Iraqi Freedom of the Press

I believe Bush once said that democratic countries in the middle east may not be pro-America. Also when questioned about the al jazeera memo Blair said something similar to we are there so they do can have freedom of the press. Seemingly the US military do not agree. The LA times has reported that the U.S. military are secretly paying Iraqi newspapers to publish pro-American articles. From Reuters

Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch, spokesman for U.S. forces in Iraq, was asked during a briefing in Baghdad whether paying off Iraqi news organizations to run pro-American stories undermines the credibility of the U.S. military and of the new Iraqi media. Lynch replied that al Qaeda leaders believe "half the battle is the battlefield of the media," citing a letter, released by the United States in October, said to have been written by al Qaeda's second-in-command, Ayman al-Zawahri, to the extremist network's leader in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. "And what Zarqawi's doing continuously is lying to the Iraqi people, lying to the international community, conducting these kidnappings, these beheadings, these explosions so that he gets international coverage to look like he has more capability than he truly has," Lynch said. 'WE DON'T LIE' "We don't lie. We don't need to lie. We do empower our operational commanders with the ability to inform the Iraqi public, but everything we do is based on fact not based on fiction," Lynch said.

Yes they may not lie but it doesn't mean they are not telling all the facts. I mean I could tell someone Milli Vinneli were good act but forget to mention they were actually miming. I'm not lying but Im not telling the truth either. The US military think the media lost them Vietnam they don't seem to want the same thing to happen in Iraq. With the opinion polls in America turing against them it looks like the media has won the arguement again. The U.S military are just stooping to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi level. If they want to be seen as democratic liberators they need to beyond reproach.