Lincoln Group
Encyclopedia
The Lincoln Group is a Washington, D.C. contractor with operations in Iraq
hired by the United States
military to perform public relations
. They operate from the Green Zone
at Sector 222, 34th St, Bldg 5
Karatet Mariam, Baghdad, Iraq and 1130 17th St. NW Suite 400 Washington, DC.On November 30, 2005, the Los Angeles Times
revealed the company had been paying for news stories in Iraqi newspapers. Prior to that report, Lincoln Group of Washington, DC was awarded an indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity
contract, with a potential maximum value of $100,000,000, for media approach planning, prototype product development, commercial quality product development, product distribution and dissemination, and media effects analysis for the Joint Psychological Operations Support element and other government agencies. The work will be performed CONUS and OCONUS and task orders may be issued from June 7, 2005 - June 6, 2010. This contract was awarded on a competitive basis pursuant to FAR 6.102. The contract number is H92222-05-D-1010.
In September 2004, the major PR contract for the Multi-National Corps-Iraq was awarded to Iraqex, a "business clearinghouse company formed specifically to provide a swath of services in the war-torn country." The Washington, D.C.
-based Lincoln Alliance Corporation, a "business 'intelligence' company that handles services from 'political campaign intelligence' to commercial real estate in Iraq", set up Iraqex last year. Iraqex has four Iraq offices, including in Baghdad and Basra. Iraqex will develop video and print publications, purchase TV and radio time, and oversee public affairs and advertising for MNC-I, to ensure "that the Coalition gains widespread Iraqi acceptance of its core themes and messages."
Iraqex subsequently changed its name to Lincoln Group, after its holding company, Lincoln Alliance Corporation. Lincoln Group has a $6 million, three-year public relations contract for the U.S.-led Multi-National Corps-Iraq, for which it "develops video, audio and print products to support MNC-I initiatives." It also publishes Iraq Business Journal, a "monthly publication on contract opportunities, life in Iraq and classifieds." The publication recently interviewed Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani
, who said foreign investment is acceptable, as long as the investor is not with the "occupation forces" or taking "advantage of any instability." Lincoln Group is no longer looking for interns.
had awarded three contracts, potentially worth up to $300 million over five years, to three companies it hopes will inject more creativity into its psychological operations efforts to improve foreign public opinion about the United States, particularly the military. Lincoln Group won one of the three contracts, Science Applications International Corporation
and SYColeman, Inc., a subsidiary of L-3 Communications
, the other two. All three companies declined to comment for the article.
As the Richmond, Virginia
Times-Dispatch wrote, "The use of contractors in psyops is a new wrinkle. But psychological warfare expert Herb Friedman said he is not surprised. ... With only one active-duty and two reserve psyops units remaining, Friedman said, 'The bottom line is, they don't have the manpower.'"
In September 2005, the Lincoln Group was looking to hire "senior media and PR professionals to guide an advertising and PR campaign to inform the Iraqi people of 'the Coalition's goals and to gain their support", according to O'Dwyer's. The firm also was recruiting "polling and trend analysis pros to analyze media and compile statistics with the Iraq Centre for Research and Strategic Studies." The new hires are due to an "ongoing expansion (it is in the first year of a $6M, three-year PR contract)."
reported that the Lincoln Group was helping the Pentagon covertly place pro-United States stories in Iraqi news outlets. "Dozens" of pieces written by U.S. military "information operations" troops were placed during 2005, according to the LA Times. "The operation is designed to mask any connection with the U.S. military", the LA Times reported. The Lincoln Group "helps translate and place the stories. The Lincoln Group's Iraqi staff, or its subcontractors, sometimes pose as freelance reporters or advertising executives when they deliver the stories to Baghdad media outlets."
The Los Angeles Times piece continued, "Military officials familiar with the effort in Iraq said much of it was being directed by the 'Information Operations Task Force' in Baghdad
, part of the multinational corps headquarters commanded by Army Lt. Gen. John R. Vines.... As part of a psychological operations campaign that has intensified over the last year, the task force also had purchased an Iraqi newspaper and taken control of a radio station, and was using them to channel pro-American messages to the Iraqi public. Neither is identified as a military mouthpiece".
In response to the story United States Department of Defense
spokesman Bryan Whitman said "this article raises some questions as to whether or not some of the practices that are described in there are consistent with the principles of this department", he said. "And that's what we're going to take a look at."http://www.voanews.com/english/2005-11-30-voa77.cfm
Voice of America
noted that while the official communications principles state information will be "timely and accurate", they "do not include any prohibition against paying to place stories in the media."
"Pentagon documents indicate the Lincoln Group ... received a $100 million contract to help produce favorable articles, translate the articles into Arabic
, get them placed in Iraqi newspapers and not reveal the Pentagon's role", according to. MSNBC
's December 1, 2005, Hardball with Chris Matthews
.
Additionally, the Chicago Tribune
reported that "Lincolns' PR workers in Iraq included three Republican operatives who helped run the Bush campaign in Illinois and had no apparent experience in Iraq."
In March 2006, The Independent
published several examples
of news stories produced by the Lincoln Group in the late 2005.
The Independents Andrew Buncombe gives his opinion of how these stories distort the actual events of the Iraq war. The only source named in that article is John Pike, Director of globalsecurity.org
, a self-described "think tank", who never disputes the truth of Lincoln Group stories, but instead says "It's embarrassing enough that [the US military] got caught ... but then for their product to be so cheesy ... It's just embarrassing." One must note that the stories themselves are alleged to come from the Lincoln Group itself, and not from the U.S. military.
spokesman Sean McCormack
said in his November 30, 2005, daily press briefing that his "colleagues over at the Pentagon" were "looking in[to]" and were "probably in the best position to address those news reports." A reporter then commented: "Why would they have to look into the news reports if it's -- if it's happening, wouldn't they know they did it."
On the November 30, 2005, Hardball, Senator John Warner
(R-Virginia) told Chris Matthews
"I saw that for the first time today. And as chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Armed Services, we'll look into that because I'm concerned that our credibility abroad is very important. And if we're manufacturing things or taking our wonderful troops and trying to translate their ideas into something that's more our idea, rather than the trooper's idea, then I think we should be looking at it."
In his December 1, 2005, press gaggle, White House
spokesman Scott McClellan
said that "the Los Angeles Times was the first place" the White House had heard about "the military using this Lincoln Group to plant stories in Iraqi newspapers" and that "We have asked the Department of Defense for more information. General [Pete] Pace has asked people to look into the matter and get the facts, and so we want to see what those facts are."
On December 3, the U.S. military command in Baghdad acknowledged for the first time that it had paid Iraqi newspapers to carry positive news about U.S. efforts in Iraq, but officials characterized the payments as part of a legitimate campaign to counter insurgents' misinformation.
According to his corporate profile, "Craig's previous work includes long-term consultation with various DOD and Justice Department clients on projects that involved analysis and review of local and foreign activities. He has also worked on projects involving financial analysis of local and foreign financial crimes, competitive intelligence for U.S. venture funds, and other challenging information projects. In this work, and during his time in the U.S. Marine Corps, he has built a proven track record of working in high-risk environments under tasking conditions. Mr. Craig has worked in Thailand, Japan, Australia, Kuwait, Syria, Iraq, and Jordan. Mr. Craig attended West Point and subsequently received a B.S. in Information Systems Management from the University of Maryland and an MBA from National University."
Craig was formerly president of Omnicept. From an internship posting at www.wetfeet.com: Omnicept is an analytic and intelligence firm dedicated to providing the highest level of analysis, intelligence, and analytic tools to government and commercial clients. The RA will be an integral part of this process and will support one or more of Omnicept's key markets through research, analysis, coordination, and outreach activities. This position will require solid organizational, writing, speaking, and analytic skills.
Iraq businesses upbeat despite security fears", Agence France Presse, September 27, 2004: Paige Craig, executive vice president of Iraqex, a US firm involved in a range of activities from manufacturing construction materials to 'providing logistics' for US forces, disagreed with the general view that the security situation was deteriorating. ... 'People think it's getting worse because they only pay attention to foreigners (who are being taken hostage and often executed). But it's definitely more secure now than it was' a year ago, he told AFP." Mr. Craig resides in Washington, DC.
Christian Bailey (née Christian Martin Josefowicz) is executive vice president of Capital Markets:
As executive vice president, Bailey leads the evaluation and structuring of emerging markets investment transactions, as well as the development of key partner and co-investor relationships. Investments completed to date include four in Iraq: steel reprocessing at six sites near Basra, property in Baghdad, and two brick factories near Erbil. Bailey also develops key partner relationships supporting Lincoln Group's professional services arm supporting commercial and government clients with information gathering & analysis; and outreach through PR, advertising & strategic communications. Bailey formerly served as a managing director at Lincoln Asset Management Group where he led the defense technology private equity group which raised $6 million as a hedge fund(LEXIS citation). Earlier Bailey was the Founder and CEO of Express Action, a provider of international trade logistics solutions. Express Action handles all the complexity of international import duties, taxes, regulations and customs clearance online, making an international order just as transparent and simple as a domestic one. Before founding Express Action, Bailey was worked in the Emerging Companies Group at Linck Corporate Finance PLC, where he funded and helped develop high-growth technology companies. Before joining Linck, he was Founder and CEO of ITG, a computer services company with a global supply-chain which was acquired in 1998. He also worked at Kleinwort Benson
. He holds a Bachelors and a Masters in Economics and Management from Hertford College. He was once the chair of the New York City chapter of Lead21
, a public policy organization for conservative entrepreneurs. Bailey was also New York City co-chair of the 2004 Republican National Convention.
Anthoney J Berkant is Vice President of finance at the Lincoln Group.
Berkant brings decades of experience and a track record developing small to mid-size enterprises in government contracting, software development, e-learning, and distribution industries. With over 30 years of experience in the finance field, Mr. Berkant has served as a financial officer and broadened his capabilities with extensive work in the merchant banking and merger and acquisition areas. His recent experience includes: i) Chief Financial Officer for Wilson/Bennett Company, LLC with responsibility for expanding the company's capabilities for both merger and acquisition and financial advisory services; ii) Comptroller for Accelera Corporation where he was both the senior financial and administrative officer of the corporation; and iii) Chief Financial Officer of Advanced Technology Holdings, Inc, a boutique, private management advisory and a merchant banking firm for firms located in Latin America. Mr. Berkant is a member of Maryland Association of Certified Public Accountants and Financial Executives International. Mr. Berkant holds a B.S. in Accounting from Wilkes University in Pennsylvania and is a Certified Public Accountant.
Morton Blackwell
Affiliations: The Council for National Policy 1982 Board of Governors, Executive Director CNP, 1991–present; White House Staff as Special Assistant to President Reagan for Public Liaison; former staff member, Senate Republican Policy Committee; former policy director, U.S. Senator Gordon J. Humphrey
; overseer, 1980 Youth for Reagan effort; founder in 1979 and President, The Leadership Institute, a non-profit, non-partisan, educational organization, with 18 types of programs. "Conservative leaders, organizations and activists rely on the Institute for the preparation they require for success." "mission is to increase the number and effectiveness of conservative public policy leaders." [The Leadership Institute] recently provided political training to members of Maranatha, its Campus Leadership Program, is "designed to foster permanent, effective, conservative, student organizations on every college campus in America. Leadership Institute field staff have already created new organizations on 207 campuses in 37 states. Founder and chairman, Conservative Leadership PAC; Republican National Committeeman from Virginia; Treasurer, Reagan Mumni Association; former editor, The NewRight Report; former contributing editor, Conservative Digest. Formerly with The Viguerie Company (CNP) Richard Viguerie
. Board member, American Conservative Union
, Legislative Studies Institute, National Right to Work Committee, Reagan Alumni (Treasurer). Received funding from the Coors Foundations. Blackwell is also President, International Policy Forum, from the 1984 CNP Directory, "a foundation which promotes educational exchanges between conservatives in the US and pro-freedom leaders in other countries."
Nicholas McDowell is Director of New Media with the Lincoln Group.
Andrea Jackson Former Director of Research and Training at the Lincoln Group, conducts on-the-ground research in conflict zones and provides computer-based and in-person training to Defense Intelligence Agency analysts and U.S. Army and Marine Corps units in Iraq. She previously managed training programs in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Kosovo.
Jim Wilkinson (James R. Wilkinson), who served as General Tommy R. Franks' director of strategic communications and chief spokesman for the U.S. Central Command (Tampa), became deputy national security advisor for communications as of December 2003. He is fluent in Arabic, both written and spoken. Wilkinson "will craft long-term messaging strategy for the National Security Council
" and reports to Karl Rove
, National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice
and White House communications director Dan Bartlett
. Mr. Wilkinson grew up in East Texas and gave up plans to become an undertaker to go to work for Republican Congressman Dick Armey
in 1992. Mr. Armey soon became House majority leader; his communications director, Mr. Wilkinson's mentor, was Ed Gillespie, now chairman of the R.N.C. Wilkinson first left his mark on the 2000 Presidential race in March 1999, when he helped package and promote the notion that Al Gore
claimed to have 'invented the Internet. Then the Texan popped up in Miami to defend Republican protesters shutting down a recount: 'We find it interesting that when Jesse Jackson
has thousands of protesters in the streets, it's O.K., but when a small number of Republicans exercise their First Amendment
rights, the Democrats don't seem to like it,' he told the Associated Press. Mr. Wilkinson was made deputy director of communications for planning in the Bush White House, and was among the aides who set up the Sept. 14, 2001, visit to Ground Zero that redefined George W. Bush's Presidency. During the Afghan war, he managed 'Coalition Information Centers' in Washington, D.C., and London, as well as in Pakistan and Afghanistan. In Qatar, he became the point man on the rescue of Pvt. Jessica Lynch
and delivered the most memorable and sellable quote of Gulf War II: 'America doesn't leave its heroes behind,' he told reporters at a late-night briefing.
. Breglio is an advisor to the Lincoln Group.
In 1969 Breglio co-founded Decision Making Information, later re-named Wirthlin Worldwide
with Richard Wirthlin.
According to his biographical note, in 1983 Breglio also started a Washington, D.C. based public opinion and public affairs company known as Research/Strategy/Management, Inc.
Breglio is Head of International Teams for Wirthlin Worldwide
"supervising the activities of seven offices outside the U.S. including Wirthlin-Europe, WirthlinWorldwide Asia and WirthlinWorldwide Australasia. He also serves as Managing Director of Wirthlin Worldwide Asia, with offices in Hong Kong and Singapore."
"As the president of his own firm, the Executive Director of the National Republican Senatorial Committee
(NRSC) and the President of DECISION MAKING INFORMATION (the national polling firm used almost exclusively by Ronald Reagan and the Republican Administration), he has consulted with business and government leaders at the highest levels", his biographical note states.
Breglio worked on the 1980 Reagan Presidential campaigns as Deputy Director of Strategy and as Senior Consultant on his 1984 campaign. Breglio worked as Director of Polling for the Bush-Quayle Presidential campaign in 1988. Breglio's biographical note states he has worked work for the Ford Foundation
and the Kellogg Foundation along with the RJ Reynolds tobacco company, Geneva Steel
, Kraft Foods, the Wall Street Journal and NBC News. Mr. Breglio resides in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Larisa Breton co-founded Oryx Communications in 2003 with Amy Zalman. She is an advisor to the Lincoln Group.
According to her Oryx Communications biography, "[h]aving successfully managed two of her own companies, Breton brings to Oryx extensive experience in media planning and sales, marketing, and creative services developed over a 15-year career in advertising and publishing.
Larisa possesses extensive legislative, regulatory and Capitol Hill experience and is an expert on the development of niche markets, capabilities she first developed as a Product Development Manager of Washington D.C.-based Thompson Publishing Group.
As the president of Charla Breton Associates, a media sales firm, she developed comprehensive advertising and marketing programs for automotive, apparel, liquor, tourism, media, legal, financial and publishing clients. Larisa, one of a handful of Internet sales pioneers in the mid-1990s, brought e-commerce to the automotive industry's Big Three on behalf of HotWired, the first advertiser-sponsored website. She helped to educate an entire generation of media planners on the Internet's capabilities and long-term potential. This expertise led to her recruitment by General Motors Cyberworks, where she was the chief negotiator and media buyer for GM's strategic alliance with Time Warner's AOL, and where she also led evaluations and negotiations of new media and technology opportunities for GM and its divisions.
Larisa further honed her creative skills as the owner of CoffeeBear Productions, where her achievements included national broadcast writing credits and commercial work. Larisa received her Bachelor of Arts degree from the Catholic University of America, where she serves on the Alumni Board of Governors. Larisa currently is earning her MBA in international business management from Baker College.
Lieutenant General Charlie Brown concluded a distinguished 37-year military career as Director of the Defense Security Assistance Agency and Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs in the Office of the Secretary of Defense. During his tenure, he was responsible for providing military assistance and supervising foreign military sales to friendly and allied governments, managing a multi-billion dollar trust fund and an educational institution, and had daily interface with the Congress, the NSC, private industry, and foreign dignitaries. Immediately after his retirement from the Army, General Brown joined the State Department team negotiating the renewal of the US-Philippine base rights agreement.
Howard H. "Bo" Callaway
was the first Georgia Republican since Reconstruction to win election to the U.S. House of Representatives (1964). And the first Georgia Republican since Reconstruction to win the popular vote in a gubernatorial election (1966). He served as Secretary of the Army for President Richard Nixon
, then Ford. Callaway is currently Chairman of the Board, Crested Butte Mountain Resort
, Crested Butte, CO. He is the former Chairman of GOPAC
1987-1993, a Republic Public Action Committee dedicated exclusively to electing Republicans to state and local offices. Callaway was also Secretary of the Army when Donald Rumsfeld
was Secretary of Defense. As Secretary of the Army, Callaway establishes the Department of the Army Domestic Action Program. Callaway resigned from his post in June 1975 to become chairman of President Ford's newly-formed campaign organization, the President Ford Committee (PFC). Callaway headed the PFC for nine months, overseeing the recruitment of personnel, the development of its organizational structure, and, in conjunction with the White House, the implementation of political strategies.
He is a member of The Council for National Policy. Callaway is currently Chairman of the Board of Crested Butte Mountain Resort in Colorado.
Lt. Col. Bill Cowan, USMC (ret.) is an internationally acknowledged expert in areas of terrorism, homeland security, intelligence, and military special operations. A retired Marine Corps
officer, Cowan spent three-and-a-half years on combat assignments in Vietnam. From 1989 through 1994, Cowan was involved in numerous operations in the Middle East in response to terrorist incidents and the holding of Western hostages in Beirut and Kuwait. He was directly involved in every facet of the Beirut hostages drama, including international negotiations leading to their release in 1991. He is a member of the Iran Policy Committee
and co-founder of WVC2, Inc. He resides in Camino, California.
Devon Gaffney Cross is a member of the Board of Directors of the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments and an Advisor for the Lincoln Group
Devon Cross is currently Executive Director of The Donors Forum on International Affairs. "She has extensive experience in public policy program development, having held positions with the Gilder Foundation, Donner Canadian Foundation and The Smith Richardson Foundation. Ms. Cross was senior associate editor of The Washington Quarterly and has worked at Foreign Policy Magazine and the International Security Studies Program, Woodrow Wilson Center. She holds an MA from Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) at Johns Hopkins University
and a BA from Bryn Mawr College. She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and serves on advisory boards of other civic organizations. Cross resides in Ft. Myers, Florida.
Douglas H. Dearth is an advisor to the Lincoln Group.
Dearth was Course Director, Joint Military Intelligence Training Center, Defense Intelligence Agency
(1998; 2002) and Senior Adjunct Faculty, UK Defence Intelligence and Security Centre, Chicksands (2003).
He is a Lifetime Member, Alumni Association, U.S. Army War College
, Carlisle Barracks, Carlisle, Pennsylvania; Class of 1986.
Mr. Dearth resides in Weaverville, North Carolina and Alexandria, Virginia.
Jerry Della Femina
is an advisor to The Lincoln Group.
He is the CEO of Della Femina Rothschild Jeary and Partners and was named by Advertising Age
as "one of the most influential advertising people of the century." Jerry, who was born in Brooklyn, graduated from Lafayette High School and attended Brooklyn College. He received an honorary doctorate from the University of Missouri in 1983 and from Long Island University in 1989. He is married to Judy Licht, a television news reporter; they have two young children, a daughter Jessie, and a son James. He has three grown children by a previous marriage, Donna, Michael and Jodi. The Della Feminas reside in New York City, East Hampton and Palm Beach.
Donald H. Hinckley, PhD is an advisor for the Lincoln Group.
Mr. Hinckley is President of Research/Strategy/Management, Inc. (R/S/M Inc.), Fairfax, Virginia. Hinckley
Dr. Hinckley was Director of Research for the U.S. Information Agency (1994). Previously he served the National Security Council in the White House as Director of Special Studies for crisis management. In more than three decades he has published extensively on public opinion. He served in the White House Office of Planning and Evaluation (1983).
Colin Rees Mason serves as advisor to The Lincoln Group.
He is a Principal Consultant in CORDA Ltd., the Centre for Operational Research and Defence Analysis, a wholly owned subsidiary of BAE Systems
. He received his BSc and PhD from University College, University of London. He has spent 17 years in CORDA conducting a variety of operational research studies in the land, sea and air domains. His current research interests include object-oriented simulation, modelling human behaviour and decision-making, complex adaptive systems, decentralised systems and distributed intelligence, and Network Centric Warfare. Earlier he served as Lieutenant Colonel TD, The Royal Regiment of Wales Territorial Army.
Charles Dennison Lane serves as advisor to The Lincoln Group.
Lane was a "visiting senior fellow" at the Watson Institute at Brown University "from July 2004 to June 2005. Before coming to Brown, he was United Nations Administrator first for the Vučitrn
Municipality, Mitrovica Region and then Administrator for the Peć
Municipality in Kosovo
. A retired colonel of the U.S Army Special Forces, he has held subsequent positions primarily in the Balkans. He received his B.A. in Romance languages and music from Norwich University, Norwich, VT; M.A. in Chinese and Japanese literature from Washington University, St. Louis, MO; and his Ph.D. in political science from Hong Kong University. He is the author of numerous journal articles and the forthcoming book, The Royal Thai Army and the Communist Party of Thailand. He is a member of International Institute for Strategic Studies
, London; Military Attaché Hall of Fame; and Royal Institute of Asiatic Studies.
Price Roe is Senior Policy Advisor to the Chief Information Officer, U.S. Department of Justice. He is a Lead21
member and co-founder along with Auren Hoffman
. (Christian Bailey was not a Lead21 co-founder, and never served as a member of the organization's Board of Governors, though he did once chair the organization's New York City chapter.) Price is a native of Houston (and earned his B.A. degree in History from Colgate University and his M.B.A. from Harvard Business School
in 2000. He worked a long stint at Accenture (then Andersen Consulting) and Heidrick & Struggles. He also worked for the Bush 2000 presidential campaign in Karl Rove
's "strategery" group on the e-campaign, helping direct and implement website, email, coalitions, and executive outreach strategies.
Dr. Michael Vlahos serves as advisor to The Lincoln Group.
Vlahos is currently a senior member of the Joint Warfare Analysis Department at Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Maryland. In addition to developing an ongoing collaboration between the laboratory and the U.S. Joint Forces Command, Vlahos' research into the War on Terror led to the 2001 Terror's Mask: Insurgency Within Islam, now a text in the Naval War College Strategy Department and the University of Chicago Islamic Studies Department. Vlahos is a former fellow at the Progress & Freedom Foundation and the Center for Naval Analysis, and headed the Center for the Study of Foreign Affairs, U.S. Department of State, at Cold War's end.
Before that time, Vlahos served as the director of the Securities Studies Program at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. He has authored several books published by Johns Hopkins/SAIS and the U.S. State Department, and his commentary has appeared in National Review, Washington Quarterly, Foreign Policy, Foreign Affairs, and the Times Literary Supplement. Vlahos has also appeared regularly on Crossfire, Good Morning America, CNN and Larry King Live.
Vlahos is a graduate of Yale University, and received both his masters and Ph.D from the Fletcher School of Law & Diplomacy, Tufts University. He is a member of the Defense Science Board Task Force on Strategic Communication. Former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld
spoke at Johns Hopkins University's Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies
on December 5, 2005 stating "We don't know what the facts are yet" in relation to Lincoln group's planting of stories in the Iraq media outlets.
Amy Zalman is an advisor for the Lincoln Group.
Zalman co-founded Oryx Communications in 2003 with Larisa Breton. According to her Oryx Communications biography (http://www.oryxconsulting.com/about.html), Amy Zalman brings to Oryx deep insight into Middle Eastern cultures sharpened over a decade of consulting, writing, public speaking and university teaching. Amy's consulting experience includes military, corporate intelligence, educational and human rights organizations. She maintains a consulting relationship with The Rendon Group
, a Washington D.C.-based strategic communications firm where, as an Arabic media strategist, she carries out projects for the United States Central Command, Strategic Command, Air Intelligence Agency and other Department of Defense clients. "The Rendon Group
is a partner company of The Lincoln Group".
In addition to a Ph.D. in Middle Eastern Studies from New York University, Amy holds degrees from Columbia and Cornell Universities. She has held faculty posts at both Cornell and New York University. Her articles, reference works, reviews, interviews and Arabic translation have appeared in a wide variety of respected cultural and policy journals. Amy has lectured for general and expert audiences in the United States, Europe and the Middle East, and served as a Fulbright Fellow in Jordan. Zalman resides in Saint Augustine, Florida.
Ira William Zartman serves as advisor to The Lincoln Group.
Zartman is the Jacob Blaustein Professor of International Organizations and Conflict Resolution and Director of the Conflict Management Program at the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies
(SAIS) at Johns Hopkins University.
Professor Zartman is the former director of the SAIS African Studies Program; a former faculty member at the University of South Carolina and New York University; served as Olin Professor at the U.S. Naval Academy, Halevy Professor at the Institute of Political Studies in Paris and visiting professor at the American University in Paris; has been a consultant to the U.S. Department of State; president of the Tangier American Legation Museum Society; past president of the Middle East Studies Association of America and [founder] and past president of the American Institute for Maghrib Studies; fluent in French; Ph.D., international relations, Yale University, according to his Johns Hopkins faculty profile. Zartman serves on the National Advisory Committee of the Middle East Policy Council
, Board Member of the American Tunisian Association and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations
.
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
hired by the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
military to perform public relations
Public relations
Public relations is the actions of a corporation, store, government, individual, etc., in promoting goodwill between itself and the public, the community, employees, customers, etc....
. They operate from the Green Zone
Green Zone
The Green Zone is the most common name for the International Zone of Baghdad. It is a area of central Baghdad, Iraq, that was the governmental center of the Coalition Provisional Authority and remains the center of the international presence in the city...
at Sector 222, 34th St, Bldg 5
Karatet Mariam, Baghdad, Iraq and 1130 17th St. NW Suite 400 Washington, DC.On November 30, 2005, the Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
revealed the company had been paying for news stories in Iraqi newspapers. Prior to that report, Lincoln Group of Washington, DC was awarded an indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity
IDIQ
IDIQ is a contracting acronym meaning Indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity. This is a type of contract that provides for an indefinite quantity of supplies or services during a fixed period of time...
contract, with a potential maximum value of $100,000,000, for media approach planning, prototype product development, commercial quality product development, product distribution and dissemination, and media effects analysis for the Joint Psychological Operations Support element and other government agencies. The work will be performed CONUS and OCONUS and task orders may be issued from June 7, 2005 - June 6, 2010. This contract was awarded on a competitive basis pursuant to FAR 6.102. The contract number is H92222-05-D-1010.
Background
According to the group's website, "Lincoln Alliance Corporation, with the assistance of a cadre of investors, formed Lincoln Group to pursue private sector opportunities in Iraq. Lincoln Group brings a unique combination of expertise in collecting and exploiting information; structuring transactions; and mitigating risks through due diligence and legal strategies."In September 2004, the major PR contract for the Multi-National Corps-Iraq was awarded to Iraqex, a "business clearinghouse company formed specifically to provide a swath of services in the war-torn country." The Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
-based Lincoln Alliance Corporation, a "business 'intelligence' company that handles services from 'political campaign intelligence' to commercial real estate in Iraq", set up Iraqex last year. Iraqex has four Iraq offices, including in Baghdad and Basra. Iraqex will develop video and print publications, purchase TV and radio time, and oversee public affairs and advertising for MNC-I, to ensure "that the Coalition gains widespread Iraqi acceptance of its core themes and messages."
Iraqex subsequently changed its name to Lincoln Group, after its holding company, Lincoln Alliance Corporation. Lincoln Group has a $6 million, three-year public relations contract for the U.S.-led Multi-National Corps-Iraq, for which it "develops video, audio and print products to support MNC-I initiatives." It also publishes Iraq Business Journal, a "monthly publication on contract opportunities, life in Iraq and classifieds." The publication recently interviewed Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani
Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani
Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Ali al-Husayni al-Sistani is the highest-ranking Twelver Shia marja in Iraq and the leader of the Hawza of Najaf.-Early life:Sistani was born in Mashhad, Iran, to a family of religious scholars who traced their roots to Isfahan...
, who said foreign investment is acceptable, as long as the investor is not with the "occupation forces" or taking "advantage of any instability." Lincoln Group is no longer looking for interns.
Pentagon contract 2005
A June 11, 2005, Washington Post article reported the PentagonThe Pentagon
The Pentagon is the headquarters of the United States Department of Defense, located in Arlington County, Virginia. As a symbol of the U.S. military, "the Pentagon" is often used metonymically to refer to the Department of Defense rather than the building itself.Designed by the American architect...
had awarded three contracts, potentially worth up to $300 million over five years, to three companies it hopes will inject more creativity into its psychological operations efforts to improve foreign public opinion about the United States, particularly the military. Lincoln Group won one of the three contracts, Science Applications International Corporation
Science Applications International Corporation
SAIC is a FORTUNE 500 scientific, engineering and technology applications company headquartered in the United States with numerous federal, state, and private sector clients...
and SYColeman, Inc., a subsidiary of L-3 Communications
L-3 Communications
L-3 Communications Holdings, Inc. is a company that supplies command and control, communications, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance systems and products, avionics, ocean products, training devices and services, instrumentation, space, and navigation products. Its customers include...
, the other two. All three companies declined to comment for the article.
As the Richmond, Virginia
Richmond, Virginia
Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area...
Times-Dispatch wrote, "The use of contractors in psyops is a new wrinkle. But psychological warfare expert Herb Friedman said he is not surprised. ... With only one active-duty and two reserve psyops units remaining, Friedman said, 'The bottom line is, they don't have the manpower.'"
In September 2005, the Lincoln Group was looking to hire "senior media and PR professionals to guide an advertising and PR campaign to inform the Iraqi people of 'the Coalition's goals and to gain their support", according to O'Dwyer's. The firm also was recruiting "polling and trend analysis pros to analyze media and compile statistics with the Iraq Centre for Research and Strategic Studies." The new hires are due to an "ongoing expansion (it is in the first year of a $6M, three-year PR contract)."
Paying for news in Iraq
In November 2005, the Los Angeles TimesLos Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
reported that the Lincoln Group was helping the Pentagon covertly place pro-United States stories in Iraqi news outlets. "Dozens" of pieces written by U.S. military "information operations" troops were placed during 2005, according to the LA Times. "The operation is designed to mask any connection with the U.S. military", the LA Times reported. The Lincoln Group "helps translate and place the stories. The Lincoln Group's Iraqi staff, or its subcontractors, sometimes pose as freelance reporters or advertising executives when they deliver the stories to Baghdad media outlets."
The Los Angeles Times piece continued, "Military officials familiar with the effort in Iraq said much of it was being directed by the 'Information Operations Task Force' in Baghdad
Baghdad
Baghdad is the capital of Iraq, as well as the coterminous Baghdad Governorate. The population of Baghdad in 2011 is approximately 7,216,040...
, part of the multinational corps headquarters commanded by Army Lt. Gen. John R. Vines.... As part of a psychological operations campaign that has intensified over the last year, the task force also had purchased an Iraqi newspaper and taken control of a radio station, and was using them to channel pro-American messages to the Iraqi public. Neither is identified as a military mouthpiece".
In response to the story United States Department of Defense
United States Department of Defense
The United States Department of Defense is the U.S...
spokesman Bryan Whitman said "this article raises some questions as to whether or not some of the practices that are described in there are consistent with the principles of this department", he said. "And that's what we're going to take a look at."http://www.voanews.com/english/2005-11-30-voa77.cfm
Voice of America
Voice of America
Voice of America is the official external broadcast institution of the United States federal government. It is one of five civilian U.S. international broadcasters working under the umbrella of the Broadcasting Board of Governors . VOA provides a wide range of programming for broadcast on radio...
noted that while the official communications principles state information will be "timely and accurate", they "do not include any prohibition against paying to place stories in the media."
"Pentagon documents indicate the Lincoln Group ... received a $100 million contract to help produce favorable articles, translate the articles into Arabic
Arabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
, get them placed in Iraqi newspapers and not reveal the Pentagon's role", according to. MSNBC
MSNBC
MSNBC is a cable news channel based in the United States available in the US, Germany , South Africa, the Middle East and Canada...
's December 1, 2005, Hardball with Chris Matthews
Hardball with Chris Matthews
Hardball with Chris Matthews is a talk show on MSNBC, broadcast weekdays at 5 and 7 PM hosted by Chris Matthews. It originally aired on now-defunct America's Talking and later CNBC. The current title was derived from a book Matthews wrote in 1988, Hardball: How Politics Is Played Told by One Who...
.
Additionally, the Chicago Tribune
Chicago Tribune
The Chicago Tribune is a major daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, and the flagship publication of the Tribune Company. Formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" , it remains the most read daily newspaper of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region and is...
reported that "Lincolns' PR workers in Iraq included three Republican operatives who helped run the Bush campaign in Illinois and had no apparent experience in Iraq."
In March 2006, The Independent
The Independent
The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
published several examples
of news stories produced by the Lincoln Group in the late 2005.
The Independents Andrew Buncombe gives his opinion of how these stories distort the actual events of the Iraq war. The only source named in that article is John Pike, Director of globalsecurity.org
GlobalSecurity.org
GlobalSecurity.org, launched in 2000, is a public policy organization focusing on the fields of defense, space exploration, intelligence, weapons of mass destruction and homeland security...
, a self-described "think tank", who never disputes the truth of Lincoln Group stories, but instead says "It's embarrassing enough that [the US military] got caught ... but then for their product to be so cheesy ... It's just embarrassing." One must note that the stories themselves are alleged to come from the Lincoln Group itself, and not from the U.S. military.
Pentagon investigation
Regarding the news reports about the military planting news stories, United States Department of StateUnited States Department of State
The United States Department of State , is the United States federal executive department responsible for international relations of the United States, equivalent to the foreign ministries of other countries...
spokesman Sean McCormack
Sean McCormack
Sean McCormack is a former United States Assistant Secretary of State. He was sworn in as Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs and Department Spokesman on June 2, 2005, and served until January 20, 2009.-Early career:...
said in his November 30, 2005, daily press briefing that his "colleagues over at the Pentagon" were "looking in[to]" and were "probably in the best position to address those news reports." A reporter then commented: "Why would they have to look into the news reports if it's -- if it's happening, wouldn't they know they did it."
On the November 30, 2005, Hardball, Senator John Warner
John Warner
John William Warner, KBE is an American Republican politician who served as Secretary of the Navy from 1972 to 1974 and as a five-term United States Senator from Virginia from January 2, 1979, to January 3, 2009...
(R-Virginia) told Chris Matthews
Chris Matthews
Christopher John "Chris" Matthews is an American news anchor and political commentator, known for his nightly hour-long talk show, Hardball with Chris Matthews, which is televised on the American cable television channel MSNBC...
"I saw that for the first time today. And as chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Armed Services, we'll look into that because I'm concerned that our credibility abroad is very important. And if we're manufacturing things or taking our wonderful troops and trying to translate their ideas into something that's more our idea, rather than the trooper's idea, then I think we should be looking at it."
In his December 1, 2005, press gaggle, White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
spokesman Scott McClellan
Scott McClellan
Scott McClellan is a former White House Press Secretary for President George W. Bush, and author of a controversial No. 1 New York Times bestseller about the Bush Administration titled What Happened. He replaced Ari Fleischer as press secretary in July 2003 and served until May 10, 2006...
said that "the Los Angeles Times was the first place" the White House had heard about "the military using this Lincoln Group to plant stories in Iraqi newspapers" and that "We have asked the Department of Defense for more information. General [Pete] Pace has asked people to look into the matter and get the facts, and so we want to see what those facts are."
On December 3, the U.S. military command in Baghdad acknowledged for the first time that it had paid Iraqi newspapers to carry positive news about U.S. efforts in Iraq, but officials characterized the payments as part of a legitimate campaign to counter insurgents' misinformation.
Key players
Paige Craig is Executive Vice President of Strategic Solutions at the Lincoln Group.According to his corporate profile, "Craig's previous work includes long-term consultation with various DOD and Justice Department clients on projects that involved analysis and review of local and foreign activities. He has also worked on projects involving financial analysis of local and foreign financial crimes, competitive intelligence for U.S. venture funds, and other challenging information projects. In this work, and during his time in the U.S. Marine Corps, he has built a proven track record of working in high-risk environments under tasking conditions. Mr. Craig has worked in Thailand, Japan, Australia, Kuwait, Syria, Iraq, and Jordan. Mr. Craig attended West Point and subsequently received a B.S. in Information Systems Management from the University of Maryland and an MBA from National University."
Craig was formerly president of Omnicept. From an internship posting at www.wetfeet.com: Omnicept is an analytic and intelligence firm dedicated to providing the highest level of analysis, intelligence, and analytic tools to government and commercial clients. The RA will be an integral part of this process and will support one or more of Omnicept's key markets through research, analysis, coordination, and outreach activities. This position will require solid organizational, writing, speaking, and analytic skills.
Iraq businesses upbeat despite security fears", Agence France Presse, September 27, 2004: Paige Craig, executive vice president of Iraqex, a US firm involved in a range of activities from manufacturing construction materials to 'providing logistics' for US forces, disagreed with the general view that the security situation was deteriorating. ... 'People think it's getting worse because they only pay attention to foreigners (who are being taken hostage and often executed). But it's definitely more secure now than it was' a year ago, he told AFP." Mr. Craig resides in Washington, DC.
Christian Bailey (née Christian Martin Josefowicz) is executive vice president of Capital Markets:
As executive vice president, Bailey leads the evaluation and structuring of emerging markets investment transactions, as well as the development of key partner and co-investor relationships. Investments completed to date include four in Iraq: steel reprocessing at six sites near Basra, property in Baghdad, and two brick factories near Erbil. Bailey also develops key partner relationships supporting Lincoln Group's professional services arm supporting commercial and government clients with information gathering & analysis; and outreach through PR, advertising & strategic communications. Bailey formerly served as a managing director at Lincoln Asset Management Group where he led the defense technology private equity group which raised $6 million as a hedge fund(LEXIS citation). Earlier Bailey was the Founder and CEO of Express Action, a provider of international trade logistics solutions. Express Action handles all the complexity of international import duties, taxes, regulations and customs clearance online, making an international order just as transparent and simple as a domestic one. Before founding Express Action, Bailey was worked in the Emerging Companies Group at Linck Corporate Finance PLC, where he funded and helped develop high-growth technology companies. Before joining Linck, he was Founder and CEO of ITG, a computer services company with a global supply-chain which was acquired in 1998. He also worked at Kleinwort Benson
Kleinwort Benson
Kleinwort Benson is a leading Private Bank that offers a wide range of financial services to private and corporate clients from offices throughout the United Kingdom and Channel Islands. The bank has its headquarters on St George Street in Mayfair, and is supported by seven UK regional and two...
. He holds a Bachelors and a Masters in Economics and Management from Hertford College. He was once the chair of the New York City chapter of Lead21
Lead21
Lead21 is a conservative public policy and advocacy organization focused on entrepreneurship and technology innovation. It was founded in the United States by several Silicon Valley entrepreneurs in 2001...
, a public policy organization for conservative entrepreneurs. Bailey was also New York City co-chair of the 2004 Republican National Convention.
Anthoney J Berkant is Vice President of finance at the Lincoln Group.
Berkant brings decades of experience and a track record developing small to mid-size enterprises in government contracting, software development, e-learning, and distribution industries. With over 30 years of experience in the finance field, Mr. Berkant has served as a financial officer and broadened his capabilities with extensive work in the merchant banking and merger and acquisition areas. His recent experience includes: i) Chief Financial Officer for Wilson/Bennett Company, LLC with responsibility for expanding the company's capabilities for both merger and acquisition and financial advisory services; ii) Comptroller for Accelera Corporation where he was both the senior financial and administrative officer of the corporation; and iii) Chief Financial Officer of Advanced Technology Holdings, Inc, a boutique, private management advisory and a merchant banking firm for firms located in Latin America. Mr. Berkant is a member of Maryland Association of Certified Public Accountants and Financial Executives International. Mr. Berkant holds a B.S. in Accounting from Wilkes University in Pennsylvania and is a Certified Public Accountant.
Morton Blackwell
Morton Blackwell
Morton C. Blackwell is an American Republican Party activist. He is president and founder of the Leadership Institute , a 5013 non-profit educational foundation that teaches political technology....
Affiliations: The Council for National Policy 1982 Board of Governors, Executive Director CNP, 1991–present; White House Staff as Special Assistant to President Reagan for Public Liaison; former staff member, Senate Republican Policy Committee; former policy director, U.S. Senator Gordon J. Humphrey
Gordon J. Humphrey
Gordon John Humphrey is a New Hampshire politician who served two terms in the Senate as a Republican from 1979 to 1990, and twice ran for Governor of New Hampshire, though both bids were unsuccessful.-Early life:...
; overseer, 1980 Youth for Reagan effort; founder in 1979 and President, The Leadership Institute, a non-profit, non-partisan, educational organization, with 18 types of programs. "Conservative leaders, organizations and activists rely on the Institute for the preparation they require for success." "mission is to increase the number and effectiveness of conservative public policy leaders." [The Leadership Institute] recently provided political training to members of Maranatha, its Campus Leadership Program, is "designed to foster permanent, effective, conservative, student organizations on every college campus in America. Leadership Institute field staff have already created new organizations on 207 campuses in 37 states. Founder and chairman, Conservative Leadership PAC; Republican National Committeeman from Virginia; Treasurer, Reagan Mumni Association; former editor, The NewRight Report; former contributing editor, Conservative Digest. Formerly with The Viguerie Company (CNP) Richard Viguerie
Richard Viguerie
Richard Art Viguerie is a conservative figure, pioneer of political direct mail and writer on American politics...
. Board member, American Conservative Union
American Conservative Union
The American Conservative Union is an American political organization advocating conservative policies, and is the oldest such conservative lobbying organization in the country.-Organization:...
, Legislative Studies Institute, National Right to Work Committee, Reagan Alumni (Treasurer). Received funding from the Coors Foundations. Blackwell is also President, International Policy Forum, from the 1984 CNP Directory, "a foundation which promotes educational exchanges between conservatives in the US and pro-freedom leaders in other countries."
Nicholas McDowell is Director of New Media with the Lincoln Group.
Andrea Jackson Former Director of Research and Training at the Lincoln Group, conducts on-the-ground research in conflict zones and provides computer-based and in-person training to Defense Intelligence Agency analysts and U.S. Army and Marine Corps units in Iraq. She previously managed training programs in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Kosovo.
Jim Wilkinson (James R. Wilkinson), who served as General Tommy R. Franks' director of strategic communications and chief spokesman for the U.S. Central Command (Tampa), became deputy national security advisor for communications as of December 2003. He is fluent in Arabic, both written and spoken. Wilkinson "will craft long-term messaging strategy for the National Security Council
United States National Security Council
The White House National Security Council in the United States is the principal forum used by the President of the United States for considering national security and foreign policy matters with his senior national security advisors and Cabinet officials and is part of the Executive Office of the...
" and reports to Karl Rove
Karl Rove
Karl Christian Rove was Senior Advisor and Deputy Chief of Staff to former President George W. Bush until Rove's resignation on August 31, 2007. He has headed the Office of Political Affairs, the Office of Public Liaison, and the White House Office of Strategic Initiatives...
, National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice
Condoleezza Rice
Condoleezza Rice is an American political scientist and diplomat. She served as the 66th United States Secretary of State, and was the second person to hold that office in the administration of President George W. Bush...
and White House communications director Dan Bartlett
Dan Bartlett
Daniel Joseph Bartlett was a Counselor to the President in the Bush administration. The position was previously held by Karen Hughes, who vacated the post in 2002. On June 1, 2007, he announced his resignation and that he would be leaving the White House on July 5, 2007...
. Mr. Wilkinson grew up in East Texas and gave up plans to become an undertaker to go to work for Republican Congressman Dick Armey
Dick Armey
Richard Keith "Dick" Armey is a former U.S. Representative from Texas's and House Majority Leader . He was one of the engineers of the "Republican Revolution" of the 1990s, in which Republicans were elected to majorities of both houses of Congress for the first time in four decades. Armey was...
in 1992. Mr. Armey soon became House majority leader; his communications director, Mr. Wilkinson's mentor, was Ed Gillespie, now chairman of the R.N.C. Wilkinson first left his mark on the 2000 Presidential race in March 1999, when he helped package and promote the notion that Al Gore
Al Gore
Albert Arnold "Al" Gore, Jr. served as the 45th Vice President of the United States , under President Bill Clinton. He was the Democratic Party's nominee for President in the 2000 U.S. presidential election....
claimed to have 'invented the Internet. Then the Texan popped up in Miami to defend Republican protesters shutting down a recount: 'We find it interesting that when Jesse Jackson
Jesse Jackson
Jesse Louis Jackson, Sr. is an African-American civil rights activist and Baptist minister. He was a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1984 and 1988 and served as shadow senator for the District of Columbia from 1991 to 1997. He was the founder of both entities that merged to...
has thousands of protesters in the streets, it's O.K., but when a small number of Republicans exercise their First Amendment
First Amendment to the United States Constitution
The First Amendment to the United States Constitution is part of the Bill of Rights. The amendment prohibits the making of any law respecting an establishment of religion, impeding the free exercise of religion, abridging the freedom of speech, infringing on the freedom of the press, interfering...
rights, the Democrats don't seem to like it,' he told the Associated Press. Mr. Wilkinson was made deputy director of communications for planning in the Bush White House, and was among the aides who set up the Sept. 14, 2001, visit to Ground Zero that redefined George W. Bush's Presidency. During the Afghan war, he managed 'Coalition Information Centers' in Washington, D.C., and London, as well as in Pakistan and Afghanistan. In Qatar, he became the point man on the rescue of Pvt. Jessica Lynch
Jessica Lynch
Jessica Dawn Lynch is a former Private First Class in the United States Army Quartermaster Corps. Lynch served in Iraq during the 2003 invasion by U.S. and allied forces. On March 23, 2003 she was injured and captured by Iraqi forces but was recovered on April 1 by U.S...
and delivered the most memorable and sellable quote of Gulf War II: 'America doesn't leave its heroes behind,' he told reporters at a late-night briefing.
Advisors
Vincent J. Breglio (Vince Breglio) is Executive Vice President, Head of International Teams for the market research and public relations company, Wirthlin WorldwideWirthlin Worldwide
Wirthlin Worldwide was a political and business consulting firm founded by Richard Wirthlin in 1969. It ceased to operate as a separate company on September 8, 2004 when it was sold to Harris Interactive in a deal valued at $42 million dollars....
. Breglio is an advisor to the Lincoln Group.
In 1969 Breglio co-founded Decision Making Information, later re-named Wirthlin Worldwide
Wirthlin Worldwide
Wirthlin Worldwide was a political and business consulting firm founded by Richard Wirthlin in 1969. It ceased to operate as a separate company on September 8, 2004 when it was sold to Harris Interactive in a deal valued at $42 million dollars....
with Richard Wirthlin.
According to his biographical note, in 1983 Breglio also started a Washington, D.C. based public opinion and public affairs company known as Research/Strategy/Management, Inc.
Breglio is Head of International Teams for Wirthlin Worldwide
Wirthlin Worldwide
Wirthlin Worldwide was a political and business consulting firm founded by Richard Wirthlin in 1969. It ceased to operate as a separate company on September 8, 2004 when it was sold to Harris Interactive in a deal valued at $42 million dollars....
"supervising the activities of seven offices outside the U.S. including Wirthlin-Europe, WirthlinWorldwide Asia and WirthlinWorldwide Australasia. He also serves as Managing Director of Wirthlin Worldwide Asia, with offices in Hong Kong and Singapore."
"As the president of his own firm, the Executive Director of the National Republican Senatorial Committee
National Republican Senatorial Committee
The National Republican Senatorial Committee is the Republican Hill committee for the United States Senate, working to elect Republicans to that body. The NRSC was founded in 1916 as the Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee...
(NRSC) and the President of DECISION MAKING INFORMATION (the national polling firm used almost exclusively by Ronald Reagan and the Republican Administration), he has consulted with business and government leaders at the highest levels", his biographical note states.
Breglio worked on the 1980 Reagan Presidential campaigns as Deputy Director of Strategy and as Senior Consultant on his 1984 campaign. Breglio worked as Director of Polling for the Bush-Quayle Presidential campaign in 1988. Breglio's biographical note states he has worked work for the Ford Foundation
Ford Foundation
The Ford Foundation is a private foundation incorporated in Michigan and based in New York City created to fund programs that were chartered in 1936 by Edsel Ford and Henry Ford....
and the Kellogg Foundation along with the RJ Reynolds tobacco company, Geneva Steel
Geneva Steel
Geneva Steel was a steel mill located in Vineyard, Utah, founded during World War II to enhance national steel output. It operated from December 1944 to November 2001...
, Kraft Foods, the Wall Street Journal and NBC News. Mr. Breglio resides in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Larisa Breton co-founded Oryx Communications in 2003 with Amy Zalman. She is an advisor to the Lincoln Group.
According to her Oryx Communications biography, "[h]aving successfully managed two of her own companies, Breton brings to Oryx extensive experience in media planning and sales, marketing, and creative services developed over a 15-year career in advertising and publishing.
Larisa possesses extensive legislative, regulatory and Capitol Hill experience and is an expert on the development of niche markets, capabilities she first developed as a Product Development Manager of Washington D.C.-based Thompson Publishing Group.
As the president of Charla Breton Associates, a media sales firm, she developed comprehensive advertising and marketing programs for automotive, apparel, liquor, tourism, media, legal, financial and publishing clients. Larisa, one of a handful of Internet sales pioneers in the mid-1990s, brought e-commerce to the automotive industry's Big Three on behalf of HotWired, the first advertiser-sponsored website. She helped to educate an entire generation of media planners on the Internet's capabilities and long-term potential. This expertise led to her recruitment by General Motors Cyberworks, where she was the chief negotiator and media buyer for GM's strategic alliance with Time Warner's AOL, and where she also led evaluations and negotiations of new media and technology opportunities for GM and its divisions.
Larisa further honed her creative skills as the owner of CoffeeBear Productions, where her achievements included national broadcast writing credits and commercial work. Larisa received her Bachelor of Arts degree from the Catholic University of America, where she serves on the Alumni Board of Governors. Larisa currently is earning her MBA in international business management from Baker College.
Lieutenant General Charlie Brown concluded a distinguished 37-year military career as Director of the Defense Security Assistance Agency and Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs in the Office of the Secretary of Defense. During his tenure, he was responsible for providing military assistance and supervising foreign military sales to friendly and allied governments, managing a multi-billion dollar trust fund and an educational institution, and had daily interface with the Congress, the NSC, private industry, and foreign dignitaries. Immediately after his retirement from the Army, General Brown joined the State Department team negotiating the renewal of the US-Philippine base rights agreement.
Howard H. "Bo" Callaway
Howard Callaway
Howard Hollis "Bo" Callaway is a businessman and former politician from the state of Georgia.-Early life and education:Callaway was born in LaGrange, Georgia, west of Atlanta. His grandfather was Fuller Earle Callaway. He attended Georgia Tech and graduated from the United States Military Academy...
was the first Georgia Republican since Reconstruction to win election to the U.S. House of Representatives (1964). And the first Georgia Republican since Reconstruction to win the popular vote in a gubernatorial election (1966). He served as Secretary of the Army for President Richard Nixon
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
, then Ford. Callaway is currently Chairman of the Board, Crested Butte Mountain Resort
Crested Butte Mountain Resort
Crested Butte Mountain Resort is a ski resort located at Mount Crested Butte in Gunnison County, Colorado, United States.Crested Butte Mountain Resort opened in 1960 and has since developed a long and unique history. Known for offering extreme and diverse terrain, the mountain is considered one of...
, Crested Butte, CO. He is the former Chairman of GOPAC
GOPAC
GOPAC is a Republican state and local political training organization. Although often thought of as a PAC, or Political Action Committee, it is actually a 527 organization. It describes itself as "the premier training organization for Republican candidates in elected office on the state and local...
1987-1993, a Republic Public Action Committee dedicated exclusively to electing Republicans to state and local offices. Callaway was also Secretary of the Army when Donald Rumsfeld
Donald Rumsfeld
Donald Henry Rumsfeld is an American politician and businessman. Rumsfeld served as the 13th Secretary of Defense from 1975 to 1977 under President Gerald Ford, and as the 21st Secretary of Defense from 2001 to 2006 under President George W. Bush. He is both the youngest and the oldest person to...
was Secretary of Defense. As Secretary of the Army, Callaway establishes the Department of the Army Domestic Action Program. Callaway resigned from his post in June 1975 to become chairman of President Ford's newly-formed campaign organization, the President Ford Committee (PFC). Callaway headed the PFC for nine months, overseeing the recruitment of personnel, the development of its organizational structure, and, in conjunction with the White House, the implementation of political strategies.
He is a member of The Council for National Policy. Callaway is currently Chairman of the Board of Crested Butte Mountain Resort in Colorado.
Lt. Col. Bill Cowan, USMC (ret.) is an internationally acknowledged expert in areas of terrorism, homeland security, intelligence, and military special operations. A retired Marine Corps
Marine corps
A marine is a member of a force that specializes in expeditionary operations such as amphibious assault and occupation. The marines traditionally have strong links with the country's navy...
officer, Cowan spent three-and-a-half years on combat assignments in Vietnam. From 1989 through 1994, Cowan was involved in numerous operations in the Middle East in response to terrorist incidents and the holding of Western hostages in Beirut and Kuwait. He was directly involved in every facet of the Beirut hostages drama, including international negotiations leading to their release in 1991. He is a member of the Iran Policy Committee
Iran Policy Committee
The Iran Policy Committee , formed in February, 2005, is a pressure group meant to influence US government policy towards Iran. IPC is made up of former White House, State Department, The Pentagon and CIA officials as well as scholars from think tanks and academia.-Aims:According to its website,...
and co-founder of WVC2, Inc. He resides in Camino, California.
Devon Gaffney Cross is a member of the Board of Directors of the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments and an Advisor for the Lincoln Group
Devon Cross is currently Executive Director of The Donors Forum on International Affairs. "She has extensive experience in public policy program development, having held positions with the Gilder Foundation, Donner Canadian Foundation and The Smith Richardson Foundation. Ms. Cross was senior associate editor of The Washington Quarterly and has worked at Foreign Policy Magazine and the International Security Studies Program, Woodrow Wilson Center. She holds an MA from Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) at Johns Hopkins University
Johns Hopkins University
The Johns Hopkins University, commonly referred to as Johns Hopkins, JHU, or simply Hopkins, is a private research university based in Baltimore, Maryland, United States...
and a BA from Bryn Mawr College. She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and serves on advisory boards of other civic organizations. Cross resides in Ft. Myers, Florida.
Douglas H. Dearth is an advisor to the Lincoln Group.
Dearth was Course Director, Joint Military Intelligence Training Center, Defense Intelligence Agency
Defense Intelligence Agency
The Defense Intelligence Agency is a member of the Intelligence Community of the United States, and is the central producer and manager of military intelligence for the United States Department of Defense, employing over 16,500 U.S. military and civilian employees worldwide...
(1998; 2002) and Senior Adjunct Faculty, UK Defence Intelligence and Security Centre, Chicksands (2003).
He is a Lifetime Member, Alumni Association, U.S. Army War College
U.S. Army War College
The United States Army War College is a United States Army school located in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, on the 500 acre campus of the historic Carlisle Barracks...
, Carlisle Barracks, Carlisle, Pennsylvania; Class of 1986.
Mr. Dearth resides in Weaverville, North Carolina and Alexandria, Virginia.
Jerry Della Femina
Jerry Della Femina
Jerry Della Femina is an American advertising executive and restaurateur. Starting from a poor Italian background in Brooklyn, he eventually became chairman of Della Femina Travisano & Partners, an agency which he founded with Ron Travisano in the 1960s...
is an advisor to The Lincoln Group.
He is the CEO of Della Femina Rothschild Jeary and Partners and was named by Advertising Age
Advertising Age
Advertising Age is a magazine, delivering news, analysis and data on marketing and media. The magazine was started as a broadsheet newspaper in Chicago in 1930...
as "one of the most influential advertising people of the century." Jerry, who was born in Brooklyn, graduated from Lafayette High School and attended Brooklyn College. He received an honorary doctorate from the University of Missouri in 1983 and from Long Island University in 1989. He is married to Judy Licht, a television news reporter; they have two young children, a daughter Jessie, and a son James. He has three grown children by a previous marriage, Donna, Michael and Jodi. The Della Feminas reside in New York City, East Hampton and Palm Beach.
Donald H. Hinckley, PhD is an advisor for the Lincoln Group.
Mr. Hinckley is President of Research/Strategy/Management, Inc. (R/S/M Inc.), Fairfax, Virginia. Hinckley
Dr. Hinckley was Director of Research for the U.S. Information Agency (1994). Previously he served the National Security Council in the White House as Director of Special Studies for crisis management. In more than three decades he has published extensively on public opinion. He served in the White House Office of Planning and Evaluation (1983).
Colin Rees Mason serves as advisor to The Lincoln Group.
He is a Principal Consultant in CORDA Ltd., the Centre for Operational Research and Defence Analysis, a wholly owned subsidiary of BAE Systems
BAE Systems
BAE Systems plc is a British multinational defence, security and aerospace company headquartered in London, United Kingdom, that has global interests, particularly in North America through its subsidiary BAE Systems Inc. BAE is among the world's largest military contractors; in 2009 it was the...
. He received his BSc and PhD from University College, University of London. He has spent 17 years in CORDA conducting a variety of operational research studies in the land, sea and air domains. His current research interests include object-oriented simulation, modelling human behaviour and decision-making, complex adaptive systems, decentralised systems and distributed intelligence, and Network Centric Warfare. Earlier he served as Lieutenant Colonel TD, The Royal Regiment of Wales Territorial Army.
Charles Dennison Lane serves as advisor to The Lincoln Group.
Lane was a "visiting senior fellow" at the Watson Institute at Brown University "from July 2004 to June 2005. Before coming to Brown, he was United Nations Administrator first for the Vučitrn
Vucitrn
Vučitrn or Vushtrri is a city and municipality in north-eastern Kosovo. It is the seat of the Kosovska Mitrovica District. The name of the city means "wolf's thorn", the name of the spiny restharrow plant in Serbian....
Municipality, Mitrovica Region and then Administrator for the Peć
Pec
Peć or Pejë is a city and municipality in north-western Kosovo and Metohija - Serbia, and the administrative centre of the homonymous district. Governor of city is Ali Berisha....
Municipality in Kosovo
Kosovo
Kosovo is a region in southeastern Europe. Part of the Ottoman Empire for more than five centuries, later the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija within Serbia...
. A retired colonel of the U.S Army Special Forces, he has held subsequent positions primarily in the Balkans. He received his B.A. in Romance languages and music from Norwich University, Norwich, VT; M.A. in Chinese and Japanese literature from Washington University, St. Louis, MO; and his Ph.D. in political science from Hong Kong University. He is the author of numerous journal articles and the forthcoming book, The Royal Thai Army and the Communist Party of Thailand. He is a member of International Institute for Strategic Studies
International Institute for Strategic Studies
The International Institute for Strategic Studies is a British research institute in the area of international affairs. It describes itself as "the world’s leading authority on political-military conflict"...
, London; Military Attaché Hall of Fame; and Royal Institute of Asiatic Studies.
Price Roe is Senior Policy Advisor to the Chief Information Officer, U.S. Department of Justice. He is a Lead21
Lead21
Lead21 is a conservative public policy and advocacy organization focused on entrepreneurship and technology innovation. It was founded in the United States by several Silicon Valley entrepreneurs in 2001...
member and co-founder along with Auren Hoffman
Auren Hoffman
Auren Raphael Hoffman is an American entrepreneur, CEO of Rapleaf, editor of Summation.net, angel investor, and member of Council on Foreign Relations.-Business:Hoffman sold his first tech company, while still in his 20's...
. (Christian Bailey was not a Lead21 co-founder, and never served as a member of the organization's Board of Governors, though he did once chair the organization's New York City chapter.) Price is a native of Houston (and earned his B.A. degree in History from Colgate University and his M.B.A. from Harvard Business School
Harvard Business School
Harvard Business School is the graduate business school of Harvard University in Boston, Massachusetts, United States and is widely recognized as one of the top business schools in the world. The school offers the world's largest full-time MBA program, doctoral programs, and many executive...
in 2000. He worked a long stint at Accenture (then Andersen Consulting) and Heidrick & Struggles. He also worked for the Bush 2000 presidential campaign in Karl Rove
Karl Rove
Karl Christian Rove was Senior Advisor and Deputy Chief of Staff to former President George W. Bush until Rove's resignation on August 31, 2007. He has headed the Office of Political Affairs, the Office of Public Liaison, and the White House Office of Strategic Initiatives...
's "strategery" group on the e-campaign, helping direct and implement website, email, coalitions, and executive outreach strategies.
Dr. Michael Vlahos serves as advisor to The Lincoln Group.
Vlahos is currently a senior member of the Joint Warfare Analysis Department at Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Maryland. In addition to developing an ongoing collaboration between the laboratory and the U.S. Joint Forces Command, Vlahos' research into the War on Terror led to the 2001 Terror's Mask: Insurgency Within Islam, now a text in the Naval War College Strategy Department and the University of Chicago Islamic Studies Department. Vlahos is a former fellow at the Progress & Freedom Foundation and the Center for Naval Analysis, and headed the Center for the Study of Foreign Affairs, U.S. Department of State, at Cold War's end.
Before that time, Vlahos served as the director of the Securities Studies Program at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. He has authored several books published by Johns Hopkins/SAIS and the U.S. State Department, and his commentary has appeared in National Review, Washington Quarterly, Foreign Policy, Foreign Affairs, and the Times Literary Supplement. Vlahos has also appeared regularly on Crossfire, Good Morning America, CNN and Larry King Live.
Vlahos is a graduate of Yale University, and received both his masters and Ph.D from the Fletcher School of Law & Diplomacy, Tufts University. He is a member of the Defense Science Board Task Force on Strategic Communication. Former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld
Donald Rumsfeld
Donald Henry Rumsfeld is an American politician and businessman. Rumsfeld served as the 13th Secretary of Defense from 1975 to 1977 under President Gerald Ford, and as the 21st Secretary of Defense from 2001 to 2006 under President George W. Bush. He is both the youngest and the oldest person to...
spoke at Johns Hopkins University's Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies
Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies
The Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies , a division of Johns Hopkins University based in Washington, D.C., is one of the world's leading and most prestigious graduate schools devoted to the study of international affairs, economics, diplomacy, and policy research and...
on December 5, 2005 stating "We don't know what the facts are yet" in relation to Lincoln group's planting of stories in the Iraq media outlets.
Amy Zalman is an advisor for the Lincoln Group.
Zalman co-founded Oryx Communications in 2003 with Larisa Breton. According to her Oryx Communications biography (http://www.oryxconsulting.com/about.html), Amy Zalman brings to Oryx deep insight into Middle Eastern cultures sharpened over a decade of consulting, writing, public speaking and university teaching. Amy's consulting experience includes military, corporate intelligence, educational and human rights organizations. She maintains a consulting relationship with The Rendon Group
Rendon Group
The Rendon Group is a public relations and propaganda firm headed by John Rendon which specializes in providing communications services both nationally and internationally. The Rendon Group website states, “For nearly three decades, The Rendon Group has been providing innovative global strategic...
, a Washington D.C.-based strategic communications firm where, as an Arabic media strategist, she carries out projects for the United States Central Command, Strategic Command, Air Intelligence Agency and other Department of Defense clients. "The Rendon Group
Rendon Group
The Rendon Group is a public relations and propaganda firm headed by John Rendon which specializes in providing communications services both nationally and internationally. The Rendon Group website states, “For nearly three decades, The Rendon Group has been providing innovative global strategic...
is a partner company of The Lincoln Group".
In addition to a Ph.D. in Middle Eastern Studies from New York University, Amy holds degrees from Columbia and Cornell Universities. She has held faculty posts at both Cornell and New York University. Her articles, reference works, reviews, interviews and Arabic translation have appeared in a wide variety of respected cultural and policy journals. Amy has lectured for general and expert audiences in the United States, Europe and the Middle East, and served as a Fulbright Fellow in Jordan. Zalman resides in Saint Augustine, Florida.
Ira William Zartman serves as advisor to The Lincoln Group.
Zartman is the Jacob Blaustein Professor of International Organizations and Conflict Resolution and Director of the Conflict Management Program at the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies
Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies
The Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies , a division of Johns Hopkins University based in Washington, D.C., is one of the world's leading and most prestigious graduate schools devoted to the study of international affairs, economics, diplomacy, and policy research and...
(SAIS) at Johns Hopkins University.
Professor Zartman is the former director of the SAIS African Studies Program; a former faculty member at the University of South Carolina and New York University; served as Olin Professor at the U.S. Naval Academy, Halevy Professor at the Institute of Political Studies in Paris and visiting professor at the American University in Paris; has been a consultant to the U.S. Department of State; president of the Tangier American Legation Museum Society; past president of the Middle East Studies Association of America and [founder] and past president of the American Institute for Maghrib Studies; fluent in French; Ph.D., international relations, Yale University, according to his Johns Hopkins faculty profile. Zartman serves on the National Advisory Committee of the Middle East Policy Council
Middle East Policy Council
The Middle East Policy Council or MEPC is a Washington DC based 5013 non-profit organization that produces analysis and commentary on issues impacting U.S. national interests in the Middle East. It was founded in 1981 under the stated mission to "expand public discussion and understanding of issues...
, Board Member of the American Tunisian Association and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations
Council on Foreign Relations
The Council on Foreign Relations is an American nonprofit nonpartisan membership organization, publisher, and think tank specializing in U.S. foreign policy and international affairs...
.
External links
- Jason VestJason VestJason Vest is an investigative journalist best known for his reporting in connection with the Abu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuse scandal. He is a Senior Correspondent for The American Prospect, and a contributor to the Boston Phoenix, Government Executive, The Nation, National Journal, Salon,...
. The Hazy Story of the Lincoln Group, CorpWatchCorpWatchCorpWatch is a research group based in San Francisco, California, USA. The group's mission is non-profit investigative research and journalism to expose corporate malfeasance and to advocate for multinational corporate accountability and transparency...
, November 30, 2005. - Mark MazzettiMark MazzettiMark Mazetti is an American Pulitzer Prize winning journalist for The New York Times. -Life:Mazzetti was born in Washington DC, and graduated from Duke University with a Bachelors degree in Public Policy and Politics...
. Lincoln Group bombards Iraq with fake news , PR WatchPR WatchPR Watch is a web site, and until 2008 a quarterly newsletter, whose stated mission is to expose deceptive and misleading public relations campaigns. It particularly covers US environmental issues, but also covers topics ranging from labor rights to world affairs...
, November 30, 2005. - No Breach Seen in Work in Iraq on Propaganda, New York Times, March 22, 2006
- "“I Was a Propaganda Intern in Iraq”–Fmr. Lincoln Group Intern Describes Paying Iraqi Press to Plant Pro-American Articles Secretly Written by U.S. Military". Interview with Willem Marx, author of "Misinformation Intern: My Summer as a Military Propagandist in Iraq" for Harper's MagazineHarper's MagazineHarper's Magazine is a monthly magazine of literature, politics, culture, finance, and the arts, with a generally left-wing perspective. It is the second-oldest continuously published monthly magazine in the U.S. . The current editor is Ellen Rosenbush, who replaced Roger Hodge in January 2010...
about his work for the Lincoln Group, on Democracy Now!Democracy Now!Democracy Now! and its staff have received several journalism awards, including the Gracie Award from American Women in Radio & Television; the George Polk Award for its 1998 radio documentary Drilling and Killing: Chevron and Nigeria's Oil Dictatorship, on the Chevron Corporation and the deaths of...
, August 21, 2006 (video, audio, and print transcript).