The United States is about to engage in a multimillion-dollar propaganda campaign that should give every American pause.

With the military struggling to win a ground war in Iraq that's already cost a half-trillion dollars, perhaps it's not such a bad idea to spend a paltry $300 million to convince the world the U.S. is still in the right.

But is this really the best way to spread the cause of freedom and democracy?

The Pentagon announced last week that the U.S. Special Operations Command will run a worldwide media campaign that ironically includes the Lincoln Group, a contracted public relations firm. Its work is already well known. When news reports revealed Lincoln was paying millions to Iraqi newspapers to run pro-U.S. stories and even paying Iraqi reporters directly, the firm was placed under investigation by the Pentagon.

Now, before that investigation is completed, it's been given the go-ahead to be part of a new effort that will spread Pentagon-approved information to all foreign media, including those in allied nations.

Military officials have assured that no false stories will be planted. But they also said the military would not reveal how it's behind any of the "news" stories.

Unfortunately, this really shouldn't be a new application of the military's "Don't ask, don't tell" policy.

When it comes to the dissemination of information, the military's involvement should be as transparent as possible.

The use of propaganda isn't illegal in foreign countries.

But that doesn't make it right.

If the United States wants to win the war of ideas, it should persuade based on the integrity of its words and deeds.

It shouldn't try to win the hearts and minds of the world based on official misdirection and packaged truths.