“It's up to all of us to try to tell the truth...”

“We know that Al Jazeera has a pattern of playing propaganda over and over and over again. What they do is when there’s a bomb goes down, they grab some children and some women and pretend that the bomb hit the women and the children. And it seems to me, that it’s up to all of us to try to tell the truth, to say what we know, to say what we don’t know, and recognize that we're dealing with people that are perfectly willing to lie to the world to attempt to further their case. And to the extent people lie, ultimately, they are caught lying, and they lose their credibility. And one would think it wouldn't take very long for that to happen, dealing with people like this.”

Sec. of Def. Donald Rumsfeld, documentary, Control Room. “Al Jazeera in the Crosshairs: Did Bush Really Want to Bomb the Arabic TV Network's Headquarters in 2004?” Democracy Now!, 11/29/05.

As part of an information offensive in Iraq, the U.S. military is secretly paying Iraqi newspapers to publish stories written by American troops …

[the stories] present only one side of events and omit information that might reflect poorly on the U.S. or Iraqi governments, …. Records and interviews indicate that the U.S. has paid Iraqi newspapers to run dozens of such articles, with headlines such as ‘Iraqis Insist on Living Despite Terrorism,’ since the effort began this year.

The operation is designed to mask any connection with the U.S. military. The Pentagon has a contract with a small Washington-based firm called Lincoln Group, which helps translate and place the stories. The Lincoln Group's Iraqi staff, or its subcontractors, sometimes pose as freelance reporters or advertising executives when they deliver the stories to Baghdad media outlets.

… “Here we are trying to create the principles of democracy in Iraq. Every speech we give in that country is about democracy. And we’re breaking all the first principles of democracy when we're doing it,” said a senior Pentagon official who opposes the practice of planting stories in the Iraqi media.

… One of the military officials said that, as part of a psychological operations campaign that has intensified over the last year, the task force also had purchased an Iraqi newspaper and taken control of a radio station, and was using them to channel pro-American messages to the Iraqi public. Neither is identified as a military mouthpiece.

Mark Mazzetti and Borzou Daragahi. “U.S. Military Covertly Pays to Run Stories in Iraqi Press,” Los Angeles Times, 11/30/05.

Isolate enemy elements from those who can be won over to the political process by countering false propaganda and demonstrating to all Iraqis that they have a stake in a democratic Iraq; (1)

[Terrorists are attempting to] Weaken the Coalition’s resolve, and our resolve at home, through barbaric mass-casualty attacks, public slaughter of Iraqi civilians and hostages, infliction of casualties on Coalition forces, and use of the media to spread propaganda and intimidate adversaries. (7)

Signs of a vibrant political life are sprouting. The constitutional drafting committee received more than 500,000 public comments on various provisions. More than 100 newspapers freely discuss political events every day in Iraq. Campaign posters are displayed openly and in increasing number in most of Iraq’s major cities. (16)

United States. National Security Council. National Strategy for Victory in Iraq. November 2005.

“You show the world you're not living by the principles you profess to believe in, and you lose all credibility.”

Patrick Butler, vice president, International Center for Journalists, Washington DC.

“I’m not surprised this [official U.S. military policy of planting propaganda in the Iraqi media] goes on. Informational operations are a part of any military campaign. Especially in an atmosphere where terrorists and insurgents - replete with oil boom cash - do the same. We need an even playing field, but cannot fight with both hands tied behind our backs.”

Michael Rubin, fmr. Coalition Provisional Authority employee in 2003 and 2004.

Jeff Gerth and Scott Shane. “U.S. Is Said to Plant Articles in Iraq Papers,” NYTs, 12/01/05.