U.S. admits planting pro-American stories in Iraq -

U.S. admits planting pro-American stories in Iraq -: "In a report published yesterday, the Los Angeles Times said the pro-American stories trumpet the operations of U.S. and Iraqi forces.

It said the stories were written by American soldiers, and translated into Arabic by a defense contractor and then given to Iraqi newspapers to publish in return for money.

The paper added that the articles were then presented as unbiased accounts by independent reporters, rather than stemming from the U.S. army.

The LATimes said its report was based on interviews with unidentified U.S. army officials and Iraqi newspaper employees, as well as documents it obtained.

Even if some of these articles are true, they still present one side of the story and skip information that might hurt the image of the United States or the U.S.-backed Iraqi government, the paper said.

The daily also said that the 'Information Operations Task Force' in Baghdad has bought an Iraqi newspaper and taken control of a radio station, and was using them to disseminate pro-American views as well.

One correspondent in Baghdad says the report is an embarrassment to the U.S. army, especially because it claims that it is promoting transparency in Iraq.

Sen. John Kerry, a Massachusetts Democrat who was defeated by President BUSH in the presidential election, said paying for pro-American stories undermines the U.S.‘s credibility.

'What we need are Iraqis who really believe what they're saying and say it for themselves,' he told reporters at the White House."