The New York Times follow-up to the LA Times story about information operations in Iraq follows the mainstream-media trend of getting all hysterical about it:

Even as the State Department and the United States Agency for International Development pay contractors millions of dollars to help train journalists and promote a professional and independent Iraqi media, the Pentagon is paying millions more to the Lincoln Group for work that appears to violate fundamental principles of Western journalism.

And here I thought winning the conflict was more important than the fundamental principles of Western journalism.

UPDATE: Anne Linehan writes: “Do those principles include heading to Kinkos to make up some news?”