U.S. Is Said to Pay to Plant Articles in Iraq Papers – New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/01/international/middleeast/01cnd-prop.html

This kind of news causes me problems. A big part of me is happy to see the US media finally sharpening its claws after a long period of disinterest. Another big part of me wishes items like this would never be reported at all. I dread that these revelations will cause a violent backlash against the occupying soldiers, none of whom are responsible for the subversion of the Iraqi press or the country’s attempts at democracy (however feeble.)

But far from being the heartfelt opinion of an Iraqi writer, as its language implied, the article was prepared by the United States military as part of a multimillion-dollar covert campaign to plant paid propaganda in the Iraqi news media and pay friendly Iraqi journalists monthly stipends, military contractors and officials said.

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