The Render Group
C/o Smygo and the Baltimore Sun.
Secretive firm helps U.S. wage information war abroad
By Stephen J. Hedges
November 13, 2005
WASHINGTON -- To fight what it sees as an insidious
propaganda war waged by militants, from incendiary Web sites
to one-sided television images of the Iraq war, the Pentagon
has been quietly waging its own information battle
throughout the Middle East and Central Asia.
One of its primary weapons is a secretive firm that has been
criticized as ineffective and too expensive.
The Rendon Group, directed by former Democratic Party
political operative John Rendon, has garnered more than $56
million in work from the Pentagon since the Sept. 11, 2001,
terrorist attacks.
These contracts list such activities as tracking foreign
reporters; "pushing" news favorable to U.S. forces; planting
television news segments that promote American positions;
and creating a grass-roots voting effort in Puerto Rico on
behalf of the U.S. Navy, according to Pentagon records.
The contracts, some of which were obtained by the watchdog
group Judicial Watch through a Freedom of Information Act
request, reveal that the Bush administration is engaged in a
constant war of images and words with al-Qaida and other
radical groups.
Seen as necessity
Civilian and military leaders say the contracts are
necessary to fight the media wars waged by Islamic
fundamentalists who control images on television, radio and
the Internet in some Arab countries.
But proponents of open government question the role of firms
such as the Rendon Group, suggesting that their work blurs
the line between legitimate news and propaganda.
Also, Americans have long been nervous about the notion of
the government's managing information.
To the extent that the Pentagon is attentively studying
media publications, there's nothing wrong with that, said
Steven Aftergood, a secrecy expert at the Federation of
American Scientists.
"Where it gets questionable is when they start engaging in
media-based operations," Aftergood said, meaning actually
distributing news items. "And that's something that needs to
be carefully circumscribed and defined in policy, because
there is no clear line between the foreign media and U.S.
media."
The Rendon Group is perhaps best known for its part in the
controversy that surrounded the Pentagon's short-lived
Office of Strategic Influence nearly four years ago. A
February 2002 New York Times article disclosed the office's
existence and reported that the company was part of the
effort, which possibly included attempts to plant false new
stories abroad.
After public and congressional outcry, Defense Secretary
Donald H. Rumsfeld shut down the office.
But John Rendon, who until now has declined to discuss the
episode, said in an interview last week that the news
stories were wrong and that his company never worked for the
Office of Strategic Influence.
"That wasn't us," Rendon said. "The whole notion of putting
false news stories abroad, that was never us."
Retired Air Force Brig. Gen. S. Pete Worden, who directed
the Office of Strategic Influence during its short life,
confirmed by e-mail that the Rendon Group did not work for
his office.
"[Rendon] is correct that he didn't work directly for my
office," Worden wrote. "Most of the actual work we did was
through SAIC," or Science Applications International Corp.,
a large defense contractor.
Shaping coverage
Rendon has, however, played a substantial role in the
Pentagon's efforts to track and shape media coverage of the
Iraq and Afghan conflicts and the war on terror.
Rendon has at least five contracts with the Department of
Defense, according to the newly obtained records. A full
list of the contracts given to Judicial Watch by the
Pentagon totals about $45 million.
The work began in 2000 and continues today, the contracts
show. They include work, supervised by the Joint Chiefs of
Staff, for the Air Force, Army, Navy and Defense Advance
Research Projects Agency.
Most recently, Rendon was awarded a $6.4 million contract in
September to track media coverage in Iraq.
Rendon also won a $1.4 million contract in 2004 to advise
the staff of Afghan President Hamid Karzai, and a $3.9
million contract to work on a counter-narcotics campaign
within the Afghan Interior Ministry.
The Rendon Group's costs were an issue among CIA staff
members during the group's earlier work with the CIA and
Pentagon. Rendon once received a CIA contract of $20 million
to $40 million, according to former employees, to advise the
then-London-based Iraqi National Congress and its leader,
Ahmad Chalabi.
The Pentagon offices that work with Rendon -- the Joint
Chiefs of Staff and the Office of Special Operations and Low
Intensity Conflict -- declined to comment. So did Douglas
Feith, who recently resigned as under secretary of defense
for policy.
Rendon's previous experience positioned him well for the
Pentagon's new war needs.
Rendon worked in the political world until 1989, when he
took a job advising the Panamanian opposition on how to
handle the media during the U.S. invasion to oust dictator
Manuel Noriega.
He took up similar jobs after that, including advising the
Kuwaiti government after Iraqi troops invaded in August 1990.
When the Sept. 11 attacks occurred, Rendon already had an
active Pentagon contract.
"This is really probably the 10th or ninth time we've done
this kind of work, going all the way back to Panama, with
the exception of Somalia," Rendon said. "Nobody else has
done this."
Stephen J. Hedges writes for the Chicago Tribune.
Secretive firm helps U.S. wage information war abroad
By Stephen J. Hedges
November 13, 2005
WASHINGTON -- To fight what it sees as an insidious
propaganda war waged by militants, from incendiary Web sites
to one-sided television images of the Iraq war, the Pentagon
has been quietly waging its own information battle
throughout the Middle East and Central Asia.
One of its primary weapons is a secretive firm that has been
criticized as ineffective and too expensive.
The Rendon Group, directed by former Democratic Party
political operative John Rendon, has garnered more than $56
million in work from the Pentagon since the Sept. 11, 2001,
terrorist attacks.
These contracts list such activities as tracking foreign
reporters; "pushing" news favorable to U.S. forces; planting
television news segments that promote American positions;
and creating a grass-roots voting effort in Puerto Rico on
behalf of the U.S. Navy, according to Pentagon records.
The contracts, some of which were obtained by the watchdog
group Judicial Watch through a Freedom of Information Act
request, reveal that the Bush administration is engaged in a
constant war of images and words with al-Qaida and other
radical groups.
Seen as necessity
Civilian and military leaders say the contracts are
necessary to fight the media wars waged by Islamic
fundamentalists who control images on television, radio and
the Internet in some Arab countries.
But proponents of open government question the role of firms
such as the Rendon Group, suggesting that their work blurs
the line between legitimate news and propaganda.
Also, Americans have long been nervous about the notion of
the government's managing information.
To the extent that the Pentagon is attentively studying
media publications, there's nothing wrong with that, said
Steven Aftergood, a secrecy expert at the Federation of
American Scientists.
"Where it gets questionable is when they start engaging in
media-based operations," Aftergood said, meaning actually
distributing news items. "And that's something that needs to
be carefully circumscribed and defined in policy, because
there is no clear line between the foreign media and U.S.
media."
The Rendon Group is perhaps best known for its part in the
controversy that surrounded the Pentagon's short-lived
Office of Strategic Influence nearly four years ago. A
February 2002 New York Times article disclosed the office's
existence and reported that the company was part of the
effort, which possibly included attempts to plant false new
stories abroad.
After public and congressional outcry, Defense Secretary
Donald H. Rumsfeld shut down the office.
But John Rendon, who until now has declined to discuss the
episode, said in an interview last week that the news
stories were wrong and that his company never worked for the
Office of Strategic Influence.
"That wasn't us," Rendon said. "The whole notion of putting
false news stories abroad, that was never us."
Retired Air Force Brig. Gen. S. Pete Worden, who directed
the Office of Strategic Influence during its short life,
confirmed by e-mail that the Rendon Group did not work for
his office.
"[Rendon] is correct that he didn't work directly for my
office," Worden wrote. "Most of the actual work we did was
through SAIC," or Science Applications International Corp.,
a large defense contractor.
Shaping coverage
Rendon has, however, played a substantial role in the
Pentagon's efforts to track and shape media coverage of the
Iraq and Afghan conflicts and the war on terror.
Rendon has at least five contracts with the Department of
Defense, according to the newly obtained records. A full
list of the contracts given to Judicial Watch by the
Pentagon totals about $45 million.
The work began in 2000 and continues today, the contracts
show. They include work, supervised by the Joint Chiefs of
Staff, for the Air Force, Army, Navy and Defense Advance
Research Projects Agency.
Most recently, Rendon was awarded a $6.4 million contract in
September to track media coverage in Iraq.
Rendon also won a $1.4 million contract in 2004 to advise
the staff of Afghan President Hamid Karzai, and a $3.9
million contract to work on a counter-narcotics campaign
within the Afghan Interior Ministry.
The Rendon Group's costs were an issue among CIA staff
members during the group's earlier work with the CIA and
Pentagon. Rendon once received a CIA contract of $20 million
to $40 million, according to former employees, to advise the
then-London-based Iraqi National Congress and its leader,
Ahmad Chalabi.
The Pentagon offices that work with Rendon -- the Joint
Chiefs of Staff and the Office of Special Operations and Low
Intensity Conflict -- declined to comment. So did Douglas
Feith, who recently resigned as under secretary of defense
for policy.
Rendon's previous experience positioned him well for the
Pentagon's new war needs.
Rendon worked in the political world until 1989, when he
took a job advising the Panamanian opposition on how to
handle the media during the U.S. invasion to oust dictator
Manuel Noriega.
He took up similar jobs after that, including advising the
Kuwaiti government after Iraqi troops invaded in August 1990.
When the Sept. 11 attacks occurred, Rendon already had an
active Pentagon contract.
"This is really probably the 10th or ninth time we've done
this kind of work, going all the way back to Panama, with
the exception of Somalia," Rendon said. "Nobody else has
done this."
Stephen J. Hedges writes for the Chicago Tribune.
posted by professor rat at 2:27 PM
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