Article on "The Rendon Group"

[Monkey see Monkey Do]

(only about 4 years too late, but hey!)

Secretive firm helps U.S. wage information war abroad

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.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nationworld/iraq/bal-te.pentagon13nov13,0,1642188.story?coll=bal-nationworld-headlines