CAIRO, December 14, 2005 (IslamOnline.net) - A $300 million Pentagon psychological warfare operation includes plans to place pro-American messages in foreign media outlets without disclosing the US government as the source, USA Today reported on Wednesday, December 14.

The media campaign is being designed “to counter terrorist ideology and sway foreign audiences to support American policies,” the paper said quoting one of the military officials in charge of the program.

The program is run by psychological warfare experts at the US Special Operations Command and will operate throughout the world, including in allied nations and in countries where the US is not involved in armed conflict, the daily said.

The military wants to fight the information war against Al-Qaeda through newspapers, websites, radio, television and "novelty items" such as T-shirts and bumper stickers, it added.

The description of the program by Mike Furlong, deputy director of the Joint Psychological Operations Support Element, provides the most detailed look to date at the Pentagon's global campaign, the paper said.

The three companies handling the campaign include the Lincoln Group, the company being investigated by the Pentagon for paying Iraqi newspapers to run pro-US stories to polish the tarnished image of the US occupation of the oil-rich country, it added.

The USA Today said that the military officials involved with the campaign said they are not planning to place false stories in foreign news outlets clandestinely.

But the military will not always reveal its role in distributing pro-American messages, Furlong said.

"While the product may not carry the label, 'Made in the USA,' we will respond truthfully if asked" by journalists, Furlong told USA Today in a videoconference interview.

The paper said that Furlong declined to give examples of specific "products," which he said would include articles, advertisements and public-service announcements.

"I think it's absolutely wrong for the government to do this," Patrick Butler, vice president of the International Center for Journalists in Washington, was quoted as saying by the New York Times on Thursday, December 1.

"Ethically, it's indefensible," he added.

The Pentagon's first public relations contract with Lincoln was awarded in 2004 for about $5 million with the stated purpose of accurately informing the Iraqi people of American goals and gaining their support.

Last June, the Special Operations Command in Tampa awarded Lincoln and two other companies a multimillion-dollar contract to support psychological operations.

Ken Bacon, a Clinton administration Pentagon spokesman who heads the non-profit group Refugees International, said that placing pro-US content in foreign media "makes people suspicious of the open press."