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BACK TO : Propaganda and Iraq 2003 to date: an introduction and timeline
Timeline 
Iraq Media Timeline Before (and during) the invasion of Iraq - The U.S. government broadcasts psychological warfare programming into Iraq from an EC-130E Commander Solo aircraft (a modified C130 cargo plane). (Asia Times, 8/16/03) January 16, 2003 - Defense Department offices for special operations and low-intensity conflict and for Near Eastern and South Asian affairs (special plans), issue a White Paper/briefing calling for a "Rapid Reaction Media Team" to set up an "Iraqi Free Media" after the overthrow of the government in Baghdad. February 2003 - C. Ryan Henry, corporate vice president for strategic assessment and development for the San Diego-based defense contractor Scientific Applications International Corporation (SAIC), leaves to become deputy to Douglas Feith, head of the Defense Department's policy office. (OUSD(P) Web site, Ryan Henry biography) March 5, 2003 - The Pentagon gives a no-bid $33 million contract to SAIC for the Iraqi Reconstruction and Development Council (IRDC), a group of exiles put together by Paul Wolfowitz. (Acquisition, 3/18/04; San Diego Union-Tribune, 7/4/04) March 11, 2003 - The Defense Department gives SAIC a $15 million sole-source contract for the "Iraqi Free Media" project. Though the company has worked extensively with U.S. Special Forces, it has no media experience. The contract is under Douglas Feith's purview. (SAIC's vice chairman, Admiral William Owens (Ret.), was a member of the Defense Policy Board, advising Donald Rumsfeld. The company's board members include Gen. Wayne Downing (Ret.), who also worked on domestic and international business development for the company, and was a member of the board of The Committee for the Liberation of Iraq. Soon after SAIC hired him, according to The San Diego Union-Tribune, "Downing became a vocal advocate for overthrowing Saddam Hussein, becoming a part-time lobbyist and military planner for Iraqi dissident Adnan Chalabi's Iraqi National Congress.") ("In 1997, Downing drafted a detailed plan for invading Iraq, spearheaded by Iraqi insurgents with the help of 5,000 or 6,000 special operations forces . . . . Gen. Anthony Zinni [U.S. military commander for the Middle East] mocked it as 'the Bay of Goats'," evoking the U.S. Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba in 1961.) (Until mid-2002 Downing worked for the George W. Bush administration as an NSC counterterrorism expert.) (Acquisition, 3/18/04; Asia Times, 8/16/03; Washington Post, 10/16/03; Village Voice, 11/12/03; San Diego Union-Tribune, 7/4/04) Around March 11, 2003 - Robert Reilly, former head of the Voice of America, is hired to be project director for the Iraqi Media Network (IMN). Reilly worked for the Reagan administration as a liaison to Catholics, and as a publicist for the Nicaraguan contras. He was a member of the Center for Security Policy, whose credo was "peace through American strength." Other members included Donald Rumsfeld, Richard Perle, Doug Feith, Elliott Abrams, Midge Dector, and Frank Gaffney. One of Reilly's publications posited an inherent incompatibility between Islamic theology and Western values. Mike Furlong, who did military media work after the Kosovo war, is hired as Reilly's deputy and the Iraqi Media Network's program manager. (Reporters Without Borders Web site, 7/22/03; Center for Security Policy Web site) March 20, 2003 - The U.S. invades Iraq. March 21, 2003 - An email from a Defense Department contracting specialist indicates that someone from the Office for Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance (ORHA), the entity initially created by the Pentagon to rule Iraq, wants SAIC to hire four named individuals, including Shaha Ali Riza, as Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) for advice regarding voter education, business development, politics, women, and government reform. (Acquisition, 3/18/04; Contract No. DASW01-03-F-0537) March 27, 2003 - SAIC is awarded an $834,744 contract for an "Advisor for Democracy and Governance Group," including Shaha Ali Riza. (In April 2007 it is revealed that Paul Wolfowitz, in response to nepotism rules evoked when he became director of the World Bank, arranged for Riza, his significant other, to be posted to the State Department and to be granted several large raises, increasing her salary to more than $193,000.) (Acquisition, 3/18/04; Government Accountability Project Web site, 4/5/07) March 29, 2003 - British tanks fire on four al-Jazeera journalists filming food distribution in Basra. (Reporters Without Borders Web site,4/8/03) March 30, 2003 - U.S. forces hit Iraq's Ministry of Information with a cruise missile, damaging the building and destroying satellite dishes. (Central Command News Release, 3/30/2003, Independent on Sunday (London), 3/30/03) April 6, 2003 - American troops kill Qomran Abdul Razzaq, a BBC translator, when they bomb a Kurdish convoy in northern Iraq. (Brussels Tribunal Web site) April 7, 2003 - U.S. forces fire on an al-Jazeera vehicle, prominently marked "press", on a road near Baghdad. (Reporters Without Borders Web site, 4/8/03) April 8, 2003 - A U.S. tank fires on Baghdad's Palestine Hotel and kills Reuters cameraman Taras Protsyuk and Spanish Telecinco cameraman Jose Couso. (Associated Press, 4/19/04) April 8, 2003 - A U.S. missile hits al-Jazeera's Baghdad bureau and kills reporter Tariq Ayoub. The Pentagon had been extensively briefed on the bureau's location, which was festooned with barriers marked "TV". (MEED Weekly Special Report, 2/20/04) April 10, 2003 - Ahmed al-Rikaby, hired by SAIC to be the Iraqi Media Network's first television director, broadcasts the announcement "Welcome to the new Iraq" from a tent erected by U.S. soldiers. Five days later, "The Voice of New Iraq" officially begins broadcasting on AM radio. (Associated Press, 8/6/03; Christian Science Monitor, 4/21/03) May 13, 2003 - The Iraqi Media Network begins television broadcasting from Baghdad, featuring cartoons, Egyptian soap operas, folk singers, news, sports, and interviews about Iraq's lack of security and services. (Associated Press, 5/25/03) May 15, 2003 - PR Week reports SAIC's launching of the newspaper as-Sabah, with an initial run of 50,000. Its "short-term goal is to quell unrest among Iraqis by establishing America's presence and control over basic issues. The San Diego-based information-technology firm holds a Pentagon-issued contract to set up a media operation in post-war Iraq in coordination with Psychological Operations and the White House communications staff." (PR Week (US), 5/19/03) June 2003 - Administrator Paul Bremer of the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA), successor to ORHA, issues Order No. 6, declaring that the Iraqi Media Network is an interim entity replacing Iraq's information ministry, eliminated by occupation authorities in May. IMN is given the ministry's equipment and facilities. It retains a few hundred reporters and other staff. More than 5,000 employees are fired. Along with the newspaper as-Sabah, the Iraqi Media Network operates a television station and two radio stations. The network's chief editor, former Iraqi-Canadian exile George Mansour, says its news bulletins are independent. In reality they feature coalition activities and statements by Bremer. Mansour insists his journalists are "genuine" Iraqis, but some mock its reporters' American and British accents. (Reporters Without Borders Web site, 4/26/07) June 2003 - Independent press watchdog groups issue a report calling for the Iraqi Media Network to be dismantled because it is unclear whether it is to be an independent media outlet or a propaganda tool. Controversies include the hiring of Hero Talabani, wife of Kurdish leader/USG ally Jalal Talabani, to oversee editing, and its daily airing of a British program called "Toward Freedom." The latter issue has led five Iraqi Media Network officials to write to managers installed by SAIC: "We respectfully request to know whose political agenda is involved here. Certainly, it is not a professionally sound programming decision to use a mediocre propaganda program from abroad to supercede our own news program. Following an exhausting hour of 'Toward Freedom,' it is only the most dedicated news junkies who could tolerate it without seeking another channel." (Baghdad Bulletin, July 21, 2003) June 2003 - Iraqi Media Network staff are not paid and go on strike. They strike again upon learning their pay scale will be that of the former Ministry of Information -- $120 a month. A senior advisor to the IMN, former NBC correspondent Don North, says, "For some reason CPA have said we must adhere to the old pay scheme" despite intense competition for competent staff. (U.S. contractors hired for management positions are paid more than $200 per hour.) (Baghdad Bulletin, July 21, 2003) June 2003 - Robert Reilly leaves the Iraqi Media Network, suddenly. (Washington Post, 10/16/03) June 2003 - Iraqi Media Network program manager Mike Furlong is fired. (Baghdad Bulletin, July 21, 2003) August 5, 2003 - Iraqi Media Network's TV director, Ahmed al-Rikaby, quits, saying the network is inadequately funded and can't compete with al-Jazeera and other alternative news sources. Al-Rikaby's one-year contract to be television director and head of radio programs was scheduled to end in April 2004. He says low pay has led staff to leave the network. (Associated Press, 8/6/03) August 10, 2003 - The Daily Telegraph, a conservative British paper, reports that former colleagues of Ahmed al-Rikaby say that Iraqi TV's problems arose from incompetence and nepotism, and that his claims of inadequate funding "should not be taken seriously." Al-Rikaby declares that he's been targeted by "a smear campaign," and says, "There was always an excuse as to why I couldn't get what I needed." (The Daily Telegraph, 8/10/03) August 17, 2003 - U.S. soldiers kill Mazen Dana, a Palestinian journalist working for Reuters, while he is filming outside Abu Ghraib prison. (IPS, 9/25/03) September 2003 - Dorrance Smith becomes media consultant to the CPA and head of the Iraqi Media Network. A childhood friend of George Bush and former producer for This Week with David Brinkley, he left ABC in 1989 to become media advisor to George H.W. Bush. He worked at This Week again from 1995 to 1999, when he was reportedly forced out, shortly before ABC decided not to renew the contract of commentator William Kristol. Kristol, a Smith colleague from the first Bush White House, was a principal cheerleader for the invasion of Iraq. (Media Research Center Web site, 12/30/99) September 23, 2003 - Iraq's governing council bars leading Arab satellite TV stations al-Jazeera and al-Arabiya from its ministries and events. The Committee to Protect Journalists and Reporters Without Borders condemn the decision. IPS reports that the Iraqi Media Network has taken over a number of Iraqi radio stations and effectively shut down independent media outlets. (IPS, 9/25/03) September 24, 2003 - U.S. soldiers open fire on AP photographer Karim Kadhim and his driver Qassim as-Saidi, and rake their car, prominently labeled "Press", with machine gunfire. The reporters escape death by leaping from the car. (IPS, 9/25/03) September 30, 2003 - According to the Defense Department's inspector general, SAIC's initial $15 million contract for the Iraqi Free Media Program is now valued at $82.3 million: "approximately 71 percent of the costs were materials." (Department of Defense; Office of the Inspector General: Acquisition, March 18, 2004, p. 10) October 2003 - The Pentagon begins soliciting bids for a new $200 million contract to run the Iraqi Media Network. (Village Voice, 11/12/03) October 16, 2003 - The Washington Post reports that Sen. Richard Lugar (R-Ind.) wants to transfer $100 million meant to expand Iraq's media network from the Pentagon to the State Department; however, the DOD's Office for Special Operations and Low-Intensity Conflict (in charge of psychological operations) retains control. (Washington Post, 10/16/03; Village Voice, 11/12/03) October 22, 2003 - Japan's foreign ministry announces that the 1980s TV drama "Oshin", called a "tearjerker" by some, will be broadcast by the Iraqi Media Network. A Japanese official hopes that "the patience, enthusiasm and forward-looking attitude of Oshin, the story's heroine, will send out a positive message to the Iraqi people." (Japan Economic Newswire, 10/22/03) Early November 2003 - George Mansour is removed as the Iraqi Media Network's news director. (Village Voice, 11/12/03) November 3, 2003 - U.S. troops seize al-Jazeera cameraman Salah Hassan near Baquba, as he is interviewing witnesses to a roadside bomb attack, and take him to a U.S. military base, then to Abu Ghraib. He is eventually released without charge. (Observer, 11/27/05; Reporters Without Borders Web site) November 12, 2003 -The Village Voice reports that a recent poll found that 67 percent of Iraqis with satellite receivers prefer TV news from al-Arabiya or al-Jazeera - not the Iraqi Media Network. (Village Voice, 11/12/03) November 13, 2003 - The New York Observer reports that the CPA, dissatisfied with U.S. news coverage of Iraq, is about to create its own 24-hour broadcast operation, bypassing American networks. "It's C-Span Baghdad", according to CPA media advisor Dorrance Smith. The article says that the U.S. military in Iraq and the CPA press office, described by one news producer "as staffed by political true believers, 'neocons and evangelists'," were "'apoplectic' at the press for under-reporting the 'good news' in Iraq." (New York Observer, 11/13/03) January 7, 2004 - The satellite broadcaster Arabsat, based in U.S.-friendly Saudi Arabia, begins broadcasting Iraqi Media Network's al-Iraqiya TV programs. According to Radio Netherlands, "After the American attack on Iraq the management of both Arabsat and Nilesat announced that they w[ould] not let the Iraqi Media Network to be broadcast on both satellites but sounds like they gave it a second thought . . ." (BBC Monitoring International Reports, 1/7/04) January 9, 2004 - After deciding not to renew SAIC's contract to run the Iraqi Media Network, the Defense Department replaces it with the Harris Corp., a military contractor based in Melbourne, Florida. The company announces, "the Defense Contracting Command-Washington (DCC-W), on behalf of the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) currently governing Iraq," has given it a renewable $96 million to develop Iraq's "antiquated" media network. The total value of the contract could be nearly $165 million. Its "local teammates" will be the Christian-owned Lebanese Broadcasting Corp. and telecommunications company al-Fawares of Kuwait. (Harris Corp. Web site, 4/27/2007) January 20, 2004 - In his State of the Union speech, President Bush says, "To cut through the barriers of hateful propaganda, the Voice of America and other broadcast services are expanding their programming in Arabic and Persian - and soon, a new television service will begin providing reliable news and information across the region." (White House Web site, 1/20/04) February 14, 2004 - With $62 million, the U.S. government launches al-Hurra, a network intended to compete with al-Jazeera, to broadcast news and entertainment to Arab countries from a base in Springfield, Virginia. According to the National Post (Canada), Washington has allocated an additional $40 million for a specifically Iraqi al-Hurra operation [which begins broadcasting in April 2004.] Its programs are to be modeled after Radio Sawa, a pop music outlet that the USG considers a relative success. According to the Post, "The Pentagon-run Iraq Media Network has flopped. Iraqis have not warmed to its broadcasts of official statements by Paul Bremer, the U.S. administrator, and members of the Iraqi Governing Council." (National Post (Canada), 12/19/03) February 14, 2004 - Former CPA contractor and Iraqi Media Network senior advisor Don North says professional journalism training was obviously needed in Iraq - "A brutal form of training was delivered by the U.S. Army and CPA officials when they found stories offensive. They visited the offices of offending newspapers and often left them padlocked and in ruins. No mediation, no appeal." He says the Iraqi Media Network's problems had many causes, including the fact that, "A revolving door of officials with no credible television or journalism experience dictated plans and policy to IMN." Also, "A surprising lack of operating capital, in spite of IMN's being the most expensive U.S. government media project in history at an estimated $4 million a month, forced the IMN to run on a shoestring and look like it. There were no funds for basic equipment such as camera batteries, tripods or editing equipment. A $500 request for a satellite dish to downlink the Reuters news feed was refused. A $200 request for printing my training manual in Arabic for reporters was turned down." Also, "Lack of planning for program production or acquisition resulted in illegal airing of copyrighted European and Hollywood film tapes confiscated from the mansion of Saddam's son Uday." Also, "IMN staff were ordered to cover endless daily CPA news conferences, interviews and photo opportunities, leaving little time and few facilities to cover genuine news stories initiated by IMN reporters on the street." Also, "The right of 'collective bargaining,' another American concept, was trashed by CPA management when IMN staff twice went on strike for higher wages. IMN staff were told in effect, 'our way or the highway'." (Senate Democratic Policy Committee Hearing, 2/14/05; Don North statement) February 15, 2004 - Harris Corp. takes over the operation of the Iraqi Media Network from SAIC. Eleven months after SAIC was given a contract that was ultimately valued at $82.3 million, an official from one of Harris's two regional subcontracters, Lebanese broadcasting Corporation International, says, "We are practically starting from scratch." (MEED Weekly Special Report, 2/20/04) March 3, 2004 - U.S. troops kill al-Jazeera editor-in-chief Mahmood Awad Hamadi in Falluja. (Brussels Tribunal Web site) March 18, 2004 - Near a checkpoint, U.S. troops kill correspondent Ali al-Khatib and cameraman Ali Abdel-Aziz of the Dubai-based al-Arabiya news station. (Associated Press, 4/19/04) March 18, 2004 - Nadia Nasrat, announcer, Majeed Rasheed, technician, and Mohammed Ahmad Sarhan, security agent of the Iraqi Media Network, are killed by armed men in Diyala (Baquba). (Brussels Tribunal Web site) March 18, 2004 - The Defense Department's inspector general issues a report on CPA contracts. It says that SAIC's original program manager for the Iraqi Media Network bought a H2 Hummer and a Ford pickup truck and chartered a DC-10 cargo jet to fly them to Iraq for his personal use "outside the scope of the contract." When the Pentagon's contracting office refused to authorize the purchases, SAIC "went around the authority of this acquisition specialist to a different office within the under secretary of defense for policy to gain approval and succeeded." The inspector general could not specifically determine the cost but one category of expenses called "Office & Vehicle" totaled $381,000. Also, when a subject specialist did not win a USAID contract, the director of the ORHA arranged for him to be covered by SAIC's Iraqi Media Network contract. He "was first placed in charge of determining how to dispose of garbage in Iraq, and was then made Senior Ministry Advisor for the Ministry of Youth and Sport. Neither of those roles was within the scope of the Iraqi Free media contract." ORHA's director wrote, "we anticipate . . . [the subject matter expert] would be used on a variety of special projects essentially outside of the Indigenous media contract's scope of work." The inspector general concluded, "We could not determine how the contracting officer obtained a fair and reasonable price for the Iraqi Free Media contract." (Department of Defense; Office of the Inspector General: Acquisition, March 18, 2004, pp. 18, 21) March 26, 2004 - U.S. troops kill ABC cameraman Burhan Mohammed Mazhoor in Falluja. (Brussels Tribunal Web site) April 6, 2004 - SAIC says "its revenue soared to a record $6.7 billion" during the last fiscal year, with "a surge in defense spending . . . . government business accounted for 80 percent of its revenue, with Pentagon contracts amounting to $3.7 billion." (San Diego Union-Tribune, 4/7/04) April 15, 2004 - Donald Rumsfeld declares, "what al-Jazeera is doing is vicious, inaccurate and inexcusable." (Department of Defense Transcripts, 4/15/04) April 16, 2004 - According to a leaked memo, George Bush discloses in a meeting with Tony Blair that he plans to bomb al-Jazeera's Qatar headquarters, but Blair dissuades him. (The Mirror (U.K.), 11/22/05) April 19, 2004 - The St. Petersburg Times reports that development work on the Iraqi Media Network's al-Iraqiya and other media projects "has come to a near halt in recent days as Harris and other companies have been in lockdown because of the violence. Even with armed guards and armored vehicles, [project director David] Sedgley has been unable to move more than a mile or so beyond the Green Zone . . ." The Times notes that Harris won the Pentagon contract to run the Iraqi Media Network through its "one-man Iraqi Initiatives project." Because "it knew nothing about programming," it subcontracted "a non-controversial Arab network," and Newsweek's Kuwaiti printer. (St. Petersburg Times, 4/19/04) April 19, 2004 - On a road leading to Samarra, U.S. troops shoot and kill correspondent As'ad Kadhim and driver Hussein Saleh, and wound cameraman Bassem Kamel, employees of the Pentagon-funded al-Iraqiya TV station. (Associated Press, 4/19/04) May 15, 2004 - Shortly before the end of its rule in Iraq, the CPA announces creation of a new framework for Iraq's broadcast media, turning it into a sort of public broadcasting system. (Agence France Presse, 5/15/04) Mid 2004 - A company called Iraqex, created to look for business opportunities in occupied Iraq, forms a partnership with the Rendon Group. (New York Times, 12/11/05) [Rendon has a long history of propaganda activities on behalf of conservative and Republican Party causes.] August 7, 2004 - Iraqi interim prime minister Ayad Allawi suspends al-Jazeera's Baghdad bureau. (New York Times, 8/8/04) September 4, 2004 - The Iraqi interim government breaks into al-Jazeera's Baghdad bureau, searches it, and closes it down indefinitely. (Agence France Presse, 9/6/04; Associated Press, 9/7/04) Around September 2004 - The U.S. military awards the year-old Iraqex company a $6 million contract. The company is to undertake "an aggressive advertising and PR campaign." It has "no background in public relations or the media." (Jack O'Dwyer's Newsletter, 10/6/04; Haymarket Publishing Services, 11/19/04; New York Times, 12/11/05) October 7, 2004 - Ahmad Jasim, al-Iraqiya reporter, is killed by unknown armed men. (Brussels Tribunal Web site) November 2004 - The CPA changes the Iraqi Media Network's name to Iraqia Network and hires J. Walter Thompson for public relations work "to convince Iraqis that IMN or Iraqia was credible." [The network continues to be referred to popularly as the Iraqi Media Network.] (Senate Democratic Policy Committee Hearing, 2/14/05; Don North statement) November 1, 2004 - Reuters cameraman Dhia Najim is shot in the head and killed by a U.S. sniper while covering fighting between armed men and American troops. (Brussels Tribunal Web site) January 20, 2005 - Harris Corp. announces it has been awarded a second, three-month, $22 million contract by the Iraqi Media Network, covering training, programming support, systems, and deployment. (Harris Corp. Web site, 1/20/05; 4/27/2007) February 20, 2005 - When asked by the St. Petersburg Times how Harris Corp. can "counter the perception that the Iraqi Media Network's TV station, al-Iraqiya, is a mouthpiece for the U.S. government - especially during the time the U.S.-led Coalition Provisional Authority was running the country," project manager David Sedgley says, "First, Harris Corp. has never received a dime from the U.S. government - the Iraqi Media Network, including al-Iraqiya, is totally funded by the Iraqi government with Iraqi funds." He also says one of Harris's objectives is to develop "fair and balanced" broadcasts, and that it has "reduced the amount of pro-American subjects" being aired. Regarding security, he says, "If we knew it was going to deteriorate to today's situation, I would have recommended to my management not to bid this program." (St. Petersburg Times, 2/20/05) February 28, 2005 - Raida al-Wazzan, al-Iraqiya TV announcer, is killed by armed men in Mosul. (Brussels Tribunal Web site) March 2005 - Iraqex changes its name to the Lincoln Group. (Jack O'Dwyer's Newsletter, 3/23/05) May 31, 2005 - Jerges Mohammed Sultan, al-Iraqiya TV reporter, is killed near his house by armed men. (Brussels Tribunal Web site) June 2005 - The Defense Department's Special Operations Command awards three five-year contracts, totaling $300 million, for articles, broadcasts, advertisements, T-shirts, bumper stickers, and other messages meant to win international support for the U.S. government, including one to the Lincoln Group, which claims "select relationships in Congress, the Administration and the U.S. Department of State." According to the New York Times, Lincoln becomes "the main civilian contractor for carrying out an aggressive propaganda campaign in Anbar Province, known as the Western Mission project. Over the next several months," records show, "the military transfer[s] tens of millions of dollars to Lincoln for the project." Another contract goes to SAIC, despite "widespread criticism for its handling of Iraq's first TV and radio network." Its earlier contract was not renewed in December 2003 "amid complaints that the network was mainly a propaganda tool for the occupying forces." The third is given to SYColeman Inc., headed by Lt. Gen. Jared Bates (Ret.), formerly director of operations for ORHA. Mike Furlong, fired by the Iraqi Media Network in June 2003, is deputy director of the Joint Psychological Operations Support Element and one of the officers in charge of the project. (USA Today, 12/13/05, 12/14/05, 12/23/05; San Diego Union-Tribune, 6/18/05; New York Times, 2/15/06) June 1, 2005 - U.S. troops kill ad-Da'wa newspaper reporter Haydar al-Jourani in Najaf. (Brussels Tribunal Web site) June 22, 2005 - Yassir as-Salihi, Knight-Ridder reporter, is killed in his car by U.S. troops. (Brussels Tribunal Web site) June 28, 2005 - Ahmad Wa'il al-Bakri, ash-Sharqiya TV director, is killed by U.S. troops in Baghdad. (Brussels Tribunal Web site) July 1, 2005 - Khalid Sabih al-Attar, al-Iraqiya producer/presenter is kidnapped and killed by armed men in Mosul. (Brussels Tribunal Web site) July 3, 2005 - Editor-in-chief of Baghdad TV Maha Ibrahim is shot and killed by U.S. troops in Baghdad. (Brussels Tribunal Web site) August 27, 2005 - Rafid Mahmood Said al-Anbagy, Diyala radio presenter for the Iraqi Media Network, is killed by armed men in al-Gatoon area. (Brussels Tribunal Web site) August 29, 2005 - Hayder Kadhim and Walid Khaled Ibrahim, Reuters reporters, are killed by U.S. troops in Baghdad while covering fighting. (Brussels Tribunal Web site) September 17, 2005 - Sabah Mohssin of al-Iraqiya is killed. (Brussels Tribunal Web site) September 22, 2005 - Ahlam Yousif, TV engineer, and Bassem al-Fadli, manager, al-Iraqiya, are killed by armed men in Mosul. (Brussels Tribunal Web site) October 2005 - The Lincoln Group presents a plan called "Divide and Prosper" to the U.S. military's Special Operations Command in Florida. It recommends making Sunni religious leaders one of the "target audiences" for U.S. propaganda. (New York Times, 1/2/06) November 2, 2005 - Defense Secretary Rumsfeld endorses Dorrance Smith to be his chief spokesman, despite outrage resulting from an April 25 Wall Street Journal opinion piece in which Smith wrote that U.S. television networks were "a tool of terrorist propaganda" because they re-aired footage from al-Jazeera. (Washington Post, 11/2/05) November 28, 2005 - Akeel Abdul Ridha and Muqdad Muhsin of al-Iraqiya are killed by armed men. (Brussels Tribunal Web site) November 30, 2005 - The Los Angeles Times reports, "the U.S. military is secretly paying Iraqi newspapers to publish stories by American troops in an effort to burnish the image of the U.S. mission in Iraq." The operation is handled by the Lincoln Group, and "is designed to mask any connection with the U.S. military." (Los Angeles Times, 11/30/05) December 2005 - A USA Today/CNN/Gallup Poll indicates that 72 percent of Americans think it is wrong for the Pentagon to secretly pay the Iraqi media to publish pro-U.S. stories. (USA Today, 12/23/05) Early January 2006 - Journalist Kamal Karim is sentenced to 30 years in prison for defaming Kurdish regional leader Masoud Barzani. His treatment is met by international outrage and his sentence is later reduced; he is imprisoned for six months. (Christian Science Monitor, 1/10/06) January 1, 2006 - Mahmood Za'al, Baghdad TV reporter, is killed by U.S. troops in Khaldiya. (Brussels Tribunal Web site) January 2, 2005 - The New York Times reports that the Lincoln Group has been paying Sunni Iraqi religious scholars for propaganda assistance. (New York Times, 1/2/06) January 4, 2006 - Through a recess appointment by President Bush, Dorrance Smith becomes assistant secretary of defense for public affairs. [On April 7, he is confirmed for the position by the Senate.] (Washington Post, 1/5/06; 4/8/06) January 10, 2006 - The Christian Science Monitor reports that nearly 50 percent of Iraqis watch al-Iraqiya. However, according to its critics, "Iraq's version of America's Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) has simply become a propaganda tool for the country's leading Shiite politicians. Al Iraqiya was meant to stand as a model for a burgeoning independent press, but seems to have instead become one more political spoil for its competing factions . . . . The Iraqi Media Network is another factor that is helping to turn Iraqi society into a sectarian society." (Christian Science Monitor, 1/10/06) Mid-January 2006 - The Defense Department inspector general begins an audit of the Pentagon's use of the Lincoln Group for "psychological operations." (New York Times, 2/15/06) February 15, 2006 - The New York Times reports that two years ago the two founders of the Lincoln Group, recent Oxford University graduate Christian Bailey (né Christian Jozefowicz) and Paige Craig (formerly a U.S. Marines intelligence officer), "were living in a half-renovated Washington group house, with a string of failed startup companies behind them," until winning contracts from the Pentagon. "Now their company . . . works out of elegant offices along Pennsylvania Avenue and sponsors polo matches in Virginia horse country. Mr. Bailey recently bought a million-dollar Georgetown row house. Mr. Craig drives a Jaguar and shows up for interviews accompanied by his 'director of security', a beefy bodyguard." (New York Times, 2/15/06) February 20, 2006 - Raeda Wazzan, al-Iraqiya news anchor, is kidnapped. Five days later she is found dead on a roadside in Mosul, where she had lived and worked. She had been shot repeatedly in the head. Her 10-year-old son was also kidnapped but he was later released. (Brussels Tribunal Web site) March 5, 2006 - The Daily Yomiuri (Tokyo) reports that the Japanese Foreign Ministry is providing the animated series "Captain Tsubasa", about a soccer-playing boy, to the Iraqi Media Network for free. Twenty-six Japan Ground Self-Defense Force water tankers in southern Iraq have been decorated with giant decals of Captain Tsubasa. A Foreign Ministry official predicts Iraqi children "will be filled with dreams and hopes by watching the show, and boost pro-Japanese sentiment even more." (Daily Yomiuri (Tokyo), 3/5/06) March 11, 2006 - Amjad Hamid Mohsin, director, and Anwar Turky, driver, al-Iraqiya, are killed by armed men in Baghdad. (Brussels Tribunal Web site) March 19, 2006 - Ali Hamid al-Mayahi, ad-Da'wa newspaper reporter, and Kamil Manahi Anbar, an-Nahar reporter and Institute of War and Peace Journalism correspondent, are killed by joint U.S.-Iraqi troops while the journalists are covering a military raid on a mosque in Baghdad. (Brussels Tribunal Web site) May 5, 2006 - Saad Shammari, TV host on al-Iraqiya, is found dead of apparent strangulation on a roadside in Baghdad. (Brussels Tribunal Web site) May 24, 2006 - The New York Times reports that an internal Defense Department investigation by Rear Adm. Scott Van Buskirk has concluded that payment of Iraqi newspapers to publish pro-American stories could undermine U.S. credibility and should be stopped. (New York Times, 5/24/06) May 31, 2006 - Jafaar Ali, al-Iraqiya sports presenter, is gunned down in Baghdad. (Brussels Tribunal Web site) July 19, 2006 - The Defense Department drops the Lincoln Group and SAIC from the TV and radio components of a $300 million contract awarded in June 2005. SYColeman retains its part of the contract. A Pentagon psychological operations official says, "We learned that working with three companies increases expenditures in both time and money and does not provide best value to the government." (SYColeman is a subsidiary of intelligence contractor L-3 Communications. Since May, L-3's president for government services has been Lt. Gen. Paul Cerjan (Ret.). After retirement, Cerjan had worked for Lockheed and Loral and was on the board of the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs, along with Middle East policy hawks Michael Ledeen, Richard Perle, and James Woolsey. He had been president of Pat Robertson's Regent University for three years when he was called by ORHA head Jay Garner, and then "oversaw the demobilization the Iraqi army." After that he was hired by Halliburton as "vice president of worldwide military affairs" for its subsidiary KBR, where he was in charge of military logistics for Iraq.) (Washington Post, 7/19/06; TMCnet News, 5/10/06,; CorpWatch Web site, 8/9/06; Private Warriors (Frontline) Web site, 6/21/05) September 2006 - Willem Marx recounts his experiences paying Iraqi newspapers to publish pro-U.S. stories secretly written by American soldiers while he worked as a $1,000-a-month intern for the Lincoln Group. He mentions on one occasion needing "an unusually large advance payment" to buy upfront air time for the "Western Mission" propaganda operation, and driving through Baghdad with $3 million in cash in the trunk of a car, "separated into thirty plastic-wrapped $100,000 blocks." The company, he reports, which paid Iraqi newspapers some $50-$1,500 to publish planted stories, expected to make $19 million for two months of work on the contract. (Harper's, 9/06) September 5, 2006 - SAIC reports revenue of $2 billion in the second quarter of FY 2006, a five percent increase over 2005. Government contracts accounted for about 92 percent of its 2005 revenue of $7.8 billion. Its revenue has increased by 78 percent since 2002. It has around 9,000 active contracts with the government. (San Diego Union-Tribune, 9/6/06) Late September 2006 - The Lincoln Group receives "a two-year, $12.4 million contract to monitor English and Arabic news outlets" and to produce public relations material for the U.S. military in Iraq. Previously, the contract was handled by the Rendon Group. (New York Times, 10/20/06; Haymarket Publishing Services Ltd., 10/2/06) October 4, 2006 - Jassem Hamad Ibrahim, al-Iraqiya driver, is killed by unidentified gunmen in Mosul as he is running errands for the station. (Brussels Tribunal Web site) October 6, 2006 - The Defense Department inspector general reports that the Pentagon did not break the law when it used the Lincoln Group "to place articles in the Iraqi media . . . .Psychological Operations are a central element of Information Operations . . . to induce or reinforce foreign attitudes and behavior favorable to U.S. objectives." However, the inspector general says that military officials violated contracting guidelines for competitive bidding and for overseeing costs in connection with a September 2004 Lincoln Group contract. But he recommends no punitive measures because the contract has expired. (Department of Defense Inspector General: Information Operations Activities in Southwest Asia, 10/6/06) October 14, 2006 - Raed Qais ash-Shammari, an al-Iraqiya employee, is killed in a drive-by shooting in southern Baghdad. (Brussels Tribunal Web site) December 29, 2006 - Akil Sarhan of the Iraq Media Network's sports TV channel ar-Riyadia is killed when his car is attacked on the way to work by armed men. (Brussels Tribunal Web site) January 9, 2007 - Akil Adnan Majid, as-Sabah accountant, is kidnapped outside the newspaper's office in Baghdad. (Brussels Tribunal Web site) January 20, 2007 - Mohammed Nuri and Baha' Hussein Khalaf, reporters for the Iraqi Media Network, are killed in the Nineva governorate. (Brussels Tribunal Web site) February 4, 2007 - Suhad al-Khalidi, Iraqi Media Network reporter, is killed by U.S. troops as their patrol passes her car in Hilla. (Brussels Tribunal Web site) February 7, 2007 - Three unknown security guards for al-Iraqiya are killed by foreign security guards accompanying a delegation in as-Salihiya in central Baghdad, near al-Iraqiya headquarters. (Brussels Tribunal Web site) March 20, 2007 - USA Today publishes an article entitled, "Democracy's Support Sinks; Iraqis Disillusioned, Divided on Government." It reports that a recent USA Today/ABC News/BBC/ARD (German TV) poll found that the percentage of Iraqis who view democracy as the best system for their country has declined from 57 percent to 43 percent in 16 months, that 51 percent, including 94 percent of Sunnis, believe that attacks on U.S. forces are acceptable political acts, and that "[b]y more than 3 to 1, Iraqis say the presence of U.S. forces is making the security situation worse." (USA Today, 3/20/07) March 31, 2007 - Mohammed Jassim Yousif, Iraqi Media Network reporter, is killed west of Baghdad. (Brussels Tribunal Web site) April 25, 2007 - The International Press Institute, a media watchdog group, reports that "Iraq remains the most dangerous country for journalists." It says, "The Iraqi government's policies towards the press closely resemble those of autocratic regimes in the region, and not those of an aspiring democracy." (Reuters Foundation Alertnet, 4/25/07) (Most of the information in the Timeline on killed or kidnapped journalists is from the Brussels Tribunal Web site. The Tribunal's list is based in large part on one published in az-Zawra, the Iraqi Journalist Union's newspaper, on May 4, 2006. This timeline includes only casualties from the Iraq Media Network and its organs, or those killed or imprisoned by coalition forces. In total, the Brussels Tribune Web site lists 256 media professionals killed in Iraq as of April 2007.) |