This may not shock you, but the Pentagon has decided that
planting propaganda in the Iraqi media is A.O.K.
The U.S. 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 U.S. general in Iraq said Friday.
Army Gen. George W. Casey said the internal review had concluded that the U.S. military was not violating U.S. law or Pentagon guidelines with the information operations campaign, in which U.S. troops and a private contractor write pro-American articles and pay to have them planted without attribution in Iraqi media.
The program has been criticized both inside and outside the military as detrimental to U.S. credibility and contrary to the principles of a free press in a nascent, embattled democracy.
After the program's existence was revealed in an article in The 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 American 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 disinformation" 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 U.S. communicates with foreign audiences.
You see, it's the fault of the media for reporting news is why we aren't winning the heart and minds of Iraqis. It couldn't possibly be because we bombed their country to sh*t, destroyed their infrastructure, and are foreign invaders.
Don't they realize that once everyone is aware that these fluff pieces are total BS that the entire point is lost because they have no credibility?
It's almost as if these guys are completely divorced from reality.
And speaking of being divorced from reality,
this one has to win some sort of award.
Iraqi Interior Minister Bayan JabrSolagh said Saturday that the Iraqi government is implementing a plan to dissolve militias.
"I have sent a letter to all militias, ordering them to dissolve themselves," Solagh told reporters in a news conference. Hesaid that negotiations with different militias were underway to implement the plan.
"We don't have militia problem. However, some militias may have been involved in the sectarian strife," Solagh said. Solagh pointed out that 10 million U.S. dollars will be allocated to help dissolve these militias by finding jobs for thousands of militiamen, including in security forces.
[...]
Militias have been banned in Iraq except in the northern Kurdish enclave since June 2003 by Paul Bremer, the then head of U.S. authorities in Iraq.
So, the guy is going to get rid of Iraqi militias by
sending them letters, and by getting $10 million in U.S. taxpayer funds. Of course the fact that militias have been outlawed for 3 years now hasn't stopped the militias from practically gaining control of Iraq, but his letters will stop it.
Who wants to bet that, like the Pentagon's propaganda campaign, that $10 million taxpayer dollars will vanish just like billions of dollars have in the past?
Finally, a thousand miles to the east, Pakistan is having a
little trouble with the Taleban.
About 500 armed tribesmen traded fire with paramilitary forces in the bazaar of Miran Shah, the main town in the North Waziristan tribal region. An Associated Press reporter saw both sides using mortar shells and assault rifles.
The violence came as President Bush visited the capital, Islamabad, about 190 miles to the northeast, and voiced solidarity with Pakistan's President Gen. Pervez Musharraf in fighting terrorism.
[...]
On Saturday, Maulvi Abdul Khaliq, a local cleric leading the rebellious tribesmen, demanded that authorities stop killing "innocent" people and only carry out operations against militants in coordination with locals.
The world is largely ignoring the fact that Pakistan is gradually being taken over by the Taleban.