U.S. paying Iraqi journalists to write positive news stories

Well, how else do you expect anyone in Iraq to believe things are going well there? With over 700 "insurgent" attacks per week, killing scores of people, you can't expect Iraqis to still be throwing rose petals at our feet, like they did when we first entered Baghdad. Oh, that's right - the rose petals never happened.

U.S. officials in Washington said the payments were made through the Baghdad Press Club, an organization created by U.S. Army officers. Members of the Press Club are paid as much as $200 a month, depending on the number of positive pieces they produce.

Eight current and former military, defense, and other U.S. officials in Baghdad and Washington agreed to discuss the payments to Iraqi reporters and other American military information operations because they fear that the efforts are promoting practices that are unacceptable for a democracy. They requested anonymity to avoid retaliation.

“We are teaching them (Iraqi journalists) the wrong things,’’ one military officer said.

They're not the only ones we're teaching the wrong things.

http://www.gtconnect.com/articles/2005/12/01/news/nation/thunat04.txt