Paid propaganda in Iraqi newspapers

Thanks to Nick for providing this item. The Senate Armed Services Committee is investigating a report that the US military has been paying newspapers in Iraq to plant stories in their editions. Apparently "stories written by 'information operation'' troops were secretly placed with media outlets in Iraq through a Washington-based defense contractor, Lincoln Group." Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch, spokesman for the US military in Balghdad, defends the operation, claiming, "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'' Laurie Adler, speaking for the Lincoln Group, claims the company "can't discuss the contract but everything the Lincoln Group put out was truthful and factual.'' Meanwhile, the AP reports that Sen John Warner, chair of the Armed Services Committee, is not satisfied with the explanations he has got from the military, and Pentagon spokespeople are themselves not certain that the operation is legal. Sen Edward Kennedy is more categorical, arguing that the operation ''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.''