‘US military planting stories in Iraqi newspapers’
WASHINGTON, DECEMBER 1: Positive articles about the war in
Iraq written by US troops have been appearing in Iraqi
newspapers under the guise of independent
Results 1 - 30 of about 465 related articles
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White House 'Concerned' About Paid Stories
Thursday December 1, 2005 11:46 PM
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uslatest/story/0,1282,-5451180,00.html
WASHINGTON (AP) - Demands for details from the White House
and Congress were building Thursday over a U.S. military
program whose multimillion-dollar contracts include money
for paying Iraqi newspapers and journalists to plant
favorable stories about the war and rebuilding effort.
Citing increasing concerns about the matter, the Senate
Armed Services Committee summoned Defense Department
officials to Capitol Hill for a briefing Friday.
``I am concerned about any actions that may undermine the
credibility of the United States as we help the Iraqi people
stand up a democracy,'' said Committee Chairman John Warner,
R-Va., adding that he has no information to confirm or
refute the reports. ``A free and independent press is
critical to the functioning of a democracy, and I am
concerned about any actions which may erode the independence
of the Iraqi media.''
Defense Department officials in Baghdad continued to defend
the program, saying it is a necessary tool to provide
factual information to the Iraqi people.
One of the companies involved - the Washington-based Lincoln
Group - has at least two contracts with the military to
provide media and public relations services. One, for $6
million, was for public relations and advertising work in
Iraq and involved planting favorable stories in the Iraqi
media, according to a document.
The other Lincoln contract, which is with the Special
Operations Command, is worth up to $100 million over five
years for media operations with video, print and Web-based
products. That contract is not related to the controversy
over propaganda and was not for services in Iraq, according
to SOCOM spokesman Ken McGraw.
The Lincoln Group shares that Special Operations contract
with two other firms: SYColeman, a division of L-3
Communications, and Science Applications International
Corp., a San Diego-based defense contractor.
The program came to light just as President Bush released
his strategy for victory in Iraq, which includes the need to
support a ``free, independent and responsible Iraqi media''
and a vow to help the Iraqi government communicate in a
``professional, effective and open manner.''
Across the government Thursday, officials said they were
still looking for more information about the Iraq program.
``We're very concerned,'' said White House spokesman Scott
McClellan. ``We are seeking more information from the
Pentagon.''
Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., slammed the program a
devious scheme that ``speaks volumes about the president's
credibility gap. If Americans were truly welcomed in Iraq as
liberators, we wouldn't have to doctor the news for the
Iraqi people.''
At the Pentagon, spokesman Bryan Whitman said, as he did a
day earlier in response to reporters' inquiries about the
reports, that he was seeking details from U.S. military
officials in Baghdad. ``I have very few facts,'' Whitman
said, adding that he would not confirm the essence of the
story until he learned more from Baghdad.
``It's certainly an issue that's easy to get emotional
about, and we need to understand the facts, and when we do
I'll provide you as much information as I can,'' Whitman
said.
When a senior military spokesman in Baghdad, Maj. Gen. Rick
Lynch, was asked whether he thought the program undercuts
the credibility of either the American military or the new
Iraqi news media, he did not answer directly.
Instead, he quoted a senior al-Qaida leader, Ayman al-Zawahiri,
as having told Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the main terrorist
leader in Iraq, ``Remember, half the battle is the
battlefield of the media.''
Lynch said Zarqawi lies to the Iraqi people and he said the
American military does not.
``We do empower our operational commanders with the ability
to inform the Iraqi public, but everything we do is based on
fact, not based on fiction,'' Lynch said.
Lt. Col. Barry Johnson, a military spokesman in Iraq, said
he was ``not aware of any formal review of the program,
although it is constantly being assessed for
effectiveness.'' Whitman said Defense Secretary Donald H.
Rumsfeld was ``aware of the issue,'' but he would not say
whether Rumsfeld had expressed concern about it or whether
the secretary had asked for additional information about it.
Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said
Wednesday that he was not aware of the matter until he had
read a newspaper account of it that morning. Asked on ABC
News' ``Nightline'' whether he thought the practice was
appropriate, Pace replied, ``Anything that would be
detrimental to the proper functioning of a democracy in Iraq
would worry me.''
Details about the program were first reported Wednesday by
The Los Angeles Times. It marked the second time this year
that Pentagon programs have come under scrutiny for reported
payments made to journalists for favorable press.
=================================
Lincoln Group
Lincoln Group formed to pursue private sector opportunities
in Iraq. Lincoln Group
brings a unique combination of expertise in collecting and
exploiting ...
http://www.lincolngroup.com/
====================
Lincoln Group designed and
produced tens of thousands of water bottles with custom
messages for the Marine Corps during a dangerous conflict.
>>
Learn More
December 1-2, 2005
Lincoln Group's Robert Kelley will speak at the 5th Annual
Rebuilding Iraq Conference in Crystal City, Virginia.
http://www.lincolngroup.com/
=================================
OPERATION MOCKINGBIRD -
The Subversion Of The Free Press By The CIA
Cronkite was lured to CBS by Operation MOCKINGBIRD's Phil
Graham, according to
Deborah ... This scandal was known by its code name
Operation MOCKINGBIRD. ...
Results 1 - 10 of about 369,000 for OPERATION MOCKINGBIRD
=========================
One of the most important journalists under the control of
Operation Mockingbird was Joseph Alsop, whose articles
appeared in over 300 different newspapers. Other journalists
willing to promote the views of the CIA included Stewart
Alsop (New York Herald Tribune), Ben Bradlee (Newsweek),
James Reston (New York Times), Charles Douglas Jackson (Time
Magazine), Walter Pincus (Washington Post), William C. Baggs
(Miami News), Herb Gold (Miami News) and Charles Bartlett
(Chattanooga Times). [6] According to Nina Burleigh (A Very
Private Woman) these journalists sometimes wrote articles
that were commissioned by Frank Wisner. The CIA also
provided them with classified information to help them with
their work. [7]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MOCKINGBIRD
========================================
Has Mockingbird Been Closed Down?
According to researchers such as Steve Kangas [28], Angus
Mackenzie [29] and Alex Constantine [30], Operation
Mockingbird was not closed down by the CIA in 1976. For
example, in 1998 Kangas argued that CIA asset Richard Mellon
Scaife ran "Forum World Features, a foreign news service
used as a front to disseminate CIA propaganda around the
world." [31]
On 8th February, 1999, Kangas was found dead in the bathroom
of the Pittsburgh offices of Richard Mellon Scaife. He had
been shot in the head. Officially he had committed suicide
but some people believe he was murdered. In an article in
Salon Magazine, (19 March 1999) Andrew Leonard asked:
"Why did the police report say the gun wound was to the left
of his head, while the autopsy reported a wound on the roof
of his mouth? Why had the hard drive on his computer been
erased shortly after his death? Why had Scaife assigned his
No. 1 private detective, Rex Armistead, to look into Kangas'
past?" [32]
On 27 June 2005, the World Tribunal on Iraq published their
preliminary declaration of the Jury of Conscience World
Tribunal on Iraq. Finding and Charges Against the Major
Corporate Media:
1. Disseminating the deliberate falsehoods spread by the
governments of the US and the UK and failing to adequately
investigate this misinformation. This even in the face of
abundant evidence to the contrary. Among the corporate media
houses that bear special responsibility for promoting the
lies about Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction, we name the
New York Times, in particular their reporter Judith Miller,
whose main source was on the payroll of the CIA. We also
name Fox News, CNN and the BBC.[33]. Please note that the
source to which the article refers is Ahmed Chalabi who
provided paid informant for Weapons of Mass Destruction
evidence as well as a source for the New York Times
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MOCKINGBIRD
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