WASHINGTON, 4 December 2005 — After taking three days to shape its response, US military officials on Friday detailed and defended a Pentagon program that planted stories in the Iraqi media, an effort the military said was designed to counter enemy propaganda.
The paid-for news articles and allegations that the US Army has been paying Iraqi newspapers to publish factual but slanted reports about the US-led effort to crush the Sunni Muslim insurgency have raised urgent concerns in Washington about their effect. US efforts to nurture democracy in Iraq include the development of an independent free press.
The Los Angeles Times, which broke the story earlier this week, quoted unidentified officials as saying that some of the stories in Iraqi newspapers were written by US troops. Some of those officials expressed fear that use of such stories could hurt the US military’s credibility, the newspaper said.
Observers here say the top Pentagon authorities appear to have been caught off guard by the disclosure, due to the three days it took for the Defense Department to produce a statement Friday. The time lapse, they say, appears to reflect considerable uncertainly about how the Pentagon should respond to the allegations.
US defense officials have said that The Lincoln Group, a Washington-based defense contractor, was used to place the materials.
Lincoln Group spokeswoman Laurie Adler issued a statement saying the public relations company has worked with the Iraqi media to “promote truthful reporting.” A Pentagon spokesman, Bryan Whitman, said it was not clear whether the program violated the law or Pentagon policy.
“You can do something perfectly legal, but that is inconsistent with the policy or procedures of the department,” he said. “Just because it’s legal doesn’t mean it’s the right thing to do.”
The Lincoln Group has at least two contracts with the military to provide media and public relations services. One contract, for $6 million, was for public relations and advertising work in Iraq.
The other Lincoln contract, which is with the Special Operations Command, is worth up to $100 million over five years for media operations with video, print and Web-based products. That contract is not related to the dispute over propaganda and was not for services in Iraq.
Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Massachusetts, a member of the Armed Services Committee, sent a letter Friday to the Defense Department’s internal watchdog asking for an investigation into the program and the Lincoln Group contract.
“These reports raise serious questions about whether the Department of Defense engaged in covert activity by concealing the role of the government,” Kennedy wrote.
“This perception is reinforced by suggestions that there are classified aspects to this activity.” Now facing bipartisan criticism in the United States, military officials raised the possibility of changing the controversial information campaign, following reports it was paying Iraqi media to run favorable stories.
“If any part of our process does not have our full confidence, we will examine that activity and take appropriate action,” said Lt. Col. Barry Johnson, a military spokesman in Iraq. “If any contractor is failing to perform as we have intended, we will take appropriate action.”
