"It was revealed yesterday, on the eve of elections in Iraq, that the Pentagon had set up a $300m (£170m) psychological warfare operation that involves placing pro-American messages in foreign media outlets across the world, including those of its allies, without disclosing the US government as the source.

"One of the military officials in charge of the programme told USA Today the campaign was designed to counter terrorist ideology and sway foreign audiences to support American policies. It will target newspapers, websites, radio and television.

"The revelations come amid the growing controversy over the US military's covert operations to plant "good news" in the Iraqi media by paying newspapers to run stories."

 http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1667583,00.html