US military planting stories in Iraqi newspapers

Titled "The Sands Are Blowing Toward a Democratic Iraq," an article written for publication last week in the Iraqi press was scornful of outsiders' pessimism about the country's future. "Western press and frequently those self-styled 'objective' observers of Iraq are often critics of how we, the people of Iraq, are proceeding down the path in determining what is best for our nation," the article began. Quoting the Prophet Muhammad, it pleaded for unity and nonviolence. But far from being the heartfelt opinion of an Iraqi writer, as its language implied, the article was prepared by the United States military as part of a multimillion-dollar covert campaign to plant paid propaganda in the Iraqi news media and pay Iraqi journalists monthly stipends. Since early this year, the military's "Information Operations Task Force" in Baghdad has used the Washington-based Lincoln Group to plant stories in the Iraqi media that trumpet such things as the successes of US and Iraqi troops against insurgents, US-led reconstruction efforts and rising anti-insurgent sentiment among the Iraqi people. Details about the program were first reported by the Los Angeles Times on Nov. 30. So-called "information operations" soldiers write the articles, called "storyboards," which are then delivered to the Iraqi staff of Lincoln Group. The company's staffers translate the storyboards into Arabic and pay newspaper editors in Baghdad to run the stories. The Lincoln Group's staff, or its subcontractors, sometimes pose as freelance reporters or advertising executives when they deliver the stories to Baghdad media outlets. The articles have consistently presented only one side of events and omit information that might reflect poorly on the US or Iraqi governments. Some of the newspapers, such as Al Mutamar, a Baghdad-based daily run by associates of Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Chalabi, ran the articles as news stories, indistinguishable from other news reports. Others labeled the stories as "advertising," shaded them in gray boxes or used a special typeface to distinguish them from standard editorial content. But none mentioned any connection to the US military. One storyboard written by military personnel titled "Children Murdered at the Hands of Terrorists" was recast by the Lincoln Group as an opinion column written by an Iraqi citizen. It was published on July 19 in Baghdad's Al Sabah newspaper. "Have we all given up?" the op-ed piece reads. "What kind of man am I if I tolerate the massacre of our children? What kind of human am I if I condone the slaughter of innocents? What kind of Muslim am I if I stand in silence as immoral cowards kill our children in the name of God and the prophet Muhammad?" Al Sabah was paid more than $1,500 to publish the story. Another piece, published prominently on Al Mutamar's second page in August, ran as a news story with the headline "Iraqis Insist on Living Despite Terrorism." Al Mutamar was allegedly paid about $50 to run the story, though the editor of the paper said he ran such articles for free. Nearly $1,500 was paid to the independent Addustour newspaper to run an Aug. 2 article titled "More Money Goes to Iraq's Development." The newspaper's editor said he had "no idea" where the piece came from but added the note "media services" on top of the article to distinguish it from other editorial content. Employees at the Al Mada newspaper told of one incident last summer in which a man arrived at the paper's offices in downtown Baghdad with a large wad of US dollars. He told the editors that he wanted to publish an article titled "Terrorists Attack Sunni Volunteers" in the newspaper. Al Mada, which is widely considered the most cerebral and professional of Iraqi newspapers, ran the story soon after. The process for placing the stories allegedly begins when soldiers write "storyboards" of events in Iraq, such as a joint US-Iraqi raid on a suspected insurgent hide-out, or a suicide bomb that killed Iraqi civilians. The storyboards often contain anonymous quotes from US military officials. One of the storyboards obtained by the Los Angeles Times, dated Nov. 12, describes a US-Iraqi offensive in the western Iraqi towns of Karabilah and Husaybah. "Both cities are stopping points for foreign fighters entering Iraq to wage their unjust war," it reads. The military is also paying Iraqi reporters up to $200 a month to write sympathetic stories. The payments are allegedly made to members of the Baghdad Press Club, an organization set up by US army officers more than a year ago. An Iraqi journalist, in an interview with Agence France-Presse, spoke of working for the Baghdad Press Club for three months before quitting. "We were called to go out with them on various educational, reconstruction, health or aid projects and asked to write positive articles about them in exchange for $50," she recalled. "After three months, I left. The whole thing was ridiculous and against the ethics of journalists," she said, recalling a US-sponsored trip to Sadr City where people called her a traitor and threw rocks at her. The Lincoln Group and "strategic communications" The Lincoln Group, formerly known as Iraqex, is one of several companies hired by the US military to carry out "strategic communications" in countries where large numbers of US troops are based. The company's website says it "brings a unique combination of expertise in collecting and exploiting information; structuring transactions and mitigating risks through due diligence and legal strategies." Following the publication of the Nov. 30 Los Angeles Times story, Lincoln Group spokeswoman Laurie Adler said she could not comment on the contract because it is with the US government. The company is a public affairs firm that does advertising and other communications in "challenging locations," she said. The corporation was hired last year after military officials concluded that the United States was failing to win over Muslim public opinion. Citing a "fundamental problem of credibility" and foreign opposition to US policies, a Pentagon advisory panel last year called for the government to reinvent and expand its information programs. The arrangement with Lincoln Group is evidence of how far the Pentagon has moved to blur the traditional boundaries between military public affairs–the dissemination of factual information to the media–and psychological and information operations, which use propaganda and misleading information to advance the objectives of a military campaign. The US military offered a mixed message about whether it embraced one of its own programs following the publication of the initial Los Angeles Times story. Lt. Col. Barry Johnson, a military spokesman in Iraq, said the program is "an important part of countering misinformation in the news by insurgents." "This is a military program initiated with the Multi-National Force to help get factual information about ongoing operations into Iraqi news," Johnson said. A spokesman for Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, however, called the program "troubling" and said he was looking into the matter. Another Pentagon spokesman said that it was not clear whether the program had violated either federal law or Pentagon policy. Military officials in Iraq appointed an officer on Dec. 7 to investigate the program. The officials said the program was still in operation.