U.S. Government

The State Department has issued a request for proposals for "an advertising campaign targeting Arab-language media on the web with the goal of explaining U.S. policy in the Middle East," O'Dwyer's PR Daily reports. "As part of that work, State also wants to pitch its 'Rebuilding Afghanistan' Arabic site to show that 'the U.S. follows through with its obligations and promises,' according to a copy of the proposal.

U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft recently launched a national campaign to dismiss growing criticism of the controversial USA Patriot Act, an anti-terrorism law passed after the September 11 attacks. Speaking at the right-wing American Enterprise Institute, Ashcroft said, "To abandon this tool would disconnect the dots, risk American lives and liberty, and reject Sept. 11th's lessons." The Department of Justice Patriot Act website is LifeandLiberty.gov.

Journalists and generals met in Chicago last week to discuss the media's role in reporting on the war in Iraq and agreed that the Pentagon's strategy of "embedding" journalists marked a sea change in combat reporting. "We brought the military service members into the homes of Americans, and they became spokespersons for the U.S. military," said an army chief of public affairs.

The U.S. military ordered and then took back a directive that would have restricted journalists from going with American troops on all but routine missions in Iraq. According to the Associated Press, "The directive told commanders throughout Iraq that reporters, photographers and television crews would be prohibited from traveling with the military on some operations as so-called 'embedded' journalists. The U.S. military headquarters in Baghdad rescinded the order shortly after The Associated Press reported on it. No explanation was given. ... Media coverage of the frequent U.S.