Progressive Minds

The Los Angeles Times reports that the United States government has secretly been paying Iraqi newspapers to print favorable stories about the Iraq quagmire.

From the L.A. Times:

"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."

http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/front/la-fg-infowar30nov30,1,3365667.story?coll=la-headlines-frontpage&ctrack=1&cset=true

Memo to George Bush: If you had gotten Iraq right from the get-go, and had been truly committed to creating a democracy instead of an Islamic theocracy, perhaps you wouldn't have to pay the Iraqi newspapers!