LA Times Blows Covert Op
Media Blog
Stephen Spruiell Reporting
From the Los Angeles Times:
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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.
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Must be nice. All I get over here is stuff that downplays the work of the U.S. and Iraqi troops, treats the insurgents as morally equivalent and ignores the U.S.-led efforts to rebuild the country in favor of poll numbers, Cindy Sheehan and Democratic Party theatrics. Where can I get one of these Iraqi papers?
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Though the articles are basically factual, they present only one side of events and omit information that might reflect poorly on the U.S. or Iraqi governments, officials said. Records and interviews indicate that the U.S. has paid Iraqi newspapers to run dozens of such articles, with headlines such as "Iraqis Insist on Living Despite Terrorism," since the effort began this year.
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"Iraqis Insist on Living Despite Terrorism." To what lows won't these odious propagandists sink?
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The military's information operations campaign has sparked a backlash among some senior military officers in Iraq and at the Pentagon who argue that attempts to subvert the news media could destroy the U.S. military's credibility in other nations and with the American public.
"Here we are trying to create the principles of democracy in Iraq. Every speech we give in that country is about democracy. And we're breaking all the first principles of democracy when we're doing it," said a senior Pentagon official who opposes the practice of planting stories in the Iraqi media.
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The one thing I will say for the LA Times reporters who put this story together: They did the right thing in disclosing the opinion of their anonymous source.
But they did the wrong thing in focusing on the "gotcha" aspects (contrasting this information operation with U.S. support for a free press in Iraq, etc.), rather than providing any context regarding how information operations have played important roles in the recent history of the United States. For instance, if the CIA hadn't pulled off a similar operation in post-WWII Italy, that country would have almost certainly elected a Communist government in 1948, with unknowable repercussions.
As for the argument that these operations undercut the trust we need to build with the Iraqi people, I say they wouldn't undercut the trust of the Iraqi people if papers like the LA Times weren't blowing their cover. We need more operations like this in Iraq, and more respect for their classified nature.
UPDATE: Chuck Simmins has a good take on the story.
blog.simmins.org
Also, the Washington Post reported on this operation back in June, although not with the level of detail that the LA Times did.
washingtonpost.com
media.nationalreview.com
latimes.com |
