I see mcjoan's
post on Bush's comment "Just Wait" but I thought his comments on a Free Press in Iraq were even more deserving of scrutiny based on the following.
While speaking to Russian President Putin, Bush made this comment to the Russian President:
"I talked about my desire to promote institutional change in parts of the world like Iraq, where there is a free press and free religion, and I told him that a lot of people in our country, you know, would hope that Russia would do the same thing," Bush said.
To which Putin replied:
"We of course don't want to have a democracy like the one in Iraq, to be honest," he deadpanned, to laughter from Russian-speaking listeners.
Ooops! Looks like Mr. Bush forgot to mention to Mr. Putin that we had a little hand in, um, "maintaining" that free press.
U.S. Military Covertly Pays to Run Stories in Iraqi Press
As part of an information offensive in Iraq, the U.S. military is secretly paying Iraqi newspapers to publish stories written by American troops in an effort to burnish the image of the U.S. mission in Iraq.
The articles, written by U.S. military "information operations" troops, are translated into Arabic and placed in Baghdad newspapers with the help of a defense contractor, according to U.S. military officials and documents obtained by the Los Angeles Times.
Many of the articles are presented in the Iraqi press as unbiased news accounts written and reported by independent journalists. The stories trumpet the work of U.S. and Iraqi troops, denounce insurgents and tout U.S.-led efforts to rebuild the country.
Hadley: Pentagon Propaganda In Iraq Continues
On Sunday's ABC This Week, Stephen Hadley acknowledged that President Bush has not yet ordered the shut-down of the Pentagon's propaganda campaign in Iraq.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Has he ordered the program shut down?
HADLEY: He's asked Secretary Rumsfeld to look at it. It's clear from the comments that have been made so far, that the issue is whether that program is something that's inconsistent with the policy guidance. And if it is inconsistent with policy guidance it will be shut down.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Well, it would be inconsistent to secretly pay Iraqi journalists, wouldn't it?
HADLEY: Look, we want a free media. We want truth. That's the whole point of this. We need to get the story about what's happening out. The truthful story about what's happening to Iraq to Iraqis, to the American people. That's what we ought to be doing. This kind of practices is inconsistent with that. It's not the kind of policy that the, that the Americans want to pursue.
US: Iraq Propaganda Effort a Mistake, Rumsfeld Says
WASHINGTON -- Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld on Friday criticized a U.S. military program that pays Iraqi newspapers to plant stories favorable to the American mission, and mistakenly said the Pentagon had shut down the program shortly after its existence was revealed.
In his most specific comments thus far about the information operations program, -- carried out by U.S. troops and a private contractor -- Rumsfeld said the U.S. military should not be paying Iraqi media to publish articles, whose origin was concealed even from the news outlets.
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World journalists condemn US campaign of propaganda in Iraq
Leaders of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), the world's largest journalists' group, Monday accused the United States of "operating a cynical campaign of double standards" in Iraq.
The IFJ, in a statement, referred to US newspaper reports that say a sophisticated propaganda offensive is being waged whereby the US Army secretly pays Iraqi newspapers to publish articles written by American troops posing as journalists.
The IFJ Executive Committee, meeting this weekend in Sydney, Australia, condemned the practice and warned that such practices make a mockery of commitments to free expression by US leaders.
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Military Pays Iraqi Journalists for Favorable Coverage
The current US military strategy in Iraq seems to be, if you can't beat 'em, pay 'em.
The Los Angeles Times reported Wednesday that the US military is secretly paying Iraqi newspapers through third parties to run good news stories. On MSNBC's Countdown, Times correspondent Mark Mazzetti had other details.
"One person we talked to professed no knowledge of this," Mazzetti said. "But he said, 'If we had known the Americans were behind this, we would have charged a lot more.'"
And that wasn't the only second-guessing the story triggered, as many analysts asked the same question as MSNBC's Chris Mathews: "Should we be telling the Iraqis what's going on there by propaganda?"
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Of course, as news reports noted, this isn't the first time the US has used news as a weapon of mass persuasion, from the Cold War to the Vietnam War.
It's also not the first time this tactic has been used by the Bush administration, which earlier this year turned conservative commentator Armstrong Williams into a wholly owned subsidiary of the White House.
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Yahoo links for articles concerning US financed propagana in Iraqi news.
Google links for articles concerning US financed propagana in Iraqi news.
MSN links for articles concerning US financed propagana in Iraqi news.
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