Paying for positive news in Iraq

I am really repulsed by the news that the U.S. is paying Iraqi news outlets to print positive news stories penned by the U.S. military. My gut reaction is that it's impossible to build a democracy without a free press, and it's impossible to establish a free press if you're helping to manipulate it. This seems a given, though I'm finding that there is no line that the Bush administration is unwilling to cross; all can be justified and rationalized. I admit Senator John McCain did give me some pause this morning on Meet the Press, when he pointed out two things: 1) this battle is for "hearts and minds" and there is already plenty of negative news being distributed in the country and 2) this is just the way things are done there, so it's less offensive than it seems. Neither are especially compelling arguments, but they are worth considering in this, yet another embarrassment coming from U.S. actions abroad.

ADDENDUM (12/6/05)

THREE HUNDRED MILLION DOLLARS??? When I first heard about this story I had no idea we were talking about this amount of money. If this is a battle for hearts and minds, why not use these funds to build some schools, or fix some power plants, or get some clean water running??? What the heck are you buying with this and who's getting paid??? A completely obscene and blatant boondoggle. Embarrassing is just not an adequate word.