Checks, lies and apes

The lovely PR women are fun to drink with – they're smart, sassy and beautiful. I'm meeting someone on Thursday, not expecting much as she seems a bit prudish.

I'd be curious to meet a lady from Lincoln Group, a PR firm in the news recently for trying to feed Pentagon's propaganda stories into Iraqi newspapers.

They call it an attempt to promote "truthful reporting," to convince Iraqis about the truth. They are essentially trying to sell the U.S. presence to Iraqis.

Pentagon threw US$5 million at them to execute this project, so Lincoln better deliver the goods. The government is the single biggest spender in the U.S. economy, so making Pentagon happy will get them more projects.

And Lincoln is seeking relevant project personnel – check out this opening. They seek a “Project Director” to manage information and communications targeted at foreign audiences in support of “Special Operations Command (SOCOM).” The person is required to have “Current Secret Clearance.” A top secret job, no doubt, but $80k to $120k, the pay ain't enough. I'd rather be a tree in 15 Hollywood films each year.

But clearly, with this propaganda/PR person hiring, the Pentagon is taking a complete knock at some non-profit efforts.

PR firms crushing non-profits

After the wars ended, training Iraqi and Afghani journalists to write news was the Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR), a non-profit publication I write for about Central Asia. They trained writers on writing for international audiences, structuring stories, research and interviewing to fish out information.

To train people denied freedom of speech to write analytical, yet succinct, news stories is a challenge, from what I've heard. News writing is very industrial compared to creative writing.

IWPR is fearless in unveiling the truth, a trait they pass along while training. The Uzbek govt. especially fears IWPR, and in the past shut down their offices and asked them to suspend operations.

Conflicting these non-profit efforts is the whole PR stunt being carried out by Pentagon and CIA. But it's all part of the propaganda war, trying to sell the war to people.

Bimbos, bullets and PR

Wars don't just star PR firms like Lincoln Group, they also have leaflet bombs, drones, alcohol and actresses. The Chechen rebels referred to Russians as the "Vodka Army" -- I've warned people not to mess with the Russians and their vodka. The Chechens did, and they are paying the price. They are getting whacked in the battle.

Back to the PR firms, in 1991, a distraught 15-year old Kuwaiti girl told the US House of Reps about witnessing Iraqi soldiers killing babies out of hundreds of incubators.

The testimony was phony, engineered by the George Bush Sr. administration to sell the Iraqi war to people. They paid PR firm Hill & Knowlton between $12 million to $20 million to hire an actress to give this testimony. And it was executed brilliantly.

The girl who wailed the false testimony turned out to be daughter of Kuwaiti Ambassador to the U.S.

A great actress, and a great world changer. If I ever spot her protesting against war, I swear, I'll burn her ass off. If she's cute... well....