The U.S. military is paying Iraqi newspapers to publish "good news" stories. A defense contractor, the Lincoln Group, translates the stories into Arabic and then works to get them placed, sometimes with their staffers posing as reporters. The stories appear in the Iraqi press with no indication of their origins.
Billmon wrote a fascinating post on the Lincoln Group last summer, focusing on what seems to be their primary business -- chanelling money to Republican hacks, and doing research on the opposition -- including looking for dirt? -- for both businesses and "select" politicians.
See? Your taxes going to Swiftboater types. The corruption of defense contracts is like a disease we can't seem to get rid of. Unless we pay attention, another chance to nail the bastards is going to pass us by.
First, remember that "co-conspirator #1" in the charges against Duke is Brent Wilkes, a defense contractor who owns ADCS Inc.... Also, it's pretty stunning to see members of Congress admit to good-old-fashioned bribes. Not campaign contributions or overseas junkets, but old-tried-and-true lump sum cash payments. But bribes are a means to an end. So pay attention to the context. This is a defense contracting scandal. Defense contracting scandals get you into the Department of Defense, particularly in a case like this in which the contracts are top-secret military spending programs over which there is little or no oversight.
Okay. This defense contract disease is kind of like obesity: if we'd just lose some weight, fight the worst greed, that would help. What we need to do is elect people -- from members of Congress to president -- who fight this stuff, not feed it, for god's sake.
Update: More on the Lincoln Group via Talking Points Memo.