Lincoln Group

The Lincoln Group (formerly known as Iraqex) 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 5Karatet Mariam, Baghdad, Iraq and 1130 17th St. NW Suite 400 Washington, DC. On November 30, 2005, the "Los Angeles Times" revealed that 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. [http://www.defenselink.mil/contracts/2005/ct20050607.html]

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." [http://www.lincolngroup.com/]

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." [http://www.odwyerpr.com/members/washington_report/2004/1118iraqex.htm]

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 still looking for interns. [http://www.odwyerpr.com/members/0316iraqex.htm]

Iraqex 2004

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." [http://64.233.187.104/search?q=cache:VNg4PGU3nXoJ:www.odwyerpr.com/members/archived_stories_2004/september/0930iraq.htm+%22Christian+Bailey%22&hl=en]

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. [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/10/AR2005061001910_pf.html] [http://www.timesdispatch.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=RTD/MGArticle/RTD_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1031783204555]

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.'" [http://www.timesdispatch.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=RTD/MGArticle/RTD_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1031783204555]

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)." [http://www.odwyerpr.com/members/0909lincoln.htm]

Paying for 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." [http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/933185521.html?dids=933185521:933185521&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Nov+30%2C+2005&author=Mark+Mazzetti+and+Borzou+Daragahi&pub=Los+Angeles+Times&edition=&startpage=A.1&desc=THE+CONFLICT+IN+IRAQ]

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" [http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/933185521.html?dids=933185521:933185521&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Nov+30%2C+2005&author=Mark+Mazzetti+and+Borzou+Daragahi&pub=Los+Angeles+Times&edition=&startpage=A.1&desc=THE+CONFLICT+IN+IRAQ]

In response to the story United States Department of Defenset 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." [http://www.voanews.com/english/2005-11-30-voa77.cfm]

"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" [http://msnbc.msn.com/id/10285246/] . 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 [http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article354473.ece] of news stories produced by the Lincoln Group in the late 2005. "The Independent"'s 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.

Pentagon investigation

Regarding the news reports about the military planting news stories, United States Department of State 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." [http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/dpb/2005/57483.htm]

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." [http://msnbc.msn.com/id/10281920/]

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." [http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/12/20051201-5.html#c]

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." His is the son of Charles Craig, a noted CIA asset (http://www.lincolngroup.com/)

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", (http://www.thedailystar.net/2004/09/27/d40927050357.htm) 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, Christian 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. Mr. 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. Mr. 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. He and his wife Marie reside in Gaithersburg, Maryland.

Morton BlackwellAffiliations: 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 It's 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."

Andrew Garfield is director of strategic solutions at the Lincoln Group. According to his LG profile (http://www.lincolngroup.com/),

Garfield served as a British military then senior civilian intelligence officer, finishing his government service as a senior policy adviser in the UK Ministry of Defense. Mr. Garfield has deep and extensive IO & PSYOP experience, which included becoming the UK Defense Intelligence Staff's first IO Staff Officer. He also lectures extensively in the UK and USA (including for the Defense Intelligence Agency, the Naval Postgraduate School and 4th Psychological Operations Group) on these topics. He has also undertaken extensive research and lectured on counter insurgency and counter terrorism for the DoD, DHS and US Intelligence Community. Mr. Garfield is also the Deputy Director of International Policy Institute at King's College London and is a Senior Fellow of the Foreign Policy Research Institute in Philadelphia.

Garfield, a Senior Fellow of the Foreign Policy Research Institute and European Director of the Terrorism Research Center (TRC (http://www.terrorism.com)) in Washington, DC., is "currently directing a New FPRI project on post-conflict reconstruction, undertaken in cooperation with the Terrorism Research Center and King’s College." --FPRI April 2005 (http://www.fpri.org/multimedia/20050414.garfield.foreignperspectivescounterinsurgency.html).

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. Mr. Wilkinson resides in Clearwater, Florida and can be reached at [phone].

Advisors

Vincent J. Breglio (Vince Breglio) is Executive Vice President, Head of International Teams for the market research and public relations company, Wirthlin Worldwide. 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 [http://www.wirthlin.com/offices/vb.phtml 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 [http://www.oryxconsulting.com/about.html] , " [h] aving successfully managed two of her own companies, Larisa 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. [ [http://web.archive.org/web/20041011071017/http://spectrumgrp.com/expertise.html The SPECTRUM Group - Client Services ] ]

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 GOPAC1987-1993, a Republic Public Action Committee dedicated exclusively to electing Republicans to state and local offices [ [http://web.archive.org/web/20040802234554/http://www.gopac.org/gopac_about.htm About GOPAC - History ] ] . 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. [ [http://www.ford.utexas.edu/library/guides/Finding%20Aids/Callaway,%20Howard%20-%20Papers.htm Callaway at the Gerald R.Ford Library] ] [cite news
title=Punch-Drunk on Hardball
url=http://web.archive.org/web/20040306024703/http://www.prospect.org/print-friendly/print/V12/4/vest-j-sidebar.html
publisher=American Prospect
author=Jason Vest
date = January 26 2001
accessdate=2007-12-16] He is a member of The Council for National Policy.Fact|date=December 2007 Callaway is currently Chairman of the Board of Crested Butte Mountain Resort in Colorado.Fact|date=December 2007

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. [http://prsa.org/_About/prsafoundation/investigators.asp?ident=prsa2 See here] . 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. [cite web
url=http://web.archive.org/web/20040218184332/http://www.techcentralstation.com/biovlahosmichael.html
title=Dr Michael Vlahos
accessdate = 2007-12-16] . 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. Hitze 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 [http://apps.sais-jhu.edu/faculty_bios/faculty_bio1.php?ID=61 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.

References

External links

* Jason Vest. [http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=12840 The Hazy Story of the Lincoln Group] , "CorpWatch", November 30, 2005.
* Mark Mazzetti. [http://www.prwatch.org/node/4235 Lincoln Group bombards Iraq with fake news ] , "PR Watch", November 30, 2005.
* [http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/22/politics/22lincoln.html?ex=1300683600&en=3bc7b03a5c92b0b2&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss No Breach Seen in Work in Iraq on Propaganda] , "New York Times", March 22, 2006
* [http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/08/21/1348229 Interview with Willem Marx] , author of "Misinformation Intern: My Summer as a Military Propagandist in Iraq" for "Harper's Magazine" about his work for the Lincoln Group, Democracy Now!, August 21, 2006