unclaimed in a makeshift morgue. Another 200 have been identified, but no one can locate the families among refugees scattered across the nation.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1110AP_Katrina_Missing.html

[shadowknows69]

3. Doesn't wash

You can't "spread democracy" by having a state controlled press. Even worse a foreign controlled press.

[waiting for hope]

4. Just thought of something

...isn't that what Hitler and Joseph Goebbels did? Isn't this whole fiasco just getting scarier and creepier by the minute? I can't turn on the news without thinking "what's next?".

[Dover]

5. "What Bushco is doing continuously is lying to the American people.."

"..lying to the international community".

It's a communications cold war. Each side must continue to feed the beast, lest they be outgunned.

[pinniped]

6. Two lies equal a right, gotcha.

--lies spread by Al Qaeda militants--

There they go again, blaming the 25M USD bogeyman. Al-Zarqawi can't lie to me because I know he is a figment of someone's imagination over at 1600 Penn. Ave.

--“What Zarqawi is doing continuously is lying to the Iraqi people, lying to the international community,” he said at a press briefing, referring to Al Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Musab al Zarqawi.--

[cliss]

25. Exactly my thought.

I immediately picked up on the "Boogey-man" concept of using Zarkawi as the "Bad Guy of the Week". Who will it be next week?

This is manipulation, at its flagrant worst.

[SpiralHawk]

7. "Well, propaganda isn't as bad as torture. So shut up and sit down."

-- BushCo Propaganda Central SpokesUnit

[IndianaGreen]

8. This is the same army that defends the use of white phosphorus

against civilians!

Our troops are no different from Hitler's troops.

[classysassy]

16. The troops just follow orders

the officers and the commander and thief,that should say chief,but I am a truth teller,leave it thief, are responsible for the lies.

[IndianaGreen]

20. Nazi concentration camp guards also "followed orders"!

A soldier that commits crimes against humanity cannot hide behind the anonymous "troops" to escape accountability.

[tabasco]

24. I'm one of those troops and I'm a lot different.

You can take your holier than thou attitude and stuff it.

[IndianaGreen]

26. I was one of those troops

and we were taught to not commit war crimes and to treat prisoners according to the Geneva Convention.

Years of Freeper indoctrination and Christian evangelism has turned our military into a modern version of Christian Crusaders.

[Debau2005]

9. Wait wait wait

I am confused, perhaps a tad lost...I thought they denied "planting news." Oh wait, they denied the white phosphorous at first, but then admitted to it. So, uhm...help me, I am just a little, ole, blonde, Southern female, with a Masters Degree, these Republicans are just to smart for me...:sarcasm: :shrug:

[54anickel]

22. Deny (lie), Admit (because they got caught), then attempt to Defend.

It's the Repuke way!

They feed us nothing but propaganda as well, though they don't usually "outright" make payments for it.

While we don't have a government run media/press I believe what we have is even worse. We have a corporate run government, who also own most of the major media outlets. They take care of each other and "the truth be damned".

It's to the point where you don't know what to believe. There aren't many journalists in Iraq and the ones that are there don't venture out much to get the real truth, they just pass on what the military feeds them.

I came across this while googling for an update on Operation Shank Ramadi. Looks like more propaganda to me.


http://www.blackanthem.com/TheAllies/military_2005120203.html

snip>

The operation was carefully planned by using information and intelligence gathered by Iraqi and U.S. Forces operating in the city on a daily basis. There is no correlation between Operation Shank and the erroneous reports which were circulated by insurgent propagandist. (emphasis mine)

Due to operations in and around Ramadi and in Western Al Anbar attacks by al-Qaeda in Iraq-led insurgent have decreased in Ramadi 60 percent in the last month.

More information on the operation will be released as it becomes available.

By Capt. Jeffrey S. Pool
Public Affairs Officer

[gratuitous]

10. "We don't lie, we don't need to lie"

Then why not just let free and independent reporters write the truth as they see it? Unless, of course, you need to . . . uh, you know.

Thanks for explaining so obtusely, Maj. Gen. Lynch.

[UpInArms]

11. here's an excellent editorial with lots of details

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/GL03Ak02.html

excerpt:

An article in the American Prospect blog notes that in February a couple of local staffers of President George W Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney headed to Iraq to work with Iraqex, the company that in March rebranded itself as The Lincoln Group to match that of its corporate parent, the Lincoln Alliance Corporation, a DC-based "business intelligence" firm.

<snip>

Lincoln Group executive vice president Christian Bailey, a British venture capitalist, was involved with Lead21, a Republican business organization registered with the Internal Revenue Service as a 527 committee, which is a tax-exempt organization that engages in political activities.

<snip>

SYColeman Inc of Arlington, Lincoln Group and Science Applications International Corp were to help develop ideas and prototypes for radio and television spots, documentaries, or even text messages, pop-up ads on the Internet, podcasting, billboards and novelty items.

...lots more...

[54anickel]

23. Cripes! That damned Chalibi turns up getting our money again!

Is he some distant Bush cousin or something?

Ironically, according to the reports, the Lincoln Group has also been paying Ahmad Chalabi's newspaper, al-Mutamar, to reprint pro-American propaganda. Hundreds of millions of dollars in subsidies were lavished on Iraqi exile Chalabi and his surrogates in the run-up to the invasion of Iraq. Chalabi is now a deputy prime minister. Chalabi was influential in helping boost the Bush administration's "case" that Saddam Hussein had a weapons of mass destruction program.

And this propaganda is the same news we end up getting here in the good old USofA

It is worth emphasizing that because of the security situation, US correspondents in Iraq are rarely able to leave the Green Zone in Baghdad or other US military bases to engage in on-the-ground reporting, and thus must rely, in part, on reports by Iraqis in the Iraqi press to assess the situation on the ground.

But the news that some of this media are simply US military propaganda undermines even this source of information.

[proud2BlibKansan]

12. The freepers are making fools of themselves defending this insanity

You know, we did this in WWII, in Korea and in Vietnam. So that makes it okay - it's an historic tradition :sarcasm:

[justroots]

14. How could anyone defend this?

I find it surprising that anyone, including conservatives, could defend placing and paying for stories anywhere.

[newyawker99]

17. Hi justroots!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[proud2BlibKansan]

18. Because we are AT WAR!!

[Javaman]

13. “We don’t lie, we don’t need to lie..."

"These aren't the droids you are looking for..."

[VegasWolf]

15. Bush lies, innocents die, and Oil Company execs get great vacations. nt

[Che_Nuevara]

19. I'm currently studying the history of propaganda in war

at Goettingen University in Germany.

What's scary is that this is actually pretty common practice.

[Judi Lynn]

21. U.S. military officials describe Iraq propaganda program for first time

Posted 12/3/2005 10:00 AM Updated 12/3/2005 10:10 AM

U.S. military officials describe Iraq propaganda program for first time
WASHINGTON (AP) — The military says it may change a controversial information campaign, following reports it was paying Iraqi media to run favorable stories.

Military officials for the first time Friday detailed and broadly defended a Pentagon program that pays to get stories published in the Iraqi media, an effort the top U.S. military commander said was part of a campaign to "get the truth out" there.

But facing critics in the United States, including from lawmakers of both parties, the military raised the possibility of making changes in the program.

"If any part of our process does not have our full confidence, we will examine that activity and take appropriate action," said Lt. Col. Barry Johnson, a military spokesman in Iraq. "If any contractor is failing to perform as we have intended we will take appropriate action."
(snip/...)

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2005-12-03-iraq-news-stories_x.htm

[Benjamin]

27. They've been doing that in the U.S. for years

The Bush administration has been buying news for years in the U.S. They paid Armstrong Williams, Jeff Gannon, Maggie Gallagher, and Michael McManus to promote the neocon agenda as news. Those are just a few of the ones we know about so far. So why would it surprise anyone that they're funding propaganda in Iraq? It's just scandal du jour for Bush.