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US military defends planting news in Iraqi media
BAGHDAD - The US military on Thursday defended its policy of feeding articles to the Iraqi press as part of a campaign to counter what it said were lies spread by Al Qaeda militants.
On Wednesday, the Los Angeles Times a newspaper on the other side in this fight revealed that the US military has been paying the fledgling Iraqi press to run articles which US troops have written that focus on the positive aspects of the occupation and reconstruction. âWe donât lie, we donât need to lie, we do empower our operational commanders with the ability to inform the Iraqi public,â said US military spokesman Major General Rick Lynch. âWhat Zarqawi is doing continuously is lying to the Iraqi people, lying to the international community,â he said at a press briefing.
| Gawd forbid we'd tell the truth. Gawd forbid we'd try to set the record straight in-country. |
What the general and his assistants would not comment on, however, was whether they paid these newspapers to run the material, saying they would not comment on the specific mechanics of the process.
Knight-Ridder newspapers on Thursday reported that the military also was paying Iraqi reporters up to 200 dollars a month to write favorable stories. It said the payments were made to members of the Baghdad Press Club, an organization set up by US army officers more than a year ago.
| If they can get the Sunnis to quit the insurgency, I'd give them 400 dollars a month. |
In Washington, Bryan Whitman, a Pentagon spokesman who had said the disclosures were âtroublingâ if true, would not comment on whether the military was paying for stories. âI donât have all the facts. I donât have a lot of facts at all. I have very few facts,â he said.
| "And the facts I have, I'm not sharing with you!" |
Posted by: Steve White 2005-12-02 |
