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U.S. Plants Paid Propaganda in Iraq's Press Email Print

By SusanG
11/30/2005 11:14:59 AM EST

Exporting democracy these days apparently means exporting the Bush administration's warped views of reality - along with its most anti-democratic methods:

From today's Los Angeles Times

WASHINGTON -- As part of an information offensive in Iraq, the U.S. military is secretly paying Iraqi newspapers to publish stories written by American troops in an effort to burnish the image of the U.S. mission in Iraq.

The articles, written by U.S. military "information operations" troops, are translated into Arabic and placed in Baghdad newspapers with the help of a defense contractor, according to U.S. military officials and documents obtained by the Los Angeles Times.

Many of the articles are presented in the Iraqi press as unbiased news accounts written and reported by independent journalists. The stories trumpet the work of U.S. and Iraqi troops, denounce insurgents and tout U.S.-led efforts to rebuild the country.

All the world's a stage to this cabal, if you read this story carefully. Most of the "articles" are written by a U.S. government contractor, Lincoln Group, in which "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."

The Times asserts, "The operation is designed to mask any connection with the U.S. military." An even more disturbing element to the program is its importation of basic entertainment developments concepts. Think of it as Hollywood on the Tigris and let yourself - and the Iraqis we are purportedly willing to die for - mull this interesting twist over:

According to several sources, the process for placing the stories begins when soldiers write "storyboards" of events in Iraq, such as a joint U.S.-Iraqi raid on a suspected insurgent hide-out, or a suicide bomb that killed Iraqi civilians.

The storyboards, several of which were obtained by The Times, read more like press releases than news stories. They often contain anonymous quotes from U.S. military officials; it is unclear whether the quotes are authentic.

"Absolute truth was not an essential element of these stories," said the senior military official who spent this year in Iraq.

Got that? "Absolute truth" is no longer an "essential element" of a news story. Well, we've known that for quite some time here in the states, but it's dispiriting to watch the Iraqis learn that the mythical democracy that's got the gutters of Baghdad filling daily with Iraqi blood is not based on reality.

Sickening. This is truly sickening. (But not surprising.)

I'm reaching the point where I truly believe that the impediment of true, factual information flow is at the heart of ALL the problems we face here at home and those that need to be tackled in any aspiring democracy. At the core of every decision made about the direction of a country, theoretically decided by the votes of its citizens for its representatives, there must be the facts - the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

Seeding Iraq with planted "storyboarded" myths is inimical to every claim we make about the virtues of our democratic ideology. It also brings into doubt every slight piece of "good news" that makes it into our domestic press here (and that our right-wing organs so desperately trumpet) - purple-fingered voting, painted schools, medical miracles the U.S. military doctors perform for Iraqi residents. As such, any breakthroughs we do actually make get masked in a clutter of cynical skepticism. I don't expect Powerline and the Washington Times and the National Review to do anything other than "stay the course" when faced with evidence that the "good news" spilling from Iraq has about as much relation to reality as "Desperate Housewives." But surely the right-wing true believers must begin to feel burned at some point, yes?

Please, dear God. The Iraqis - and Americans - deserve some truth, be it hard truth, tough truth, sad truth. We guarantee the failure of whatever our mission is in Iraq (still awaiting definition here, folks) when the full facts of the situation in that war-torn country are not reported.

I want the truth. I want it, as they say, to be set free. And I'm more and more discouraged about the possibility of that ever happening, between our own corporate media shenanigans and the active myth creation the U.S. is enthusiastically promoting. Think for a minute of the consequences - the life and death consequences - our bullshit is having on the Iraqi citizen as he or she moves through a day. Iraqis hear the fictions of safer streets, adequate security, clean water ... they trust this, they move through their daily rounds and they die. They die if they believe what they read in their press.

Think about that: Because of "feel good" paid propaganda pieces, innocent Iraqis are dying. And we're financing these life-killing fictions.

Welcome to democracy, storyboard style.


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U.S. Plants Paid Propaganda in Iraq's Press | 25 comments (25 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)
Marketing vs. Management (none / 1)
It's getting more obvious by the day (or by the speech?) that Bush didn't do very well in Business School.  Management requires facts. How many units sold? Cost per unit? Margin per unit? Numbers, or metrics if that's what he wants to call them.  When the current administration doesn't want to deal with nasty FACTS it reverts to marketing.

Is it Armstong Williams all over again? How many agencies did the GAO catch hiring hacks to try to push the American public?  I suppose in Bushland the fact that NCLB got passed equals success, and therefore what 'worked' here will 'work' in Iraq?  Those nasty inconvenient FACTS just keep getting in the way.

by greatbasin2 on 11/30/2005 11:45:54 AM EST

Easy to buy ink (none / 1)
Than it is to fix a problem.  That seems to be a core belief in this administration.

Just look at Bush's speech this morning.  If you can't find a solution, there's always time to launch a new PR offensive.

by Devilstower on 11/30/2005 11:49:55 AM EST

[ Parent ]
Yes ... marketing vs. management (none / 1)
How can one make rational decisions if one is ignoring facts? How can any plan for progress be made if "bad news" is suppressed? Limiting the flow of information to anyone guarantees bad decision-making, which is piss poor management in action.

by SusanG on 11/30/2005 11:56:48 AM EST

[ Parent ]
Limiting the flow of information (none / 0)
leads to poor decision making ONLY if the information being withheld is relevant to the "Correct" decision.

In the case of the Administration (or any other entity partaking in overt propaganda), they provide the information (regardless of truth) that they feel will lead to their designated "correct answer".

from that perspective, it is clear that "Rational decisions" for them are far different than "Rational Decisions" for us. Thus, when we're baffled from their decisions to do whatever they do, it is more likely the result of different thought processes rather than incompetence.

Political Cortex -- Brain Food for the Body Politic

by Tom Ball on 11/30/2005 02:21:48 PM EST

[ Parent ]
But the AdministrationDOES have the facts. (none / 0)
The problem is that they don't want you or me or the American or Iraqi people to have the facts.

Therefore, their decision-making results in a completely informed decision. That makes the results of their decisions-making even more frightening. They know the facts. They know the facts don't support their assertions. They know what it will take to create that support (lies). They follow through with that necessary action -- seemingly without concern for the potential repercusssions. Why is that?

Well, it could be due to the fact that they've received a free pass from the media and the American electorate for the first 4 years of the administration. It could be because they simply don't care -- knowing full well that they'll still be around in some form or another for the next 3 years -- they just want to go for it (whatever 'it' is).

Political Cortex -- Brain Food for the Body Politic

by Tom Ball on 11/30/2005 02:29:44 PM EST

[ Parent ]
When the products sucks... (none / 1)
...you upgrade the marketing...but there is an old advertising piece of wisdom.  The best advertising can get anyone to try a product once, but when they take it home and it flat out sucks, they don't come back and buy it again, unless they own stock in the company that makes the product...and that is what we have here.

The only ones who are supporting this shitty product, are stock holders in BushCo.

The Albany Project. The best damned blog about New York State politics.

by NYBri on 11/30/2005 12:32:18 PM EST

This morning's speech (none / 1)
Was like an old box of Tide with a big "New & Improved" sticker slapped to the side.  Heck, it even came with a 35-page glossy ad.

by Devilstower on 11/30/2005 02:06:59 PM EST

[ Parent ]
And don't forget ... (none / 1)
you re-shape the box so the consumer won't notice he's buying less with the same amount of money.

Apply metaphor to your liking.

by SusanG on 11/30/2005 02:10:39 PM EST

[ Parent ]
Not Business. Psychology!! (none / 0)
One thing we have to understand is that the rightwing (neocon or not) does not practice 'business management' or MBA-type decision-making despite their claims to [business] organizational competence.

Instead, they practice politics, purely and simply. And politics is 100% psychology. It targets emotions on a mass scale. It has little to do with technical competence (except to academics and political junkies).

Political Cortex -- Brain Food for the Body Politic

by Tom Ball on 11/30/2005 02:53:11 PM EST

[ Parent ]
Ironically (none / 0)
Ironically, though the GOP touts their business acumen and its alleged applicability to political leadership, it is actually the Dems who attempt to put their MBAs to work in DC and elsewhere.

They do their marketing research -- polls and Focus Groups. They find a need to fill in each region -- miners in WVA, farmers in IA, Orange growers in FL, their perception of the need for a 'more moderate' Democratic candidate nationwide, etc.

They then seek to fill the space with a pro-Iraq-invasion, Bush-apologist, or a southern state candidate.

What they Don't do is establish and communicate effectively a meaningful, compelling, truly progressive core vision that they stick with year after year -- you know, the thing that actually appeals to people.

In short, The nation/state/municipality is not a business product to be marketed, it is a living entity that is to be appealed to.

As long as the Democrats treat our candidate like a product instead of a passionate and heartfelt voice for the progressive agenda , and the electorate like the product's potential consumer base instead of human beings seeking leadership, meaning, and vision...

...then all the "Truth" in the world is meaningless.

Political Cortex -- Brain Food for the Body Politic

by Tom Ball on 11/30/2005 02:58:05 PM EST

[ Parent ]
Do a piece on this ... (none / 1)
on how "marketing" has overtaken "management" skills and how the Dems can seize the day on it, in practical terms.

by SusanG on 11/30/2005 03:04:25 PM EST

[ Parent ]
hmmmmm.. (none / 0)
me and my big mouth:O

Heh!

Political Cortex -- Brain Food for the Body Politic

by Tom Ball on 11/30/2005 03:27:57 PM EST

[ Parent ]
I wonder if anyone will believe (none / 1)
the U.S. anymore after what we've all been through for the last five years.

Truth is a difficult commodity to come by these days, and I worry that we may have lost the ability to determine what constitutes "facts" to this Administration.

Among other things, I'd like to see the Democrats re-establish an ability to speak, demonstrate, and defend the power of truth again.

Nicely disturbing post, Susan. (Now you've done it. Set me off.)

Taxes shall be levied according to ability to pay. That is the only American principle. FDR

by btyarbro on 11/30/2005 12:41:44 PM EST

I'm glad I set you off (none / 1)
Write one of your marvelous essays addressing how we're going to re-establish trust in our word again. Or even if we can. How would we go about it?

by SusanG on 11/30/2005 12:51:12 PM EST

[ Parent ]
I'm off to my class to lecture (none / 1)
about this very thing. (apolitically, of course)

When I get back tonight, I'll get back to ya.

Think I'll tell my class that if they don't start writing the truth and exposing lies in language that they'll

"regret it. Maybe not today; maybe not tomorrow, but soon, and for the rest of" their lives.

Think they've seen Casablanca??

Taxes shall be levied according to ability to pay. That is the only American principle. FDR

by btyarbro on 11/30/2005 01:45:27 PM EST

[ Parent ]
A reputation lost (none / 1)
Is very difficult to get back.

Didn't your mom teach you that in high school?

by Devilstower on 11/30/2005 02:07:30 PM EST

[ Parent ]
Bonnie (none / 0)
Unfortunately, the truth by itself is not sufficient. People must wish to accept the truth.

George Lakoff explained this best when he compared the "Strict Father" mentality of conservatives to the "Nurturant Parent" mentality of liberals.

In essence, the framework within which each person's thought processes work, act as a powerful filter to the information that they receive for consumption.

If the new information sufficiently conflicts with a closely held bit of new information (regardless of how truthful it might be), it is discarded -- either rationalized away, disbelieved, or dismissed as dubiously sourced.

Don't get me wrong. truth would certainly help. But the lefty blogosphere has been divulging much of the truth of this Administration for years. Unfortunately, the blogs have been easily dismissed as noncredible sources.

Seems the American people actually want to beleive that the President of the United States of America would actually NOT be capable of lying our nation to war.

Political Cortex -- Brain Food for the Body Politic

by Tom Ball on 11/30/2005 03:15:04 PM EST

[ Parent ]
Tom (none / 0)
I'm not arguing that the "truth" is enough. Lakoff aside for the moment, I'm not even addressing the contextual challenges of "marketing" vs. "management."  A good topic for another discussion.

What concerns me here is that through structures this Administration has created, and with the willing complicity of the media, the pundits, the right's echo chambers, and the think tanks, Americans have been conditioned to confuse truth with "official" statements, factoids with arguments, and propaganda with dialogue.

You can't have a conversation or even a meaningful discussion in a room an echo chamber that is rigged.  But you can begin to be heard if the noise is filtered out and people are taught to listen again.

I don't know if America is capable of listening anymore.

Taxes shall be levied according to ability to pay. That is the only American principle. FDR

by btyarbro on 11/30/2005 06:01:52 PM EST

[ Parent ]
That's an interesting point (none / 1)
At one time, when I had more energy, I was going to write a short story based on the "new new" way to manage information.

In previous eras, truth was suppressed. In OUR era, it is diluted and disguised ... so many different "versions" of truth are out there, that the marketplace of ideas is flooded with high-sounding different "theories," and one can pick and choose which one to subscribe to. And it's difficult to get at the reality of what is real and true when too many ideas are clamoring that they are the one and only truth.

This notion actually hit me in regards to the ID/evolution question and how the dialogue was being conducted ... that ID had an equal right to equal time in the classroom and thus it was fair to let children "decide" after hearing both sides, which version of creation they would "believe in."

Horrors. This scenario just gives me the horrors.

by SusanG on 11/30/2005 06:11:18 PM EST

[ Parent ]
Creeepy (none / 0)
When you put it like that, it sounds so Twilight zone-ish:

"You have now entered a world where 'truth' conforms to your every wish. Everyone is right. And everyone is wrong. You've entered 'Bush's America'."

sigh.

Political Cortex -- Brain Food for the Body Politic

by Tom Ball on 11/30/2005 08:00:35 PM EST

[ Parent ]
Actually ... (none / 0)
that was the tone I was going to use. LOL.

Feel free to write it yourself though if the mood hits. I'm beginning to think I'll never get back to writing fiction again in this lifetime.

by SusanG on 11/30/2005 08:35:09 PM EST

[ Parent ]
Sometimes (none / 0)
writing about the Bush Administration seems like it should be fiction -- we wish it were fiction. But then you stop writing and realize that all this shit is Real. Now that is creepy.

Political Cortex -- Brain Food for the Body Politic

by Tom Ball on 11/30/2005 10:03:41 PM EST

[ Parent ]
Well, I certainly (none / 0)
can't argue with that -- since I agree with it:)

Political Cortex -- Brain Food for the Body Politic

by Tom Ball on 11/30/2005 07:54:44 PM EST

[ Parent ]
Lincoln Group (none / 1)
It would be interesting to see how Lincoln Group fits in with the whole Rendon story. It appears that this is just more of the "information campaigns" put on by the Pentagon and/or CIA.

from the  Rollingstone:  article on John Rendon and Rendon Group:

"military planners are shifting away from the Cold War view that power comes from superior weapons systems. Instead, the Pentagon now believes that "combat power can be enhanced by communications networks and technologies that control access to, and directly manipulate, information. As a result, information itself is now both a tool and a target of warfare."

As the war in Iraq has spiraled out of control, the Bush administration's covert propaganda campaign has intensified. According to a secret Pentagon report personally approved by Rumsfeld in October 2003 and obtained by Rolling Stone, the Strategic Command is authorized to engage in "military deception" -- defined as "presenting false information, images or statements." The seventy-four-page document, titled "Information Operations Roadmap," also calls for psychological operations to be launched over radio, television, cell phones and "emerging technologies" such as the Internet.

In addition to being classified secret, the road map is also stamped noforn, meaning it cannot be shared even with our allies.


by Duke1676 on 11/30/2005 01:55:37 PM EST

interesting indeed (5.00 / 2)
Excellent point here!  The more information that comes out about this war, the more it appears that we have "War by Contract."  No more KP and latrine duty--Halliburton can get a contract to provide exploited foreign workers to clean the toilets and serve the food.  No more security details--Blackwater and CACI can provide security for "other contractors" while underpaid over-deployed American soldiers provide security for them.  Add to this more contracts to sell the war to the American public, and yet more contracts to sell the war to the Iraqi citizens.  If this isn't profiteering I'm not sure what would be.

by greatbasin2 on 11/30/2005 02:11:29 PM EST

[ Parent ]
U.S. Plants Paid Propaganda in Iraq's Press | 25 comments (25 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)
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