More proof of creeping fascism

Positive Press on Iraq Is Aim of U.S. Contract
By Walter Pincus
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, August 31, 2006; A20



U.S. military leaders in Baghdad have put out for bid a two-year, $20 million public relations contract that calls for extensive monitoring of U.S. and Middle Eastern media in an effort to promote more positive coverage of news from Iraq.

The contract calls for assembling a database of selected news stories and assessing their tone as part of a program to provide "public relations products" that would improve coverage of the military command's performance, according to a statement of work attached to the proposal.

The request for bids comes at a time when Bush administration officials are publicly criticizing media coverage of the war in Iraq.

The media outlets would be monitored for how they present coalition or anti-Iraqi force operations. That part of the proposal could reflect Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld's often-stated concern that the media does not cover positive aspects of Iraq.

So as the Sunni corpses pile up, the Shiite mosques burn and the US troop die, let's put on our rose-tinted glasses and sing that wonderful song by Ray Stevens Everything Is Beautiful. BTW Pincus' story provides a link to the "official Multi-National Force-Iraq" Web site for a preview of "optimistic" news as seen through the dead eyes of Joseph Goebbles.