I may be wrong, but “monitoring media” to me sounds like a lot like censorship. Is this the kind of free democracy we’re trying to spread to the middle east?

WASHINGTON (AP) – 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.

Contractors also will be evaluated on how they will provide analytical reports and customized briefings to the military, “including, but not limited to tone (positive, neutral, negative) and scope of media coverage.”

What a way to kick off the Saturn/Neptune opposition, with the Pentagon, a governmental body representing Saturn in Leo, engaging in deceptive practices to create a Neptunian illusion of good news about the war. This could backfire on them, since previous Saturn/Neptune oppositions have served to expose government deception rather than help to conceal it.

The next few months will be VERY interesting!