H20 Man Spouts Off: A Plame Perspective

[Me.]

“Yet even among these shadowy, unknown figures, we find those who build the foundation of the public's perception of public figures from Cheney to Saddam, and of events from 9-11 to the war in Iraq. Let's take a closer look at a few of these "players," and examine some of their tactics as well.

When Karen Hughes or Karl Rove have needed "expert" advice on communications, they turned to The Rendon Group. TRG is a highly secretive agency that was formed by former political operative Rick Rendon. Rick runs TRG with his brother John, and John's wife, Sandra Libby. An interesting description of TRG is found in a speech John gave to Air Force cadets in 1996:

"I am not a national security strategist or a military tactician. I am a politician, and a person who uses communication to meet public policy or corporate policy objectives. In fact, I am an information warrior and a perception manager."

What type of work do "information warriors and perception managers" do? In the first Gulf War, the CIA contracted for TRG to provide the little American flags to Kuwaitis to wave for "photo-ops" when U.S. forces liberated them from Iraqi occupation. The average American simply doesn't ask where people who were subjected to 7 months of oppressive occupation would get the large supply of American flags, nor would they finf TRG supplying them offensive. That's because the American flag is a powerful symbol.” Cont…


http://h2oman.blogspot.com/

[im10ashus]

1. Always an informed read.

H2O Man is the best DU has to offer. He's always on point. Kicked!

:kick:

[Supersedeas]

2. Nice work...keep it up

[Wind Dancer]

3. A must read!

Thanks for posting!

This is a great summary of how this administration has been able to deceive, distort and lie to the American people through organizations like TRG.

Great site, H20!

[LibertyorDeath]

4. Malcolm X

"...I think it's important to show the importance of keeping an open mind. You'll be surprised how fast, how easy it is for someone to steal your and my mind. You don't think so? We never like to think in terms of being dumb enough to let someone put something over on us in a deceitful and tricky way. But you and I are living in a very deceitful and tricky society, in a very deceitful and tricky country, which has a very deceitful and tricky government. All of them in it aren't tricky and deceitful, but most of them are. And any time you have a government in which most of them are deceitful and tricky, you have to be on guard at all times. You have to know how they work this deceit and how they work those tricks. Otherwise you'll find yourself in a bind."
-- Malcolm X; "At the Audubon"; 11-24-1964
{3} "One of the best ways to safeguard yourself from being deceived is always form the habit of looking at things for yourself, listening to things for yourself, thinking for yourself, before you try and come to any judgment.


Never base your impression of someone on what someone else has said. Or upon what someone else has written. Or upon what you read about someone that somebody else wrote.
Never base your judgment on things like that.


Especially in this kind of country and in this kind of society which has mastered the art of very deceitfully painting people whom they don't like in an image that they know you won't like. So you end up hating your friends and loving your enemies."
-- Malcolm X; "At the Audubon"


Snip

How does he reconcile these 2 things he's quoting Malcolm

"Never base your impression of someone on what someone else has said. Or upon what someone else has written. Or upon what you read about someone that somebody else wrote.
Never base your judgment on things like that."Malcolm X; "At the Audubon"

Good solid advice IMO then he turns around at the end & says here are some good places to read about this.

There are also "mainstream" sources, including Time, Newsweek, and The Nation"



http://h2oman.blogspot.com/

[H2O Man]

9. I do not think

that Malcolm was advocating ignorance. He doesn't seem to be saying that people should not read, does he? Would you think it is possible that Malcolm is suggesting there is a benefit to be found in reading many things, and all the while keeping an open mind? Or do you seriously suggest that Malcolm would be properly interpreted as saying people should not read?

[Me.]

12. A Question

Is Sandra Libby related to Scooter?

[H2O Man]

13. Are you implying

an incestuous relationship between the White House and this business? Or suggesting that TRG could be the explanation of how Scooter Pie found out about Plame? What do you have against patriotism? Are you now, or have you been in the future, a member of the commonist party?

[H2O Man]

14. On the other hand,

DUers might try to find out as much as possible about Sandra. They may be surprised to find out how little information is available.

[im10ashus]

23. Indeed, there is little to NO information on her.

And by they way. Since when is a "public relations" firm supposed to be so secretive. That alone should raise suspicion.

[Me.]

31. Is She Scooter's Wife Or John Rendon's ?

Conflicting info:

The company, which has offices in Boston and Washington DC, is run by four senior staff: Rick Rendon, his brother John Rendon, his sister-in-law Sandra Libby and David Perkins, who formerly worked for the Pentagon.

http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=11486



"Rendon even boasted about it to the National Security Council, saying, "If any of you either participated in the liberation of Kuwait City ... or if you watched it on television, you would have seen hundreds of Kuwaitis waving small American flags. Did you ever stop to wonder how the people of Kuwait City, after being held hostage for seven long and painful months, were able to get hand-held American flags? And for that matter, the flags of other coalition countries? Well, you now know the answer. That was one of my jobs.""
(Rendon's Chief Financial Officer is Sandy Libby, wife of I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff.)

http://wotisitgood4.blogspot.com/2003_12_14_wotisitgood4_archive.html



The Rendon Group has since grown out of its simple brick townhouse into a modern suite of offices near Washington's Dupont Circle. Two years ago, Rendon and his wife, Sandra Libby--the firm's chief financial officer--bought a $1 million house in Washington's elegant Kalorama neighborhood, according to public records.

http://www.bilderberg.org/infowar.htm

[im10ashus]

32. My searches have led me to believe it's Rendon's wife. n/t

[Me.]

33. Could She Be Libby's Daughter?

I can't get past the co-incidence of the name.

[im10ashus]

34. That's the thing I can't get past.

That and the fact that there's virtually NO TRAIL WHATSOEVER of her on the web. Very unusual for someone with such high-profile connections to NOT have some sort of web information. I am still digging through things on the web. Will keep you posted. :-)

[H2O Man]

36. abscence of evidence

is not evidence of abscene, as the old saying goes ....

[im10ashus]

37. This is true.

And she DEFINITELY exists. At least on paper. It's just not as easy to find anything solid on her other than "the wife of John Rendon" or that she formerly worked for the Democratic National Party, and that sort of thing.

[Me.]

25. Could There Be One Less Libby Soon

working in the bowels of this government?

“August 30, 2005 -- There are indications that Rovegate Special Prosecutor Patrick J. Fitzgerald will be wrapping up his two-year probe of the CIA/Valerie Plame Wilson leak sometime between the end of the Labor Day Congressional recess and the end of September. Informed rumor has it that there will be indictments of at least two senior-level Bush administration officials.”

http://www.waynemadsenreport.com/

[MadeinOhio]

41. If they put Libby out for treason and espionage.....

Then they will have to go after the AIPAC or whatever that israel-linked organization is that hired all these neocons.

And I believe Karl Rove would go down for conspiracy and treason both, what a nice man he became!

:toast:

[Me.]

43. While Everything To Do With This WH Is Interconnected

McNulty will being going after a different group of neos with AIPAC. You may see the names Hannah, Feith, & Wolfowwitz, among other, pop up.

Welcome.

[coeur_de_lion]

49. Madsen

is not always the best source of information. In the past his opinions have turned out to be well, bogus. Not everything he says is wrong, but enough of it is to give me pause.

I hope and pray that he is right but . . . .

[im10ashus]

26. Still can't find much on her.

I was able to find a wealth of information on John Rendon, who rarely comes out of the dark.

Here is Rendon:

[im10ashus]

28. Another name I keep coming across is Charlotte Beers.

Apparently, our invasion of Iraq would not have happened were it not for the HUGE public relations spin they had to put on it.

http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Charlotte_Beers

<snip>

On March 3, 2003 Beers unexpectedly announced her resignation from the State Department, citing unspecified "health reasons." Most public relations professionals who posted comments at the O'Dwyer's PR web site celebrated her departure, saying "Good riddance!" and "About time! She was horrible and the U.S. has lost all post-9/11 support."

[Me.]

15. Imply?

Moi? That would be so unkind, especially as it's such a common name. They may never have even met, regardless of the fact that they are both engaged in acts of deception and are really, even if it is not court provable, traitors to the intent and precepts of this country. And hey, while I'm not pointing fingers at anyone, who is the topmost dog, Rendon or Rove?

on edit: That lack of info on Sandra is why I'm asking. There is as little on her as there is on John Hannah.

[H2O Man]

18. Rendon.

Not even close. The amount of money TRG moves is unbelievable. Seymour Hersh reported on one contract for $100 million with CI. Peter Jennings reported on another $23 million. "Clients" include the American Housing Consortium; Bulgaria; Colombia's military; Indonesia; Kuwait; Kuwait Petroleum; Monsanto Chemical Co.; Russia; the USA; USAID; the CIA and Pentagon; Uzbekistan; and many others.

[LibertyorDeath]

17. Yes I realize he is not saying "don't read"

He is saying do not trust what you read

Judging from the quotes I doubt Malcolm would trust much if anything of what is offered as "News" from these publications.

"Time, Newsweek, and The Nation"

and there in lies the contradiction. IMO

[H2O Man]

21. Interesting.

When there re claims that Wilson hasn't spoken about espionage, and a person even takes a single sentence out of context as proof of that, I think reading Wilson's book -- including where espionage is most definitely mentioned -- would be something Malcolm would endorse. To refuse to read it, because "it can't be trusted," would seem a risky short-cut to rational thinking, in my opinion.

[LibertyorDeath]

53. What is more interesting is you recommended reading

"Time, Newsweek, and The Nation" & now focus on reading Wilson's book
as "something Malcolm would endorse."

What happened to "Time, Newsweek, and The Nation"

don't they get Malcolm's endorsement also.

My contention was in relation to "Time, Newsweek, and The Nation"

"Judging from the quotes I doubt Malcolm would trust much if anything of what is offered as "News" from these publications.

"Time, Newsweek, and The Nation"

and there in lies the contradiction. IMO"

[EVDebs]

30. These 'PsyOp' propaganda catapults are an abuse of public funds

How does this stuff make it thru while troops are stuck with 'hillbilly armor' on their vehicles ?

I think the only rational way out (allowing for neocons to save face) is for the Prez to 'redeploy' troops to Kuwait and Afganistan. Take a step back while the Iraqis have their civil war. When they get tired, they can call us for help.

[H2O Man]

35. Very true.

The use of tax dollars for these purposes is illegal.

[Just Me]

42. .

[moof]

22. Dissenting opinion, Time & Newsweek are sources of deception.

There is no better Liar than a person that "Knows" they are telling the Truth.

[Jackpine Radical]

5. H2O Man Reveals the First Moran!!11!

The first journalist to interview this fellow was Paul Moran. Curiously, Paul was an INC employee, who was "on loan" from TRG. His claim to being a freelance journalist was supported only by his participation in producing CIA-funded "anti-Saddam" films.

Maybe that infamous mullet-head was just doing the patriotic thing and protesting Paul Moran and his ilk.

[yodermon]

10. Is this the same Paul Moran that was killed in Iraq? n/t

[moof]

24. Yes same person, Paul Moran

From
http://www.spinwatch.org/modules.php?name=News&file=print&sid=142

But as in most public relations efforts the surface message is not necessarily the ultimate purpose of a campaign. What makes the work of the two brothers most intriguing is that they often used the same staff to do the work: one of whom was discovered when he was unexpectedly killed in northern Iraq in the first three days of the March 2003 invasion.

Paul Moran, a freelance Australian Broadcasting Corporation journalist from Adelaide, who was living in Bahrain at the time, was working for Rick Rendon on setting up Empower Peace. But beside being a freelancer who made corporate videos for cash, he also had a double life, working for John Rendon, according to the Adelaide Advertiser, who interviewed his family and friends at his funeral.

Moran used "his experience as a freelance cameraman to train Iraqi dissidents in the use of hidden cameras to covertly film military activities. During workshops in Tehran, in Iran, he would show Iraqis opposed to Saddam how to use everyday items, such as bags of dates, to hide cameras… worked closely with exiled Iraqi opposition parties in their campaign to mobilise a popular uprising against Saddam (and) …was involved in the defection of an Iraqi scientist who provided vital evidence to the US Government about nuclear, chemical and biological weapon laboratories in Iraq."

In addition he "was contracted to help reactivate a Kuwaiti television station used to broadcast anti-Saddam messages into Iraq (and to… produce public service announcements for the Pentagon which were broadcast into Iraq in preparation for Operation Iraqi Freedom."

[Wind Dancer]

6. Kick!

There is a wealth of info here, hate to see it drop off front page.

[im10ashus]

7. Kicking back to the top!

:kick: and nominated. GREAT READ!!

[Just Me]

8. What "perception management" really means,....

,...THE INTENTIONAL MANIPULATION AND EXPLOITATION OF OTHERS THROUGH DECEPTION (e.g. F-R-A-U-D)!!!

They are defrauding the American people of their power to make informed decisions about political, economic, domestic and foreign policies.

[Me.]

11. Of Course They Are

if they didn't do that there is no way in hell they'd be running this country. This Rendon business is terribly important and who among us has even heard of them? Not I. It's all about misdirecting the eye.

[Wind Dancer]

16. Exactly,Me!

"It's all about misdirecting the eye."

Rove is a political genius holding one of the most powerful positions in the world. He lives and breathes politics and has been trying to dismantle the Constitution, middle class, civil liberties, and the Democratic Party for 30 years now.

The DLC has helped him achieve these goals.

[Me.]

20. And If One Were To Get Psychological

about it, I wonder if somewhere along the way some democrat called him a bastard and this is his revenge? Or is it self loathing and taking his anger about his childhood out on the most vulnerable, him being the bully in the big house now? One can't help wonder from time to time what or who creates a Rove. What I do know is that it sure as heck wasn't the Jesus he abuses as badly as the rest of us.

[Eloriel]

19. Aw, c'mon. Make this research-worthy with a permalink

Will ya?

All you have to do is scroll to the bottom of the piece and click on the timestamp. It opens a new window, with a unique URL for that blog entry. THAT way, months from now, someone can get from this thread to the site you're referencing to read the whole piece.

Here it is:

http://h2oman.blogspot.com/2005/08/beware-of-darkness.html

[im10ashus]

27. This is the first time I have heard of TRG.

I wonder how instrumental they were in forging information in order for the US to go to war in Iraq. Rendon is obviously a propaganda minister of the darkest kind. I have found a lot of information just by doing a simple google search.

[im10ashus]

29. This site has some good information.

http://cndyorks.gn.apc.org/news/articles/usprguru.htm

[H2O Man]

38. Larry Johnson:

"By April of last year, I was beginning to pick up grumblings from friends inside the intelligence community that there had been pressure applied to analysts to come up with certain conclusions. Specifically, I was told that analysts were pressured to find an operational link between Usama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein. One analyst, in particular, told me they were repeatedly pressured by the most senior officials in the Department of Defense.

"In an e-mail exchange with another friend, I raised the possibility that 'the Bush administration had bought into a lie.' My friend, who works within the intelligence community, challenged me on the use of the word, 'bought,' and suggested instead that the Bush administration had created the lie. ... I have spoken to more than two analysts who have expressed fear of retaliation if they come forward and tell what they know. We know that most of the reasons we were given for going to war were wrong."

-- Larry Johnson; former CIA official and deputy director of the State Department's Office of Counter Terrorism; registered republican.

(source: A Pretext for War, by James Bamford)

[Just Me]

39. bump

:7

[im10ashus]

40. Kicking!

:kick:

[Monkey see Monkey Do]

44. Linda Flohr

The N.S.C.'s lack of high-level expertise on Iraq has created a planning void which is now being filled by retired Army General Wayne Downing, an expert on special operations. President Bush brought Downing in after September 11th as an adviser on combatting terrorism. The General has also served as an ad-hoc adviser to the Iraqi National Congress, the most prominent Iraqi opposition group. Both Perle and Luti argue that any move against Iraq should involve the I.N.C. and its leader, Ahmad Chalabi, who, with the C.I.A., planned a coup attempt that failed against Saddam in 1995.

Downing recently hired Linda Flohr, a twenty-seven-year veteran of the C.I.A.'s clandestine service who, after retiring in 1994—her last assignment was for the top-secret Iraqi Operations Group—went to work for the Rendon Group, a public-relations firm that was retained by the C.I.A. in 1991 to handle press issues related to the Iraqi opposition, including Chalabi and the I.N.C. The firm, headed by John Rendon, who once served as executive director of the Democratic National Committee, was paid close to a hundred million dollars by the C.I.A. over the next five years, according to an I.N.C. official. Last fall, the Rendon Group was retained by the Defense Department to give advice on how to counter what the government considered to be "disinformation" about the American war effort in Afghanistan. The firm was also retained by the Pentagon's Office of Strategic Influence, which was eliminated last week after the Times reported that it would provide foreign reporters with "news items, possibly even false ones." (Rendon's contract with the Pentagon was not cancelled, however.) Flohr also worked for a private business—it manufactured bulletproof vests—founded by Oliver North, the former marine and Reagan Administration N.S.C. aide who was fired for his role in the Iran-Contra scandal.

http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/?020311fa_FACT

In Panama, Rendon befriended a CIA agent named Linda Flohr. The Agency--whose propaganda offices were still populated by Eastern European émigrés focused on the fight against communism--was growing desperate for help managing post-cold-war public relations. Flohr suggested that Rendon make the case against Iraq. In the summer of 1990 the Kuwaiti government hired him to help drum up support for the Gulf war; a few months later the CIA gave Rendon an official

http://www.tompaine.com/feature.cfm/ID/5188

Wayne Downing resigned his post ("Deputy National Security Advisor for Combating Terrorism") in June 2002 allegedly in frustration at how Bush was responding to terrorism. I don't know (& haven't been able to discover) what Linda Flohr is doing nowadays.

[Me.]

45. Nice Catch! n/t

[Just Me]

46. The BushCo/neoCON pack treats "facts" like "disinformation".

Good information there, Monkey see Monkey Do!! :hi:

[Me.]

52. And Now Fukuyama

one of the scum who came up with PNAC is backing off, saying the war in Iraq was a mistake. They are such cowardly weasels:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4520085

[im10ashus]

51. Great information.

Thanks for sharing.

:kick:

[Me.]

47. Kick For The Late Night Crew n/t

[Independent_Liberal]

48. Kick!

[coeur_de_lion]

50. Great post as always, H2O! n/t