U.S. firm paid $20M for Iraq propaganda:"poorly run &largely ineffective."

[kpete]

U.S. firm paid $20M for Iraq propaganda
WASHINGTON, Dec. 18 (UPI) -- The Washington company hired by the Pentagon to secretly write anonymous pro-U.S. news stories in Iraq was paid $20 million for a two-month contract.


On Dec. 2, Pentagon officials told Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John Warner, R-Va., that all of the published materials were supposed to be identified as originating with the U.S. military, but that identification was occasionally omitted by accident.

However, Lincoln Group documents obtained by the Los Angeles Times show that those who worked on the campaign believed the media products would be far more credible if their origins were disguised.

Several current and former employees of the Lincoln Group told the Los Angeles Times that U.S. military officials in Iraq were aware of the information campaign to sway public opinion, and called it "unnecessarily costly, poorly run and largely ineffective."
http://www.sciencedaily.com/upi/?feed=TopNews&article=UPI-1-20051218-07111200-bc-us-iraqstories.xml