whenever i read stories like this one i wonder if, when military leaders come up with a secret plan, they figure in the possible consequences if the plan is discovered.
if one of the u.s' goals in iraq is to create a free and independent press, then a secret project to pay iraqi reporters for positive coverage is just a bad idea. whatever possible P.R. benefits the pentagon expected to get from a bunch of iraqi puff pieces, they are completely outweighed by the danger of suffering a fatal loss of credibility if the plan is discovered.
what gives a news source credibility in the arab world (and indeed, anywhere) is its ability to criticize the powers that be. that's how al-jazeera became so wildly popular in the late 1990s. it stood out as the one place where arabs could see their leaders being asked hard questions. if you want to send a message to iraqis that we are serious about democracy and freedom there, you let the newspapers print all the negative stories they want, and then do nothing about it. that's a marked contrast with how things are done other places in the region, and a huge break from saddam's era.
this latest ham-handed attempt to bribe people for nicer stories does far more harm to the project than those nice stories ever could help. at least that's how i see it. it just seems like the military planners keep missing the forest for the trees.
