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US Preps Iraq Propaganda Blitz

Pentagon will spend $300M on pro-America publicity campaign
By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 3, 2008 1:06 PM CDT
US Preps Iraq Propaganda Blitz
Munir al-Kafiri, center-left, an official of the Iraqi Turkomen Front, answers questions during the recording of a TV program on Friday, Aug. 8, 2008 in the northern city of Kirkuk, Iraq.    (AP Photo/Selcan Hacaoglu)

The Defense Department is launching a major propaganda campaign to “engage and inspire” the Iraqi people. US contractors will be paid up to $300 million over the next 3 years to produce pro-American news and entertainment for the Iraqi media, the Washington Post reports. Such “information/psychological operations” are considered a crucial part of counterinsurgency strategy, but al-Qaeda has long out-flanked the US in propaganda.

Lately, however, the Pentagon is feeling confident in its media endeavors. Campaigns showing insurgents killing innocents turned public sentiment against al-Qaeda. Less direct operations—like an Iraqi version of American Idol intended to boost national reconciliation—also have been considered. But all this must be done in secret; Iraqi stations would never knowingly air US-generated content. “They are so afraid they're going to be Westernized,” aid one Pentagon document. “You have to be careful.”
(More Iraq stories.)

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