Craig Whitlock of The Washington Post continues his coverage of the propaganda campaigns at the heart of the war on terrorism. Al-Queda has turned to the internet to spread its message. “Taking advantage of new technology and mistakes by its adversaries, al-Qaeda’s core leadership has built an increasingly prolific propaganda operation, enabling it to communicate constantly, securely and in numerous languages with loyalists and potential recruits worldwide,” reports Whitlock.

A joint ProPublica-CBS 60 Minutes investigation finds that the U.S.taxpayer-funded news network Al-Hurra is “woefully mismanaged and poorly supervised despite complaints from Congress.” The network was launched in 2004 to, as President Bush put it, “cut through the barriers of hateful propaganda” in the Arab world. As it turns out, it has a very small audience and at times has included anti-Israeli propaganda. The story will air Sunday, June 22 on 60 Minutes with an accompanying series on the ProPublica website.

A report by Tom Lasseter of McClatchy Newspapers reveals that the U.S has wrongly imprisoned dozens of men “in Afghanistan, Cuba and elsewhere on the basis of flimsy or fabricated evidence, old personal scores or bounty payments.” The report comes after an 8-month investigation spanning 11 countries on three continents. “Of the 66 detainees whom McClatchy interviewed, the evidence indicates that 34 of them, about 52 percent, had connections with militant groups or activities. At least 23 of those 34, however, were Taliban foot soldiers, conscripts, low-level volunteers or adventure-seekers who knew nothing about global terrorism. Only seven of the 66 were in positions to have had any ties to al Qaida’s leadership, and it isn’t clear that any of them knew any terrorists of consequence.” Included in the report is a database containing information on the 66 detainees interviewed in the investigation.

Michael Montgomery, of American RadioWorks, and Mark Schapiro, of the Center for Investigative Reporting, teamed up to explore the growing nuclear black market which is making it difficult to contain the proliferation of atomic weapons throughout the world. “Experts cite two ominous trends: an increase in the number of nations seeking to enrich uranium, and the emergence of international nuclear smuggling networks.” The hour-long radio documentary can be heard here. (The program will be re-broadcast on KQED in the Bay Area April 30 at 8 p.m. PST. Check your local public radio schedules for broadcast dates in your area.)

A report by David Barstow of The New York Times reveals how the Pentagon has used a cadre of retired military officers to “generate favorable news coverage of the [Bush] administration

U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan will be issued hand-held lie detectors this month, but Bill Dedman of MSNBC.com uncovered conflicting evidence about their effectiveness. “The Defense Department says the portable device isn’t perfect, but is accurate enough to save American lives by screening local police officers, interpreters and allied forces for access to U.S. military bases, and by helping narrow the list of suspects after a roadside bombing.” The Pentagon, in a PowerPoint presentation released to msnbc.com through a Freedom of Information Act request, says the PCASS is 82 to 90 percent accurate. But other studies obtained by msnbc.com show that testers discarded inconclusive readings when calculating its accuracy.

Dan Eggen and Josh White of The Washington Post report on the recently declassified 2003 Justice Department memo that was responsible for creating the “legal foundation for the Defense Department’s use of aggressive interrogation practices” in the run up to the war in Iraq. The memo suggested that presidential power was nearly unlimited during a time of war and should override laws forbidding torture. The Post provides links to pdfs of the 81-page memo (part 1 & 2).

Deborah Sherman of KUSA-Denver looked into U.S. government’s No-Fly List and found thousands of innocent travelers who have trouble getting on airplanes nationwide because they’re misidentified as terrorists. While people snagged by false matches are forced to arrive hours early at airports to be cleared, a new government report found terrorists on the list are still getting on airplanes. Sherman found that a new program to fix those problems, called Secure Flight, has cost taxpayers $200 million so far and may leave participating passengers vulnerable to identity theft.

Eric Longabardi, reporting for “The Enterprise Report” at ERSNews.com, reports on the “secret FAA airmen files” of Mohamed Atta, the lead pilot in the terrorist attacks of 9/11. The files, posted on the site, and additional exclusive materials provide details about the extensive flight training that helped Atta earn a commercial pilot’s license in the U.S. Longabardi writes that the records show that Atta and his co-conspirators had far more sophisticated skills than previous media accounts acknowledged.

The Center for Public Integrity has published “one of the most comprehensive resources on U.S. military aid and assistance in the post-9/11 era. ‘Collateral Damage’ couples the reporting of 10 of the world’s leading investigative journalists on four continents with a powerful database combining U.S. military assistance, foreign lobbying expenditures, and human rights abuses into a single, easily accessible toolkit.”