• Forbes via AP, Friday, September 1, 2006 1:15 PM

Former White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer once warned Americans and the media that "they need to watch what they say, watch what they do." Now, it turns out, the military is going to be watching for us. Forbes reports that "the U.S. command in Baghdad is seeking bidders for a two-year, $20 million public relations contract that calls for monitoring the tone of Iraq news stories filed by U.S. and foreign media." Proposals, due Sept. 6, ask companies to show how they'll "provide continuous monitoring and near-real time reporting of Iraqi, pan-Arabic, international and U.S. media," according to the solicitation issued last week. The program comes during what has appeared to be a White House effort, before the fifth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, to take the offensive against critics at a time when the future of Iraq is in doubt.

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