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Lincoln Group

Revision as of 22:10, 28 December 2005 by Laura Miller (talk | contribs) (→‎Other Personnel Cited on Lincoln Group Website)

The Lincoln Group, formed in 1999, is "a D.C.-based business 'intelligence' company that handles services from 'political campaign intelligence' to commercial real estate in Iraq." [1][2][3]

The Lincoln Group states on its website that "our employees and consultants have worked, and continue to work, around the world in such places as Iraq, Lebanon, Afghanistan, Colombia, Indonesia and elsewhere. While others may view these locations as 'inhospitable', we prefer to call them 'challenging'."

Contents

Background

According to the Lincoln Group website, the "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 DC-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." [4]

Iraqex has subsequently changed its name to Lincoln Group, after its holding company, Lincoln Alliance Corporation. Lincoln Group has a $6 million, 3-year PR 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 [the] Iraq Business Journal, a "monthly publication on contract opportunities, life in Iraq and classifieds." The publication recently interviewed Grand Ayatolla 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 still looking for interns. [5]

Iraqex 2004

In the fall of 2004, Christian Bailey had formed a Lincoln subsidiary, called Iraqex. The Independent reported in December 2005 that Iraqex "seems to have formed a partnership with another American PR firm called Rendon, famous in Washington for having promoted Ahmed Chalabi and his Iraqi National Congress." [6]

According to a December 11, 2005 New York Times article, Iraqex's "stated purpose was to provide support services for business development, trade and investment in Iraq. The company's earliest ventures there included providing security to the military and renovating buildings. Iraqex also started a short-lived online business publication." The Times also reported on the 2004 partnership between Iraqex and Rendon. Together they "won a $5 million Pentagon contract for an advertising and public relations campaign to 'accurately inform the Iraqi people of the Coalition's goals and gain their support.' Soon, the [Iraqex] changed its name to Lincoln Group. It is not clear how the partnership was formed; Rendon dropped out weeks after the contract was awarded," the Times wrote.

In September 2004, "Christian Bailey, an executive at Iraqex/Lincoln, told O'Dwyer's his company [had] established four offices in Baghdad and other outposts, including an additional operation in Basra. He said Iraqex began handling PR work for private entities in sectors like manufacturing and finance within the country last year and has established close ties with 300-400 members of the Iraqi media."

"The company, which submitted a proposal of $5.5 million for the first year of the sweeping PR and advertising contract, beat five other firms. A contracting officer for the military did not disclose the competitors" to O'Dwyer's "or an email address to this website or in an e-mail to the losing bidders." [7]

Pentagon Contract 2005

A June 11, 2005, Washington Post article reported that the Pentagon had just 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. [8][9]

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.'" [10]

A December 12, 2005 Sunday Times article reported that the Lincoln Group’s willingness to work outside the fortified Green Zone in Baghdad helped it to land the lucrative deals with the Pentagon. [11]

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)." [12]

Planting Fake News in Iraq

In November 2005, the Los Angeles Times 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." [13]

The LA 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" [14]

In response to the story Defense Department 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 ... And that's what we're going to take a look at."

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. 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."

"The Making of Heroes: Lincoln Group and the Fight for Fallujah"

ABC News reported December 15, 2005, that it had "obtained a strategy document called 'The Making of Heroes: Lincoln Group and the Fight for Fallujah' — part of the Pentagon's multi-million dollar public relations campaign to sell the American war effort to the Iraqis."

Martha Raddatz, who filed the ABC report, wrote that a "small number of Iraqi forces were with the U.S. troops in Fallujah in November of 2004, but some Marines and reporters said the Iraqis were only minimally involved.

"But under the heading 'The Concept,' the document shows, the Lincoln Group seeks to promote 'the strength, integrity and reliability of Iraqi Forces during the fight for Fallujah.'

"Under the heading 'Rumor Control,' according to the document, the Lincoln Group strives to dispel the notion that the war is 'America's fight' or that Iraqi forces were defecting.

"'It's a little strange to see because even the Pentagon's own estimates and the administration's own estimates of the state of the Iraqi forces in 2004 when these fights for Fallujah occurred were never very glowing,' said Michael O'Hanlon, senior fellow in foreign policy studies at the Brookings Institution.

"The Lincoln Group said it could not provide a comment about this report under the terms of the Pentagon contract," Raddatz reported.

Pentagon Looking Into It

Regarding the news reports about the military planting news stories, State Department 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 Armed Services Committee, 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."

In response to the controversy, the Lincoln Group issued a media release itself in which it stated that it had "consistently worked with the Iraqi media to promote truthful reporting across Iraq. Our priority has always been, and continues to be, accuracy and timeliness."

"Our clients, our employees and the Iraqis who support this effort have maintained a commitment to battle terror with a powerful weapon - the truth.We counter the lies, intimidation, and pure evil of terror with factual stories that highlight the heroism and sacrifice of the Iraqi people and their struggle for freedom and security. We are encouraged by their sacrifice and proud to help them tell their side of the story," it stated. [15]

In an interview on ABC's This Week program, National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley claimed, referring to the controversy over the military covertly sponsoring Iraqi news, that Bush was "very troubled by it."

"If it is inconsistent with the policy guidance it will be shut down," Hadley said.

On Fox News Hadley said that if the stories were factual, "'it's got to be done in a way that reinforces a free media, not undermines it.' ... The policy, he suggested the administration wanted to pursue is 'support for a free media, for truth about what's going on in Iraq -- that is the policy.' Asked by Wallace whether Bush viewed the reports of planted stories as 'inconsistent with that policy,' Hadley said 'Yes. It's very troubling. And if it turns out to be true, I think you'll find that activity stopped.'" [16]

Speaking on NBC's Meet the Press, Republican Senator John McCain, said that "if that's the way to get stories, I'm not terribly offended by it." [17]

Personnel

From their website (accessed December 2005): [18]

Other Personnel Cited on Lincoln Group Website

Although identified as such previously, as of December 1, 2005, the following names are no longer listed as Lincoln Group personnel:

Advisors

Lincoln Group Partners

On its website the Lincoln Group states that it has partnerships with a range of other companies in the US, UK and in the countries they work in. It lists its partner companies as including:

Subcontractors

Lobbying Registration

  • Effective Date of Registration: August 4, 2005
  • Client: Lincoln Group (In-house Lobby)
  • Lobbyists: Joseph Devlin and Laurie Adler

Case Studies

Contact Details

North America Headquarters
Lincoln Group
1420 K Street NW
10th Floor
Washington, DC 20005
Phone: +1 (202) 595-1330 (office)
Fax: +1 (202) 595-0208
URL: http://www.lincolngroup.com/
Communications: Projects
Economic Investment: Manufacturing

SourceWatch Resources

External Links

Retrieved from "https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Lincoln_Group&oldid=92955"

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