The Pentagon has banned the use of anonymous quotes in press releases, calling the recent use of nearly identical quotes attributed to unnamed Iraqis an "egregious error." Lawrence DiRita, the chief Pentagon spokesman, said the incident involving press releases issued by the army's 3rd Infantry Division in Iraq was under investigation.
"This is an egregious error that reflects a lack of rigor in the development of these press statements," he said in a July 29 memo to the service secretaries and military chiefs. The memo, which was made public Tuesday, said, "The use of anonymous quotations in a Department of Defence press statement is prohibited."
Any statements that included comments by third parties must identify them and have their permission to use them, it said.
It also emphasised that press statements should be drafted by "trained public affairs professionals," and not delegated to others.
Two 3rd Infantry Division statements about 10 days apart quoted an unnamed Iraqi official as criticising an insurgent bombing in nearly identical terms as "enemies of humanity without religion or any sort of ethics."