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Rumsfeld Wrong in Saying Press Propaganda Campaign Ended in Iraq? Editor And Publisher | February 20 2006 Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said Friday that the controversial Pentagon-back program to plant propaganda in Iraqi newspapers had been completely shut down. This appears at odds with other statements recently, the Los Angeles Times reports, calling Rumsfeld's comments mistaken. Appearing on the Charlie Rose PBS show on Friday, Rumsfeld criticized the military program that paids Iraqi newspapers to plant stories favorable to the American effort there, "and mistakenly said the Pentagon had shut down the program shortly after its existence was revealed," the Times Mark Mazzetti writes. "Rumsfeld said the U.S. military should not be paying Iraqi media to publish articles, whose origin was concealed even from the news outlets. He said he had not been initially aware of the clandestine program, and ordered it shut down after news outlets published details of it. " He said the contractor, Lincoln Group, and commanders in Iraq were notified of the Pentagon's concerns and ended the propaganda effort. "They stopped doing that," he said. But Mazetti reports: "One person familiar with Lincoln Group's operations, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of an ongoing investigation, said the program in Iraq was still active as of a week ago. "Army Gen. George W. Casey, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, said during a Dec. 16 news conference — more than two weeks after the existence of the operation was revealed — that it had not been shut down." A Pentagon spokesman did not return a call seeking comment. "Rumsfeld's remarks reflect a difference in attitude toward the program between officials in Washington and those in Baghdad," Mazzetti observes. "Shortly after the existence of the program was revealed, White House and Pentagon officials expressed concern, while commanders in Baghdad defended it."
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