Should "deceptive techniques endorsed for use on the battlefield to confuse an adversary" be adopted "for covert propaganda campaigns aimed at neutral and even allied nations"?

Joseph Mailander of the Martini Republic weblog wonders if the U.S. government is "blog trolling" in Iraq: "touting the 'right' messengers with a mix of above-board, official recognition and below-board, ideology-based, sustained pump-priming, to generate a following for propagandistic messengers far beyond their natural level of interest." IraqTheModel, featuring two brothers in Baghdad, has become popular to the point that the brothers are touring the U.S., meeting President Bush and other prominent pro-war figures.

"Four years ago, Tom Dugan’s company did some work for Peet’s Coffee & Tea by covertly plugging a Peet’s promotion online," writes Deborah Branscum. "He’d love to share the names of more recent clients, but none of them, he says, want to speak on the record." Stealth marketing is growing both online and offline to promote products ranging from martinis to cell phones to TV programs. According to Shawn Prez of the marketing agency Power Moves, stealth techniques are especially effective with teens.