NYT/Reuters: Pentagon to Review Policy on Planting News Stories

[DeepModem Mom]

Pentagon to Review Policy on Planting News Stories
By REUTERS
Published: March 23, 2006

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Pentagon will review whether it is proper for the military to pay news organizations to publish positive stories secretly written by U.S. forces, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said on Thursday.

During a briefing, Rumsfeld refused to give his opinion on the propriety of the practice.

Asked if he agreed with comments by Marine Corps Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, that the military should disclose when it pays for a story, Rumsfeld said, ``No, I said we would take it under advisement and take a look at it. I'm not going to make a judgment off the top of my head.''

Following a report in the Los Angeles Times in November, the U.S. military acknowledged that troops in an ``information operations'' task force were writing articles with positive messages about the mission in Iraq that were translated into Arabic and planted in Iraqi newspapers in return for money.

The stories were planted with the help of Lincoln Group, a Washington-based defense contractor, officials said....

http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/news/news-iraq-usa-newspapers.html

[lovuian]

1. Propoganda spinsters... it works when you have credibility

not when nobody trusts you...

[LynnTheDem]

2. America; Home of the Catapulted Propaganda!

And torture.

And gulags...renditions...invasions...occupations...