US to keep paying for stories in Iraq press
WASHINGTON -- The US military plans to continue paying Iraqi newspapers to publish stories favorable to the United States after an inquiry found no fault with the controversial practice, the top US general in Iraq said yesterday.
Army General George W. Casey said the review has concluded that the US military has not violated any American laws or Pentagon guidelines by running the information operations campaign in which US troops and a private contractor called Lincoln Group write pro-American stories and pay to have them planted without attribution in the Iraqi media.
''By and large, it found that we were operating within our authorities and responsibilities," Casey said, adding that he has no intention of shutting the program down.
The information program has been heavily criticized both inside and outside the military as detrimental to US credibility and contrary to the principles of a free press in a nascent, embattled democracy.
During his briefing with reporters, Casey also addressed conditions in Iraq, saying commanders believe that the violence brought on by last week's bombing of a venerated Shi'ite mosque in Samarra has largely subsided and that Iraq has moved away from the brink of large-scale civil war.
''Has there been violence and terrorism here in Iraq in the wake of the Samarra bombings? Clearly. Is the violence out of control? Clearly not. Now, it appears that the crisis has passed," Casey said.
Casey is scheduled to meet with President Bush next week to discuss Iraq, but said he had not yet decided whether to recommend reducing the number of US troops in Iraq over the summer. For months, US officials said that they plan to begin a gradual drawdown of US forces.
While a final report by Navy Admiral Scott Van Buskirk is not yet complete, Casey yesterday gave the clearest sign yet that the US military sees the propaganda effort as a critical tool for winning hearts and minds in Iraq. Van Buskirk's report could pave the way for the Pentagon to duplicate the practice -- which would be illegal for the military in the United States -- in other parts of the world.
Casey's comments, made during a video teleconference with Pentagon reporters, also highlighted the split in attitude on the program between military commanders in Baghdad and some senior officials in Washington.
After the existence of the Lincoln Group program was revealed in an article in the Los Angeles Times three months ago, White House officials said they were ''very concerned" about the practice of paying Iraqi newspapers to publish unattributed stories written by American troops.
Since early last year, the program has planted hundreds of stories in Iraqi newspapers highlighting progress made by Iraqi troops, efforts to rebuild Iraq, and US-led offensives against insurgents. American troops write articles, called storyboards, which are given to the Iraqi staff of Lincoln Group to translate into Arabic. The contractor's Iraqi staff pay newspaper editors in Baghdad to publish the articles without revealing their origin.
Van Buskirk's report, some fear, could lead to a proliferation of similar operations around the world.
