Records and interviews show how the Bush administration has used its control over access and information in an effort to transform the analysts into a kind of media Trojan horse — an instrument intended to shape terrorism coverage from inside the major TV and radio networks.

Analysts have been wooed in hundreds of private briefings with senior military leaders, including officials with significant influence over contracting and budget matters, records show. They have been taken on tours of Iraq and given access to classified intelligence. They have been briefed by officials from the White House, State Department and Justice Department, including Mr. Cheney, Alberto R. Gonzales and Stephen J. Hadley.

In turn, members of this group have echoed administration talking points, sometimes even when they suspected the information was false or inflated. Some analysts acknowledge they suppressed doubts because they feared jeopardizing their access.

A few expressed regret for participating in what they regarded as an effort to dupe the American public with propaganda dressed as independent military analysis.

Il Papa si è limitato ad esprimere la sua fiducia che la "preoccupazione americana per l'ampia famiglia umana, continuerà a trovare espressione nel sostenere gli sforzi pazienti della diplomazia internazionale volti a risolvere i conflitti e a promuovere il progresso". Concludendo il suo storico intervento sul prato della Casa Bianca, prima del percorso nelle strade tra due ali di folla, il Pontefice ha quindi benedetto gli Stati Uniti. "Dio Onnipotente - ha detto - confermi questa Nazione e il suo popolo nelle vie della giustizia, della prosperità e della pace. Dio benedica l'America".