Disinformation campaign in Iraq will continue

The US military plans to continue paying Iraqi newspapers to publish articles favorable to the United States after an inquiry found no fault with the controversial practice, the top US general in Iraq said on Mar. 3. Army Gen. George W. Casey said the internal review had concluded that the US military was not violating US law or Pentagon guidelines with the information operations campaign, in which US troops and a private contractor write pro-US articles and pay to have them planted without attribution in Iraqi media. "By and large, it found that we were operating within our authorities and responsibilities," Casey said, adding that he had no intention of shutting the program down. The program has been criticized both inside and outside the military as detrimental to US credibility and contrary to the principles of a free press. Though the final report by Navy Adm. Scott R. Van Buskirk is not complete, Casey's comments are a clear sign that the US military sees the propaganda effort as a critical tool for winning hearts and minds in Iraq. Van Buskirk's report could pave the way for the Pentagon to replicate the practice–which would be illegal in the United States–in other parts of the world. Casey's comments, made during a video teleconference with Pentagon reporters, also highlighted the split in attitude on the program between military commanders in Baghdad and some senior officials in Washington. After the program's existence was revealed in an article in the Los Angeles Times three months ago, White House officials said they were "very concerned" about the practice of paying Iraqi newspapers to publish unattributed articles written by members of the US military. At the same time, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld recently defended the program during a speech at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York, saying it was an innovative tool for countering a "campaign of disinforma-tion" by Iraqi insurgents. Rumsfeld also criticized media coverage of the program, saying the reporting had created a "chilling effect" on efforts to improve the way the US communicates with foreign audiences. Since early last year, the program has planted hundreds of articles in Iraqi newspapers highlighting progress made by Iraqi troops, efforts to rebuild Iraq and US-led offensives against insurgents. The US command in Iraq says that "articles have been accepted and published as a function of buying advertising and opinion/editorial space, as is customary in Iraq." US troops write the articles, called "storyboards," which are given to the Iraqi staff of Lincoln Group, the contractor, to translate into Arabic. The contractor's Iraqi staff pays newspaper editors in Baghdad to publish the articles without revealing their origin. Revelations about the program brought fierce criticism from lawmakers on Capitol Hill and from many within the Pentagon who argue that the US should not pay for favorable press coverage in Iraq even as it tries to promote democracy there. Van Buskirk's report, some fear, could lead to a proliferation of similar operations around the world. No other reviews are pending in the Pentagon or Congress. There was some confusion at the Pentagon recently as to whether or not the program was still being implemented while it was under review. In an appearance last month on PBS's "The Charlie Rose Show," Rumsfeld said he had not known about the practice of paying for news stories before it became a subject of critical publicity in the United States. "When we heard about it we said: 'Gee, that's not what we ought to be doing'... and they stopped doing it," he said during the show. A week after the program aired, Rumsfeld said during a press conference that the disinformation campaign was still in effect.