Iraq Information or Party Propaganda?
The Guardian has a story on Sunday about how the Iraq Information Office is not just a Coalition Provisional Authority way of getting the news out about their activities, but is essentially an arm of the Republican National Committee dedicated to reelecting George Bush. The goal is to keep the bad news from Iraq from hurting Bush in the presidential campaign.
I have for some time been wondering why the US press reporting about Iraq was so much sunnier and optimistic than what one hears from Iraqis or from freelance reporters on the ground in the country. To any extent that the mainstream Western press takes its cues from Dan Senor and Rich Galen, that would help explain it.