23 Dec. USA Today - Most Think Propaganda Campaign in Iraq Wrong.

Almost three-quarters of Americans think it was wrong for the Pentagon to pay Iraqi newspapers to publish news about U.S. efforts in Iraq, a new USA TODAY/CNN/Gallup Poll shows.

USA TODAY reported earlier this month that the Pentagon plans to expand beyond Iraq an anti-terrorism public relations campaign that has included secret payments to Iraqi journalists and publications who printed stories favorable to the USA. In some cases, the stories will be prepared by U.S. military personnel, as they have been in Iraq.

The military will not always reveal it was behind the stories, said Mike Furlong, deputy director of the Joint Psychological Operations Support Element. The global program will be part of a five-year public relations campaign costing up to $300 million...

The Pentagon's secret public relations work in Iraq has been in the news since the Los Angeles Times revealed that the Lincoln Group, as part of a $6 million Pentagon contract, had paid members of the Iraqi news media to anonymously publish stories written by U.S. military personnel. The military has started an investigation of the program.

Defense Department spokesman Bryan Whitman says the Pentagon understands the public's concern about the pay-to-publish program and is reviewing the “policies, procedures and performance of not only the servicemembers that have been involved but also the contractor that's been used.”

“It's important to acknowledge that we're dealing with a very tough communications environment in Iraq … where our enemies and adversaries make it a practice to misinform, to deceive and to lie about what's going on,” he says. The goal of the military, he says, is to give Iraqis “good, accurate and timely information.”