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Sunday, December 18, 2005 - Page updated at 12:00 AM

Military OK'd planted news

By Mark Mazzetti and Kevin Sack

Los Angeles Times

WASHINGTON — U.S. military officials in Iraq were fully aware that a Pentagon contractor regularly paid Iraqi newspapers to publish positive stories about the war, and made it clear that none of the stories should be traced to the United States, according to several current and former employees of Lincoln Group, the Washington, D.C.-based contractor.

In contrast to assertions by military officials in Baghdad, Iraq, and Washington, D.C., interviews and Lincoln Group documents show that the information campaign waged over the past year was designed to cloak any connection to the U.S. military.

"In clandestine parlance, Lincoln Group was a 'cut-out' — a third party — that would provide the military with plausible deniability," said a former Lincoln Group employee who worked on the operation. "To attribute products to the military would defeat the entire purpose. Hence, no product by Lincoln Group ever said 'Made in the U.S.A.' "

Several workers who carried out Lincoln Group's offensive, including a $20 million, two-month contract to influence public opinion in Iraq's restive Anbar province, describe a campaign that was unnecessarily costly, poorly run and largely ineffective at improving America's image in Iraq. The current and former employees spoke on condition of anonymity because of confidentiality restrictions.

"In my own estimation, this stuff has absolutely no effect and it's a total waste of money," said another former employee, echoing the sentiments of several colleagues. "Every Iraqi can read right through it."

Disclosures that the military used a private company to plant stories written by U.S. troops in Iraqi newspapers have drawn widespread criticism.

The Pentagon has ordered an investigation, led by Navy Rear Adm. Scott Van Buskirk. Military officials initially distanced themselves from Lincoln Group's activities, suggesting the company might have violated its contract when it masked the origin of stories placed in the Iraqi media.

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 occasionally was omitted by accident.

But Lincoln Group documents obtained by the Times, along with interviews with both military officials and current and former Lincoln Group employees, show that people who worked on the campaign thought the media products would be far more credible if their origins were disguised.

Pentagon officials say that Warner was given the most accurate information the Pentagon had at the time.

"Certainly, nobody was trying to deceive Senator Warner," said Bryan Whitman, a Pentagon spokesman, who declined further comment.