August 2, 2005: Someone Pays Iraqi Newspaper $1500 to Publish Pro-American Story

Someone pays nearly $1,500 to the Iraqi independent Addustour newspaper to run a news report titled “More Money Goes to Iraq’s Development.” The newspaper’s editor, Bassem Sheikh, later tells the Los Angeles Times that he has “no idea” who wrote it or where it came from. Addustour publishes the piece with the note “media services” above the text of the article to distinguish it from other editorial content. [Los Angeles Times, 11/30/2005]