On October 19, New York Times Op Ed columnist Thomas Friedman wrote “Leading by (Bad) Example,” a spoof about “[a] delegation of Iraqi judges and journalists [that] abruptly left the U.S. … cutting short its visit to study the workings of American democracy. A delegation spokesman said the Iraqis were ‘bewildered’ by some of the behavior of the Bush administration and felt it was best to limit their exposure to the U.S. system at this time, when Iraq is taking its first baby steps toward democracy.”
In the piece Friedman pointed out the difference between actual Bush Administration domestic politics and policies - and the American ideals we’re supposedly teaching the Iraqi people. After discussing an Iraqi “judge” who heard that religion was a reason to support a Supreme Court Justice nominee (Harriet Miers) - a notion the “judge” rejected, and an Iraqi “lawyer” who was against torture and didn’t want to be “corrupted by…American right-to-torture” policies that the Bush Administration advocates, Friedman moved on to an Iraqi “journalist,” to conclude the opinion piece:
“Sahaf al-Sahafi, editor of one of Iraq’s new newspapers, said he wanted to go home after watching a televised videoconference last Thursday between soldiers in Iraq and President Bush. The soldiers, 10 Americans and an Iraqi, were coached by a Pentagon aide on how to respond to Mr. Bush.
‘I had nightmares watching this,’ Sahafi said. ‘It was right from the Saddam playbook. I was particularly upset to hear the Iraqi sergeant major, Akeel Shakir Nasser, tell Mr. Bush: ‘Thank you very much for everything. I like you.’ It was exactly the kind of staged encounter that Saddam used to have with his troops.’
Sahafi said he was also floored to see the U.S. Government Accountability Office, a nonpartisan agency that works for Congress, declare that a Bush administration contract that paid Armstrong Williams, a supposedly independent commentator, to promote Mr. Bush’s No Child Left Behind policy constituted illegal propaganda - an attempt by the government to buy good press.
‘Saddam bought and paid journalists all over the Arab world,’ Sahafi said. ‘It makes me sick to see even a drop of that in America.’
By coincidence, the Iraqi delegates departed Washington just as the Bush aide Karen Hughes returned from the Middle East. Her trip was aimed at improving America’s image among Muslims by giving them a more accurate view of America and President Bush. She said, ‘The more they know about us, the more they will like us.’
(Yes, all of this is a fake news story. I just wish that it weren’t so true.)”
So ended Thomas Friedman’s “story,” we thought. Today the LA Times reports “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.”
From the LA 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.
….
The military’s effort to disseminate propaganda in the Iraqi media is taking place even as U.S. officials are pledging to promote democratic principles, political transparency and freedom of speech in a country emerging from decades of dictatorship and corruption.
It comes as the State Department is training Iraqi reporters in basic journalism skills and Western media ethics, including one workshop titled ‘The Role of Press in a Democratic Society.’
….
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.”
Apparently editors of Iraqi newspapers don’t need to go to the American press to read American government-paid journalists. We’re paying for them in Iraq too. Hat tip to Friedman (I suppose) for the “scoop.”
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