More Bought Democracy

Muslim Scholars Were Paid to Aid U.S. Propaganda

WASHINGTON, Jan. 1 - A Pentagon contractor that paid Iraqi newspapers to print positive articles written by American soldiers has also been compensating Sunni religious scholars in Iraq in return for assistance with its propaganda work, according to current and former employees. The Lincoln Group, a Washington-based public relations company, was told early in 2005 by the Pentagon to identify religious leaders who could help produce messages that would persuade Sunnis in violence-ridden Anbar Province to participate in national elections and reject the insurgency, according to a former employee.

Where do we get all this money? Maybe all those welfare recipients who just got knocked off the roles by the Republicans in Congress ought to move to Iraq. It seems like we have an awfully lot to spend on their needy.