WASHINGTON: A US$400 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 yesterday.

Citing one of the military officials in charge of the programme, the newspaper said the media campaign was being designed to counter terrorist ideology and sway foreign audiences to support US policies.

The report said the programme, run by psychological warfare experts at the US Special Operations Command, would operate throughout the world, including in allied nations and in countries where the United States is not involved in armed conflict.

The description of the programme 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, USA Today said.

The newspaper said the three companies handling the campaign include the Lincoln Group, a company under investigation by the Pentagon for paying Iraqi newspapers to run pro-US stories.

Military officials involved with the campaign said they did not plan to place false stories in foreign news outlets clandestinely. But Furlong told the newspaper that the military would not always reveal its role in distributing pro-American messages.

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

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

A Pentagon spokesman was not immediately available for comment.

NBC: Pentagon may be spying on US anti-war activists

The Pentagon has a secret database that indicates the US military may be collecting information on Americans who oppose the Iraq War and may be also monitoring peace demonstrations, NBC reported on Tuesday.

The database, obtained by the network, lists 1,500 "suspicious incidents" across the United States over a 10-month period and includes four dozen anti-war meetings or protests, some aimed at military recruiting, NBC's Nightly News said.

The network said the document was the first inside look at how the Pentagon has stepped up intelligence collection in the United States since the September 11, 2001, attacks.

The report quoted what it said was a secret briefing document as concluding: "We have noted increased communication between protest groups using the Internet," but not a "significant connection" between incidents.

Americans have been wary of any monitoring of anti-war activities since the Viet Nam era when it was learned that the Pentagon spied on anti-war and civil rights groups and individuals. Congress held hearings in the 1970s and recommended strict limits on military spying inside the United States.

(China Daily 12/15/2005 page8)